H.R. 5093 — District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act

This section designates the Mayor of the District of Columbia as commander-in-chief of the D.C. National Guard (previously the President of the United States) and transfers related authorities from the President (and, in limited cases, the Secretary of the Army or U.S. Marshal) to the Mayor by amending the D.C. militia act of 1889 as follows: (1) authorizes the Mayor to manage the reserve corps; (2) authorizes the Mayor to appoint, promote, and retire commissioned officers and replaces the examination board appointed by the Secretary of the Army with one appointed by the Commanding General (with final approval by the Mayor); (3) authorizes the Mayor to call Guard members to duty (removing prior authority of the U.S. Marshal); and (4) authorizes the Mayor to convene general courts-martial. (As background, the D.C. National Guard is unique among National Guards as it has been under direct federal presidential control rather than a state governor; thus, these changes devolve command to local D.C. civilian leadership.)

This section revises multiple sections of Title 10, U.S. Code, by replacing references to “the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard” with “the Mayor of the District of Columbia” in provisions governing (1) failure to satisfactorily perform prescribed training; (2) appointment of the chief, vice chief, and other senior officers of the National Guard Bureau; (3) consent requirements for active duty orders or relocation of personnel or units; and (4) consent for relocation of units. (Thus, these changes transfer specified command authorities over the District of Columbia National Guard—a federally controlled force unlike state National Guards—from the commanding general to the Mayor.)

This section amends multiple sections of title 32, United States Code, to replace authority of the Commanding General of the District of Columbia National Guard with the Mayor of the District of Columbia in provisions governing (1) maintenance of other troops; (2) drug interdiction and counter-drug activities; (3) appointment of adjutant general (including striking subsection (b) of section 314 and redesignating subsequent subsections); (4) relief from National Guard duty; (5) orders to active Guard and Reserve duty (including updating the section heading and table of sections); (6) personnel matters; (7) National Guard Challenge Program; (8) issuance of supplies; and (9) appointment of fiscal officer. The section also adds a definition of "State" in section 113(e) to explicitly include the District of Columbia for purposes of additional National Guard assistance.