Rep. Adam Kinzinger deployed to U.S.-Mexico border – POLITICO

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger was deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this week with his Air National Guard unit, his office announced on Wednesday evening.

“The Congressman is humbled to serve his IL-16 community here in the People’s House and equally proud to serve as a reconnaissance pilot in the Air National Guard,” Kinzinger’s communications director, Maura Gillespie, said in a statement. “In both of these roles, Congressman Kinzinger fights to make our national security stronger, our border more secure, and our communities safer.”

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Kinzinger won reelection to his fourth term in November and is frequently featured on cable TV to offer his views on national security matters. The Illinois Republican is a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard and also one of 96 military members or veterans in the 116th Congress, according to a Military Times report. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who announced her presidential aspirations last month, is also on active duty, as a major in the Hawaii National Guard.

The Pentagon announced on Feb. 3 that President Donald Trump had ordered 3,750 troops to the border to join the estimated 4,350 already deployed. Trump’s decision to order forces to the border before the midterm elections was controversial, and in a sign of continuing skepticism of that move, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat, is halting the deployment of his state’s National Guard. Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush both sent troops to the border during their respective presidencies.

While there are some constitutional questions over whether a member of Congress can serve in the military at the same time, the issue has never been explicitly resolved.

In one instance, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was challenged in military court in 2005 over whether he could serve in the U.S. Senate and as an appellate judge on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. The highest court in the military system later ruled he could not. Graham retired from the Air Force Reserve a decade later, after reaching the mandatory retirement age for the service of 60 in 2015.