At the direction of a political donor, the state of South Dakota is deploying National Guard troops to the border in South Texas. This is a bad idea, and raises legal concerns.
As reported by multiple outlets, Tennessee billionaire Willis Johnson sent South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem $1 million to pay for the deployment, telling Politico, “I’m trying to help out the governor and help America.”
But Johnson’s action here, and any endorsement of it by Noem or Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, will do just the opposite, because it violates longstanding precedents related to military oversight and democracy.
