Bipartisan lawmakers want to prohibit Maine troops from foreign deployment absent act of Congress

Yahoo

12-02-2025

Sgt. Christopher Edgecomb, an engineer with the 251st Engineer Company (SAPPER), carries two 35-pound water cans along a firing lane during a 'stress shoot' event at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, April 1, in Jericho VT. Edgecomb is competing against six other Soldiers in Maine's Best Warrior Competition to find the best non-commissioned officer and soldier in the Maine Army National Guard. (Army National Guard Photo by Spc. Adam Simmler.)
A bipartisan group of lawmakers want to prohibit Maine military forces from being deployed for active duty combat in a foreign nation unless U.S. Congress declares war.
However, General of the Maine National Guard Dianne Dunn argues such a restriction would put funding at risk and go against federal law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
Rep. Benjamin Hymes (R-Waldo), and other Republican, Democratic and independent co-sponsors, presented the LD 265 to the Legislature's Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee on Wednesday. It's the same bill former Sen. Eric Brakey — who left Maine to run a libertarian group in New Hampshire — attempted to pass last session, but the Legislature voted it down after the committee recommended against its passage.
Last year, the Maine GOP adopted an official party platform that included language calling on the Maine Legislature to prohibit Maine National Guard deployments into foreign conflicts unless Congress formally declares war.
Addressing Democrats, Brakey, who returned to the State House on Wednesday to again push for the restriction, said, 'Donald Trump is president now, and I imagine you might not want him to have unchecked power over sending our troops into war without an act of Congress.'
Donald Trump is president now, and I imagine you might not want him to have unchecked power over sending our troops into war without an act of Congress.
– former Maine Sen. Eric Brakey
'Wherever you fall along partisan lines,' Brakey added, 'there are reasons to support this legislation.'
This latest attempt comes in light of President Donald Trump saying earlier this month that the U.S. 'will take over the Gaza strip' to turn the territory into the 'Riviera of the Middle East,' prompting concern about the deployment of troops. Trump later claimed Israel would turn over Gaza to the U.S. after fighting, so no U.S. soldiers would be needed.
Trump also made propositions before reassuming office to expand the domestic role of the military, including to fight 'the enemy from within,' meaning opponents on the left, combat crime in U.S. cities, and conduct law enforcement activities on U.S. soil to 'restore order.'
Maine lawmakers requested the committee analyst reach out to the Pentagon to see how they'd react to the restriction the bill seeks to implement.
As this debate occurred in Augusta, down in Washington D.C. on Wednesday the U.S. Senate confirmed Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. Several of those who testified in Augusta pointed out Gabbard's support for limiting the president's power to start wars.
Other states have or are considering similar legislation, which come from model legislation coined 'Defend the Guard.'
Earlier this month, the Virginia House unanimously passed such a bill that now awaits consideration by their Senate. In previous legislative sessions, lawmakers in New Hampshire, Arizona and Idaho, among others, also attempted similar bills but the proposals failed to secure enough support to ultimately become law.
The bill in Maine specifies two means that would allow for troops to be deployed for active duty abroad: an official declaration of war or an official action for an enumerated constitutional purpose passed by Congress. It would permit the governor to deploy state military forces for civil missions within the U.S. and its territories.
Dunn, who is also the Commissioner of Maine's Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, said while she appreciated the good intentions of the Maine legislators behind the bill, she believes its passage would be counterproductive.
One reason is funding.
The Maine National Guard receives the majority of its funding for its operating budget and equipment from the federal government, Dunn said, adding that those federal dollars are vital for state-level work. For example, the Maine National Guard's Black Hawk helicopters are used to rescue injured hikers off Mount Katahdin.
'Passing this legislation may signal to the federal government that we're an unreliable partner and risk the allocation of equipment, funding and manning to other states, thus undercutting our valuable capability for the state of Maine,' Dunn said.
Similar concerns have been raised in other states, such as Idaho.
National Guard members are part of a dual enlistment system, meaning members lose their state status when called to active federal duty. Rep. Ken Fredette, who is also a colonel in the Maine National Guard, argued the bill would dismantle that system, in addition to putting federal funding at risk.
Wednesday's public hearing also raised questions about such a restriction going against U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
Under current federal law, the federal government has the ability to activate National Guard members for federal service without obtaining a governor's consent to do so — but that had not always been the case.
In 1986, then-Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan refused to allow members of the Maine National Guard to participate in a training mission in Honduras, as activation at that time required governor consent, unless during a time of war or national emergency.
Brennan's actions and threats to do the same from other governor's prompted Congress to reassess federal law on the matter, ultimately resulting in the passage of the Montgomery Amendment, which prohibits state governors from withholding their consent.
In the 1990 case Perpich v. Department of Defense, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the amendment was constitutional.
Co-sponsors of the Maine bill include Republicans Sen. David Haggan of Penobscot and Reps. Laurel Libby, of Auburn, Tracy Quint of Hodgdon, Ann Fredericks of Sanford, Katrina Smith of Palermo and David Boyer of Poland, as well as Democratic Rep. Sophia Warren of Scarborough and independent Rep. William Pluecker of Warren.
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