Panel opposes addition of Guard to Joint Chiefs Of Staff

The National Guard and Reserves Commission will announce next week that it opposes a bipartisan effort in Congress to boost the Guard's clout by making its leader a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, congressional aides familiar with the independent panel's report told CongressDaily Thursday.

The panel's views, contained in a preliminary report to Congress that will be released March 1, will likely bring denunciations from lawmakers who were hoping for an endorsement of the National Guard Empowerment bill, which would give the heavily deployed reserve force more power over its organization, operations and budgets.

According to the aides, the commission will announce its preference for modest changes, including the promotion of the three-star Guard chief to four-star rank and designation of the chief as an adviser to the Joint Chiefs chairman. These changes resemble parts of a compromise Senate advocates proposed last fall.

That compromise passed the Senate as an amendment to the fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill but died in conference with the House, prompting Guard supporters to reintroduce the full measure last month.

The commission, created by Congress to offer advice on issues affecting the Guard and Reserves, will also reject a provision in the bill that would give the National Guard its own budget authority. Currently, the Guard budget falls under the Army and Air Force budgets.

The commission suggests the National Guard communicate its homeland security equipping needs to the Homeland Security Department, which would relay them to the Pentagon, essentially adding another layer of bureaucracy to the Guard's budget process.

The commission also favors creation of an advisory council of 10 governors appointed by the president who would report directly to the Defense and Homeland Security secretaries, the White House Homeland Security Council and the National Governors Association. That recommendation, according to the aides, would erode the power of the Guard Bureau, which essentially serves as a conduit between the states and federal government.

The commission, meanwhile, agrees with congressional efforts to revise the Guard bureau's charter, particularly to define its relationship with unified commands and Homeland Security. But commissioners want the Army and Air Force secretaries to take the lead and made no mention of the Guard's involvement, aides said.

While the report rejects much of the Guard empowerment bill, the measure's co-sponsors -- Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., and Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., and Gene Taylor, D-Miss. -- plan to move ahead. They are counting on the backing of dozens of lawmakers who supported the legislation last year. And pressure to back the bill is likely to come from National Guard units, which are descended from colonial-era militias and draw volunteers who live and work in every district.

Still, the commission's findings might help some key lawmakers -- including House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who has been awaiting the panel's report before taking a position -- oppose the more radical changes proposed in the bill.