On Tuesday, the Virginia House of Delegates passed the Defend the Guard Act, legislation that would prohibit the deployment of the state’s National Guard to combat zones without a declaration of war from Congress, as required by the Constitution.
The bill passed unanimously in a vote of 99-0, and it now heads to the Virginia Senate. “HB2193 Defend the Guard Act passes the Virginia House of Delegates 99-0. On to the Virginia Senate,” Delegate Nick Freitas, a retired Green Beret who sponsored the bill, wrote on X. “Thank you all and God speed!”
Sgt. Dan McKnight, the chairman of Bring Our Troops Home, the organization behind the Defend the Guard Act, noted Virginia was the “home of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, all of whom agreed that this country can only go to war when there’s been a vote cast by the people’s elected representatives.”
McKnight said the Virginia House “made their forefathers incredibly proud by unanimously taking a stand and telling the federal government that it needs to obey Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution; before Virginia’s National Guard put their boots on the ground, members of Congress need to put their names on the dotted line.”
National Guard soldiers are often deployed in combat zones, including in Syria, Iraq, and Somalia. If Defend the Guard legislation starts becoming law in US states, it would significantly impact the federal government’s ability to wage unconstitutional wars.
Defend the Guard legislation has been introduced in multiple states this year, and Bring Our Troops Home needs volunteers to help push it across the finish line.
When Defend the Guard legislation is introduced, generals are always sent to discourage lawmakers from advancing it, meaning grassroots support is needed for it to succeed.
“The generals never fail to show up and apply pressure,” Diego Adrian Rivera, Director of Field Operations for Bring Our Troops Home, told Antiwar.com. “They never fail to call, to show up to testify, and threaten the lawmakers. Every time the grassroots fail to show up, the generals get their way.”
Click here to volunteer for phone banking for Defend the Guard, and go to Defendtheguard.us to see if the legislation has been introduced in your state.
Defend the Guard legislation has a better chance of advancing under the new Trump administration since Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth endorsed the movement before his confirmation.
“In December our Chairman [Dan McKnight] had an extended meeting with Pete, confirming his enthusiastic support for [Defend the Guard],” Bring Our Troops Home wrote on X after Hegseth’s confirmation. “This is a game changer. 2025 is when we BRING OUR TROOPS HOME.”
