Members of the General Assembly are considering a bill preventing the unauthorized use of Virginia troops.
250 years ago, the Declaration of Independence slammed the King of England for keeping standing armies, quartering troops and using foreign mercenaries. Fast forward to 2026, and America is celebrating the semi quincentennial, as the General Assembly considers a bill to make sure that Virginia's National Guard are following orders from the governor of Virginia.
"When our ancestors listed their grievances against King George III, they did not begin with taxation," says Senator Russett Perry, a Democrat from Loudoun. "They began with the quartering of soldiers and the imposition of standing armies upon the colonies without their consent."
Republican Senator Bryce Reeves of Orange says this bill is a terrible idea.
"If we're going to poke the bear, don't be surprised if the Department of War comes down and takes our helicopters so we can't respond to natural disasters and takes all of our equipment because that's what we’re going to try to do," Reeves says. "We're going to poke the bear, and the bear is going to bite back."
Perry's bill to prevent the unauthorized use of Virginia troops passed on a party-line vote, and it’s now heading across the hall to the House of Delegates.
