Hang It On the Commission: The co-chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus—Sen. Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)—asked the Commission on the Guard and Reserves to include in its initial 90-day report a favorable recommendation on the caucus proposal to elevate the position of the National Guard within the Pentagon. If the commission finds it a “worthwhile proposal,” said Bond, then he and Leahy will get legislation started. Leahy remarked that the commission’s support would provide “enormous momentum.” He doesn’t know whether it would succeed this year or next, but he is “convinced that such legislation will eventually pass.”
The Pentagon is counting on Congress to navigate a legislative tightrope and pass a party-line bill to fund nearly a quarter of its $1.5 trillion budget request for fiscal 2027, including billions of dollars for top priorities like Golden Dome, the F-35, munitions, and unmanned systems. Experts and lawmakers from…