The Senate Armed Services Committee has included a provision in its version of a must-pass defense bill that would allow the Air Force to bypass state governors in transferring certain space-focused National Guard units into the active-duty Space Force, but with some exceptions.
The bill “requires the U.S. Air Force to transfer certain space functions of the Air National Guard to the U.S. Space Force,” but adds it “shall not reduce the end strength for the affected state Air National Guard organizations.” The Senate committee passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, on Thursday evening, but it still faces a long journey of negotiations with the House and votes before becoming law.
Late last month, the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the NDAA made transferring those space-focused units optional, not mandatory, and required that governors must approve of any transfers. The Senate’s version would allow those transfers to go ahead, but it is more limited in scope than the Air Force’s original proposal.
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Senate Armed Services Committee staff told reporters Friday that the language “is narrowly tailored to only the very specific units and potentially numbers of billets that would be affected,” adding that it would apply to six units in six states — limiting it to just under 600…
