Georgia Democrats press governor to reverse decision to send National Guard members to DC

President Donald Trump and Georgia Gov Brian Kemp shake hands with members of the Georgia National Guard in Evans at a briefing on Hurricane Helene recovery in Kemp in the last few days deployed the Georgia National Guard to DC Ross Williams Georgia Recorder Democratic state lawmakers are asking Gov Brian Kemp to recall Georgia National Guard members in recent weeks sent to Washington Kemp reported on Friday that Georgia is sending about soldiers and up to encouragement staff to Washington to assist in Trump s crime crackdown despite crime in Washington being at a -year low A group of Georgia Democrats on Monday wrote in a letter to Kemp that the move demonstrates blind loyalty to a leader who is effectively turning America towards autocracy We the undersigned legislators are gravely concerned with this decision to send troops to occupy another state or district in our union and we believe it is setting a dangerous unsound precedent Sending armed soldiers to invade American cities under the guise of fighting crime is a blatant abuse of power the letter stated signed by House and Senate Democrats A message seeking comment was left with the governor s office The letter stated the move does not promote inhabitants safety Instead it is an unprecedented unscrupulous power grab that undermines states rights the Democrats wrote The letter also states that deploying Georgia troops to another state conflicts with the Constitution because it does not grant the power nor the authority to send Georgia s National Guard troops into another jurisdiction that does not consent Georgia cannot invade another state or district even at the president s request the letter stated The Trump administration was sued last week by D C Attorney General Brian L Schwalb over the ongoing presence of National Guard troops in Washington arguing the deployment amounts to a military occupation and violates the district s right to self-rule Democrats also raised concerns about the cost of the deployment Since the Georgia National Guard is not a federalized force they argued that Georgia taxpayers will pay the cost of sending troops to Washington and required Kemp to provide the estimated cost of the deployment along with the scope and scale and a timeline of the mission Georgia doesn t need or want an authoritarian governor unilaterally sending our Georgia troops to augment Trump s political agenda We demand an immediate recall and reversal of this procedures Georgia Democrats wrote The post Georgia Democrats press governor to reverse decision to send National Guard members to DC appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta