Thread by @LizaGoitein

Very sorry to see that the “pre-conferenced” version of the NDAA, hashed out by leadership in the House and Senate, doesn’t include critical reforms to domestic military deployment authorities that were part of the House-passed bill. 1/12 rules.house.gov/sites/democrat…

To begin, the new version—which will likely become law without further amendment—dropped the provision that would have transferred command and control of the DC National Guard from the president to D.C.’s mayor. 2/12

As my colleague @josephanunn and I have pointed out, this provision would have closed a dangerous loophole in the Posse Comitatus Act that allows presidents to use the DCNG as a domestic military police force. 3/12 slate.com/news-and-polit…

The pre-conferenced version also dropped a provision that would have prohibited governors from deploying their National Guards, when acting in non-federal status, into other jurisdictions without those jurisdictions’ consent. 4/12

Of course, when the president federalizes Guard forces, they can be sent wherever they are needed; but a governor does not have authority to effectively mount an armed invasion of another state or jurisdiction. 5/12

That’s probably an inherent constitutional limitation, but Trump’s Department of Justice took a different view, creating legal uncertainty that Congress should have nipped in the bud. 6/12 lawfareblog.com/why-were-out-s…

The House had also passed a provision prohibiting private funding of interstate Guard deployments, responding to Gov. Noem’s deployment of South Dakota Guard forces to the southern border on a mission funded by a billionaire Republican donor. 7/12

Under the pre-conferenced version, this prohibition would not apply when the Guard acts in State Active Duty status—the very status in which the prohibition is actually needed. The exception means that Gov. Noem could repeat her antics, and others could follow her example. 8/12

Finally, the pre-conferenced version omits a House provision that would have put teeth into the Posse Comitatus Act by directing courts to suppress any evidence collected by the military in violation of the Act. 9/12

This letter from more than 20 ideologically diverse organizations provides more information about these provisions, and why they are critical to preventing presidential abuses of military power and politicization of the National Guard: 10/12 brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…

We’re disappointed by these omissions, but we’re not done fighting. Reform of domestic deployment authorities is a crucial aspect of shoring up democracy’s safeguards, and lawmakers are increasingly recognizing its importance. 11/12

Many thanks to the lawmakers who led the charge on these reforms this year: @EleanorNorton, @RepAnthonyBrown, @RepMaloney, @RepSherrill, @RepEscobar, @RepAdamSchiff, @ChrisVanHollen, @SenCarper, & @SenBlumenthal. The work continues! 12/12