The House of Representatives included in its version of the 2007 defense authorization bill a provision that would give the president control over Guard troops during "a serious natural or man-made disaster, accident, or catastrophe that occurs in the United States, its territories and possessions, or Puerto Rico."

This could be done without the governor's consent, according to the legislation.

"This provision was drafted without consultation or input from governors and represents an unprecedented shift in authority from governors as Commanders and Chief of the Guard to the federal government," states the Aug. 6 letter to the leaders of the House and the Senate.

"We take very seriously our constitutional duty to protect our citizens and lead our Guard. We are responsible for the safety and welfare of our citizens and are in the best position to coordinate all resources to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. The current process by which we use our National Guard in emergencies and request federal assistance when necessary works well and should not be changed," the letter states.

National Guard troops under governor control occupy a special legal status under Title 32 of U.S. Code that is particularly suited to civil unrest or natural disaster: among their powers is the power to act as a police force and arrest and detain citizens, useful in a riot or a looting scenario.

When under federal control - that is, activated by the president under Title 10 of U.S. Code -- they are considered the "ready reserve" and are limited to the same powers as active-duty troops. That means they cannot arrest and detain U.S. citizens, unless there is an insurrection and martial law is declared.

The House language does not address those different powers and roles, said Nolan Jones, deputy director for federal relations at the National Governor's Association in Washington. Under this language, if the president activated the Guard to use in a domestic crisis, it would not have the power to arrest, and would therefore be less effective.

More worrisome, however, is the White House usurping state powers, said Jones.

"It's frightening because it's not insurrection. This gives him blanket power to do this at any time," said Jones. "The president can call the Guard at any point in time and take over."

The White House said last year it would be seeking special powers over the Guard which would allow the president to act in a crisis even if a governor does not request federal help.

"It wouldn't be necessary to get a request from the governor or take other action," then White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in September.

When McClellan made his comment, the White House was still reeling from its poor showing in New Orleans after the levies were breeched and flooded the city, and was blaming Gov. Blanco for failing to request federal aid and troops.

In fact, Blanco had declared Louisiana a disaster area on Aug. 26 in anticipation of Hurricane Katrina which hit on Aug. 29.

In the week that followed Blanco, on the advice of National Guard commander Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, resisted White House pressure to "dual-hat" National Guard troops, putting them under the command of an active duty military general while at the same time keeping her own command.

On Thursday, Sept. 1, Blum met with Blanco in Louisiana to discuss the National Guard response to the disaster. Blum agreed to an accelerated schedule for the influx of 20,000 more National Guard troops, and told Blanco there would not be a material benefit to Louisiana in terms of additional personnel or materiel if she gave up command of the Guard to the federal government.

On Friday, Sept. 2, however, White House Chief of Staff Andy Card told Blanco if she signed a memorandum of agreement dual-hatting the troops in Louisiana -- putting them all under the command of active duty Army Lt. Gen. Russ Honore as well as the governor's office -- the recovery operation would move more quickly, Blanco's chief of staff told congressional investigators last year.

Card told Lt. Gen. Blum, then back in Washington, to make the offer.

"I was asked to deliver an option, which I did, and the option was to federalize this," Blum told the Senate Governmental Affairs investigation committee Jan. 19 during an interview. "It wasn't my option. I was delivering an option that was put together by someone else and they said call and see if she'll like this. So I called them, and she didn't like it."

Blum told the Governmental Affairs Committee in February Blanco "absolutely" made the right decision in resisting the pressure to dual-hat the National Guard commander.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Security Paul McHale, a former Marine, agreed. He told the committee in February such an arrangement would have been untenable, as it would have placed officers in the cross-fire between the White House and a governor if there were conflicting priorities or orders for the troops.

According to the NGA, the House language would create the very same problem.

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