Defense bill bans private funds for deploying National Guard

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The defense bill Congress has sent to President Joe Biden prohibits using private funds for interstate National Guard deployments like South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem did this year. The $768 billion defense bill cleared Congress on a bipartisan vote Wednesday (Dec. 15, 2021). It includes a section that prohibits National Guard units from being ordered to cross state borders if their deployment is funded privately, unless it’s for a federally-designated natural disaster. The bill’s language took direct aim at Noem’s decision to accept a $1 million donation from a Tennessee billionaire to send National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico in July 2021.