Most of the time, state National Guards are activated and commanded by the governors of their respective states or territories, but presidents
can federalize the Guard in certain cases. (The DC National Guard is solely under federal control.) For instance, presidents have called units into federal service to respond to hurricanes, to bolster border security, and to assist U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The National Guard can also be federalized but kept under state control, with the federal government paying for the deployment. (Statewide operations are normally funded by the state.) This was done in response to the coronavirus pandemic in many states.
Presidents rarely federalize a state or territory’s Guard without the consent of the governor. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, President George W. Bush declined to take control of Louisiana’s National Guard due to the objection of Governor Kathleen Blanco. Governors have at times requested that the federal government assume control over their Guard units, as California Governor Pete Wilson did during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
“Every state has a different way to deal with disasters, and the National Guard is uniquely qualified and postured to act under the command and control of the governors in the state. And so if you were to federalize them, you would lose that ability,” Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, former chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters in March 2020 when asked about the possibility of federalizing the Guard in response to the pandemic.
