Three former Republican governors are speaking out forcefully against President Donald Trump’s plan to federalize the National Guard in Democratic-led cities, calling the move a “constitutional dilemma” that raises serious questions about executive overreach.
In an NBC report published Tuesday, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich used the phrase in warning against what he sees as an increasingly confrontational approach from Trump.
“I would say: ‘Here are my problems. What can you do to help me? Work with me. Don’t just shove stuff down my throat,’” Kasich said, per the report.
"I think it’s a real constitutional dilemma that is unprecedented and it will have to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court," former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) told NBC.
The remarks come as Trump pushes to send troops into cities like Chicago and Portland under the stated goal of protecting federal agents and curbing violent crime — a plan that has triggered legal challenges and political backlash from Democratic governors.
Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman described the strategy as not only counterproductive but dangerous in his remarks to NBC.
“This is infuriating,” said Whitman, who left the Republican Party in 2022. “It is stoking resentment and fanning the flames. But as a governor there is nothing you can do to really stop the president from federalizing the guard.”
Trump has floated the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act — a rarely used law that allows the president to deploy U.S. military forces for domestic law enforcement.
At a Monday press conference, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) accused Trump of deliberately inflaming tensions to justify that move.
“The Trump administration is following a playbook: Cause chaos, create fear and confusion,” he said, citing what he described as heavy-handed federal responses to protests.Illinois filed a lawsuit on Monday to block the deployment of troops to Chicago, but a judge has yet to rule on the request, setting a hearing for later in the week.
The report also mentioned former governors like Kasich and Whitman, who are long-standing Trump critics. They say they’re not surprised by his latest actions, or by the silence from many current Republican leaders.
While some GOP governors have publicly backed Trump’s moves, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R), others have remained quiet.
Abbott went a step further, announcing on social media that he had “fully authorized” Trump to deploy 400 Texas National Guard troops to other states, saying, “No Guard can match the training, skill, and expertise of the Texas National Guard.”
