Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) urged California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to call up the rest of his National Guard troops in an effort to thwart President Donald Trump's autocratic ambitions.
Kinzinger, who served as a former lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, told CNN Tuesday about the tactic Newsom could use to tamp down Trump's "provocative" actions.
"Look, there are 4,000 now activated California National Guard — and this is an important point, and I know it's in the weeds — but once they're activated by the president against the consent of the governor, they are now federal troops. They're U.S. Army."
Kinzinger said that renders them "basically pointless" with "no law enforcement ability" unless the president invokes the Insurrection Act or the governor gives his consent.
Kinzinger continued, "And then on top of that, to deploy the U.S. Marines when you have 4,000 troops that are not being used, is simply an intimidation tactic. It's meant to either appear tough or, frankly, to stir things up...I think the governor needs to activate the rest of his National Guard, or at least consider it, is because what that does... it now puts the Guard under the control of the governor. It would force the president to then overrule the governor, which could set up, potentially, something for the Supreme Court."
Kinzinger asserted that since there's not an "overwhelming amount of protesters," the governor can activate the guard himself if protests get "out of control."
In a new Substack article, Kinzinger wrote that the "irony" of the situation "should hit everyone across the political spectrum."
"Conservatives often argue that the Guard is a modern embodiment of the constitutional 'militia'—a counterbalance to federal power. But what kind of militia can be seized by the very federal power it’s supposed to balance?" he wrote.