Yes.
Former Gov. Kristi Noem said in 2024 there would be “war on our hands” if former President Biden federalized South Dakota’s National Guard and stopped them from performing duties at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“If (Biden) is willing to do that, and to take away my authority as governor as commander in chief of those National Guard (troops), boy, we do have a war on our hands,” Noem said Feb. 4, 2024, on Fox News.
Noem tweeted Feb. 6, 2024, that federalizing the Guard would be a “direct attack on states’ rights.”
During an interview on CBS News in early June 2025, however, Noem backed President Trump’s call to federalize the California National Guard after Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations sparked protests in Los Angeles.
National guards were also federalized without a governor’s permission in 1957 to enforce school integration in Arkansas and in 1965 to protect civil rights marchers.
This fact brief responds to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Newsweek, Republican Governor Warns Against Federalizing National Guard at Border
X, Kristi Noem interview with Fox News on Feb. 4, 2024
X, Kristi Noem tweet on Feb. 6, 2024
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