National Guard to join Joint Chiefs of Staff

last updated 8 January 2015

The Senate voted this week to allow the head of the National Guard to join the Joint Chiefs of Staff, despite staunch opposition from the chairman and the service chiefs. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, author of the bill, pointed out that the Guard’s duties have expanded greatly since the 2001 terrorist attacks, but it has been “trapped in a 20th-century Pentagon bureaucracy.” Seventy-one senators co-sponsored Leahy’s bill, which passed by voice vote, signaling deep, bipartisan support. A similar bill passed the House earlier this year. “The world has changed dramatically,” said Leahy, who added that the military’s objections reflected an outdated mentality.