Overview

• Minnesota’s Tim Walz and Kansas’s Laura Kelly paused their nearly $100,000 annual dues ahead of the Colorado Springs meeting, arguing the NGA has failed to challenge President Trump’s interventions in state matters.
• They criticized the association’s refusal to issue statements on Trump’s freeze on federal fund disbursements, the Maine transgender sports dispute, and the California National Guard deployment due to lack of unanimous support.
• NGA Communications Director Eric Wohlschlegel defended the policy, saying the group issues public statements only when governors of both parties reach full consensus.
• About two dozen governors are still expected at the Broadmoor resort this weekend for golf, meals and panels featuring HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., investor Mark Cuban and economist Jason Furman.
• The move revives memories of past administrations when governors withheld dues to pressure the NGA and underscores growing questions about its effectiveness in advocating for states’ rights.