South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem will use a donation from a Republican megadonor in Tennessee to fund a deployment of National Guard troops to the southern U.S. border in Texas.
U.S. national security cannot be left up to the whims and politics of the highest bidder. But this action sets an incredibly dangerous precedent for just that: anonymous millionaires calling on their — or any — governor to fund the deployment of the National Guard with little oversight or accountability.
And here’s where it gets worse: it’s likely legal. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Congress creates the laws that govern all military deployments and Congress can close loopholes like this — if we get loud enough to push them to do it!