President Biden announced his intent to appoint Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to the Council of Governors for two-year terms. The Council of Governors is comprised of 10 bipartisan Governors from across the country and serves as the lead forum to increase coordination around preparedness, resilience, and response between the Federal government and state governments, and strengthen the Federal-State partnership that’s critical to protecting our nation from threats to our homeland security. The Council of Governors serves as the lead forum for communication and collaboration between the States and the Federal government on homeland defense, civil support, synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States, and matters of mutual interest pertaining to the National Guard. This year, the Council of Governors will for the first-time discuss supply chain resiliency and Federal-State cooperation to mitigate risks to defense critical infrastructure.
The Council includes leaders across the Federal government: the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, the Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the Commander of U.S. Northern Command. Other key Federal officials such as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are regular participants.
Governors Holcomb and Lujan Grisham will replace Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee who completed their terms on the Council of Governors.
Governors Holcomb and Lujan Grisham will join eight members of the Council of Governors who were appointed by the President in July 2021.
Members of the Council of Governors:
- Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Co-Chair
- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Co-Chair
- Delaware Governor John Carney
- Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb
- Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards
- Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
- New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
- Utah Governor Spencer Cox
- Vermont Governor Phil Scott
- Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon
Governor Eric J. Holcomb
Eric J. Holcomb currently serves as the 51st Governor of the State of Indiana. Elected by his fellow Hoosiers to a second term in 2020, he received the most votes for governor in Indiana history. Under Holcomb’s leadership, Indiana’s economy is strong, the state’s finances are honestly balanced, and the state is streamlining government services and returning dollars to Hoosier taxpayers, while simultaneously delivering significant investments and advancements in infrastructure, education, workforce, quality of life, and public health. During Holcomb’s terms, Indiana employees and employers are enjoying consecutive record-breaking years of job commitments. Holcomb serves on the Executive Committee of the Republican Governors Association and previously served as its policy chairman. In 2018, The Hill named him one of 10 governors shaping the future of politics.
He is a graduate of Pike High School in Indianapolis and Hanover College in southeastern Indiana. Prior to his election as Governor in 2016, following an unprecedented 106-day campaign, Holcomb served as Indiana’s 51st Lieutenant Governor.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
Michelle Lujan Grisham currently serves as the thirty-second governor of the state of New Mexico, the first Democratic Hispanic woman to be elected governor in U.S. history. Under Lujan Grisham’s leadership, New Mexico has implemented a series of evidence-based policies aimed at transforming New Mexico’s public education system, expanding the state’s economy to include more high-quality employment opportunities, and preserving New Mexico’s air, land, and water. Lujan Grisham is building a comprehensive cradle-to-career education system, expanding cost-free child care to more New Mexico families than ever before and establishing the most expansive free college program in the country. She has prioritized economic diversification, leading the state’s booming film and television industry to record-breaking growth and bringing the state’s unemployment rate to a fifteen-year low. Prior to serving as governor, Lujan Grisham served three terms in Congress representing New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District.
Lujan Grisham is a graduate of St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe and the University of New Mexico where she received her undergraduate and law degrees.
About the Council of Governors:
The Council of Governors was authorized in 2008 by the National Defense Authorization Act and formally established by then-President Obama’s Executive Order 13528 issued on January 11, 2010. The Council focuses on matters of homeland security; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of state and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest, including those involving the National Guard. Federal-State cooperation is critical to protecting communities given the evolving challenges and threats facing our country, which range from extreme weather to domestic and international terrorism to a global pandemic.
