I commend Governor Ferguson’s refusal to activate the Washington Nationwide Guard (“Ferguson axed plans to send troops to border,” April 17, Information) to help federal businesses on the Canadian border. When Nationwide Guard troops help on a federal mission, they need to be activated by the president and federalized, which implies paid for by federal and never state {dollars}. The Trump administration, guided by Musk’s DOGE crew, is systematically decreasing essential federal features that help native and state governments. Many federal businesses are being focused for extreme, even unconscionable reductions, and the homeland safety secretary asserted that she wished to “get rid of” FEMA. Musk’s DOGE crew is already dismantling key FEMA packages that help native and state resiliency efforts.
If the Trump administration persists in turning away from sharing the accountability to help our state, then it may finance no matter it thinks it’s doing at our northern border from its personal pocketbook. The Washington Nationwide Guard is a treasured useful resource for our state, and we must always take care to not interact its sources, and state {dollars}, in “present” missions on our northern border. That proposal shouldn’t have handed the chortle check within the protection division.
Jim Mullen, Seattle
