SACRAMENTO, California — Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker threatened on Monday to withdraw their states from the National Governors Association if it doesn’t condemn Donald Trump’s cross-state National Guard deployments, accusing the bipartisan group of going silent in wake of confrontations with states led by Democrats.
In a letter to association members, Newsom, the California governor, said Trump’s calling up of troops against his and other Democratic governors’ wishes was an “unprecedented assault” on states’ rights. Pritzker, the Illinois governor, in a separate message to the Republican chair of the NGA said he will pull Illinois out of the group if its leadership remains silent on the deployment of the Texas National Guard to Illinois.
Newsom also said he would call on his fellow governors to also pull out if the bipartisan association doesn’t take a joint stand on the issue.
The NGA “has lost its voice and its way in the face of the Trump administration’s onslaught against democratic norms, including efforts to undermine the sovereignty of states as protected by the Tenth Amendment,” Newsom wrote.
Both Newsom and Pritzker are potential 2028 presidential contenders. Pritzker’s message was directed to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, the chair of the NGA. Newsom’s letter, while addressed to all the association’s members, plainly targeted Republican governors of the group, too. Each member of the Democratic Governors Association condemned Trump’s first Guard deployment to Los Angeles, and the DGA on Monday blasted Trump’s latest moves to send troops to Illinois and Oregon.
Shia Kapos contributed to this report
