(NewsNation) — The Pentagon responded Wednesday to a bipartisan controversy over the Biden administration’s plan to reassign Air National Guard members focused on space to the Space Force.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told senators the Pentagon is reaching out to state governors about their concerns, but he didn’t say whether the policy will be reconsidered.
“This measure will, I believe, affect a small number of people, but I certainly understand the governors’ concerns and we owe it to the governors to engage them on it,” he said. “That’s why the secretary of the Air Force has recently engaged them personally on this issue.”
The Department of Defense announced the proposal in March, but in just the last few days, 85 members of Congress from both parties expressed frustration with the Pentagon over the plan.
So have governors from all 50 states, who can activate the National Guard.
It’s a wrinkle for the White House as President Joe Biden is met with members of his own party who are questioning the policy.
In a letter, senators expressed their concerns.
“To be clear: When individuals sign up for the National Guard they are serving their country and their community. Congress shouldn’t abandon this model,” the letter states.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also blasted the proposal.
“It poses an intolerable threat to the Texas National Guard. That proposal would give the Secretary of the Air Force unilateral authority to transfer Air National Guard units the Space Force without first obtaining gubernatorial consent,” Abbott said in a letter to Biden.
A letter from the National Governors Association said any move that takes away from a governor’s authority over the National Guard “undermines longstanding partnerships, precedence, military readiness and operational efficacy.”
Austin suggested that moving the guard members is in line with what happened when the Space Force was created: The Pentagon reassigned members with space duties from other military branches to the Space Force.