Following significant debate, National Guard deployment bill fails reading in House

Yahoo

06-03-2025

Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel defense HB 404, regarding National Guard deployment, during floor debate on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
A bill that would have required a Congressional act for the Montana National Guard to be released from the state into 'federal duty' did not pass a second reading on Wednesday afternoon, but only after a spirited and lengthy debate on the floor.
House Bill 404, brought by Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel, sought to avoid sending Montanans to 'active combat duty' in countries where the United States Congress hadn't approved soldiers to be sent.
The bill created controversy over possible loss of funding, allegations by bill proponents that opponents of the bill were giving out free helicopter rides, and assumptions that soldiers didn't know what they signed up for when they joined the guard.
In 2024, a drone attack against a U.S. military outpost in Jordan, called Tower 22, killed three U.S. soldiers and injured many National Guardsman. Roughly 3,000 U.S. troops were stationed in Jordan at the time, despite the Biden administration repeatedly saying the United States was not actively at war — a position they maintained following the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Currently, National Guardsman from any state can be deployed to active duty, even though the U.S. is not in a declared war.
'The US has seen abuse of all of our military forces for decades,' Deming told the Daily Montanan. 'The Tower 22 attack is just a symptom of a larger problem that legislation of this kind has tried to address for two decades. There are quite a few examples. The men whose organization first began to sponsor legislation of this type are combat veterans who try to limit the damage done to our service men and women by these undeclared wars.'
Deming argued his bill would prevent needless harms, but legislators also debated over the cost.
Deming called a $132 million fiscal note attached to the bill 'bogus' and said it was based on 'completely fabricated assumptions.'
The note assumes the state would lose federal funding over the bill, $132 million annually over the next four years. It also valued the gear and buildings the Montana National Guard has and said the state could lose 'federal dollars, equipment, cooperative agreements, and funding for state personnel.'
Deming said that even if it was true, the result of the bill could be worth it.
'Let's say the fiscal note is correct,' Deming said. 'How much does the mental and physical health problems suffered by our veterans cost the state? The devastation created by deploying our forces into foreign conflicts with no goal and no end brings immense costs.'
Rep. George Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls, who was active duty in the Air Force before a seven-year stint in the Montana Air National Guard, spoke against the bill. He derided the assumption that National Guard soldiers didn't have agency and were victims.
'We have this idea that somehow we're sending our boys and girls overseas to die, and they didn't want to go,' Nikolakakos said. 'It's just false. It's a false notion.
A blast motion to get the bill out of committee failed on March 3. However, on Tuesday, the committee voted to push it out on its own and it reached the House floor Wednesday morning.
During Wednesday's floor session, House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, made a motion to send the bill to the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Caleb Hinkle, R-Belgrade, objected to this motion, and Deming said it was an obvious attempt to kill the bill.
'I find this motion to be highly irregular, and frankly, insulting to the National Guard people that we are supposed to protect,' Deming said on the floor. 'Sending this down to Appropriations is killing this bill.'
His argument got him time on the floor.
'That was very passionate, so I'm going to put that up on second (reading),' Fitzpatrick said. 'Let's put this up on second, right now.'
Following almost an hour of debate, and two separate votes to end debate on the bill, HB 404 failed 58-41.