Gov. Ron DeSantis' selection to lead the Florida State Guard has yet to be confirmed, even though he's leading that revived armed force out of state to help Texas police the Mexican border.
Monday will bring the first test of how much that actually matters to legislators.
The Senate Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security committee is set to advance the nomination of Mark Thieme of Apollo Beach Monday afternoon.
Thieme is the third person to hold the position in less than a year and a half, following retired Marine Lt. Col. Chris Graham, who died in 2022 and U.S. Navy Reserve Capt. Luis Soler, who quit last year for "personal reasons."
DeSantis has been jocular about concerns that the State Guard is his personal army.
"They were basically saying that, like, 'Gov. DeSantis is raising an army to raze the countryside," he said mockingly. "All they did was give free advertising for it, and so people were like, 'Oh man! I want to join the Florida State Guard. We're really excited about it.'"
However, in Jacksonville earlier this week, the Governor announced a forward deployment of the force, a seeming expansion of scope from the marketing copy. The group's website suggests a more limited mission: "State guards are authorized under Title 32 of the U.S. Code and operate distinctly from the National Guard. They are state-funded, responsive to the Governor and focused on the needs of their home state."
Florida Statute, however, says what the ad copy does not, allowing the armed force to be used "exclusively within the state, or to provide support to other states." So this kind of deployment is within the letter of the law the Legislature approved, especially given the alignment of the state's Attorney General and the vast majority of its judges.
For his part, Thieme is excited about what's to come, no matter where the Governor's orders might take his troop.
"The Florida State Guard is prepared to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with state agency partners in direct support of our brothers and sisters in Texas grappling with an unprecedented surge of illegal immigration along their border. The Florida State Guard is postured to deliver rapid emergency response, public safety operations and humanitarian assistance — wherever the need arises."
That need may arise well beyond Texas, if the state's top man has his way.
Just hours after announcing that he was sending his State Guard to Texas, along with National Guard troops and state troopers, the Governor told friendly interviewer Sean Hannity that he was ready to deploy them even farther away.
"But if California actually wants to stop people coming across the border, I'm happy to send to California as well because ultimately, I want the whole border secure. Texas is the first step, but we need all states to have secure borders," DeSantis said earlier this month on Fox News.
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Jesse Scheckner contributed reporting.
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