Idaho’s Gov. Brad Little went to the Texas-Mexico border on Tuesday to survey the humanitarian crisis there.
Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin took the opportunity to act as governor, without her boss’s permission.
“I fixed Gov. Little’s Executive Order,” she tweeted on Tuesday.
Little seemed unamused.
“I have not authorized the Lt. Governor to act on my behalf,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “I will be rescinding and reversing any actions taken by the Lt. Governor when I return,” he tweeted later that day.
While Little was visiting the U.S. border, McGeachin tried to deploy Idaho’s national guard to alleviate the border crisis.
She spoke to a major general within the Iowa National Guard, in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
“As of Wednesday, my constitutional authority as Governor affords me the power of activating the Idaho National Guard,” she wrote. “As the Adjutant General, I am requesting information from you on the steps needed for the Governor to activate the National Guard.”
The major general responded on Tuesday afternoon, AP reported.
“I am unaware of any request for Idaho National Guard assistance under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) from Texas or Arizona,” he wrote. “As you are aware, the Idaho National Guard is not a law enforcement agency.”
EMAC empowers the states to help other states in times of emergency. The governors of Texas and Arizona invoked EMAC in June, and Little promptly sent the Idaho State Police to the border.
Little, a Republican, has been meeting with other Republican governors this week in order to readdress their needs at the border.
Little prefers a calculated approach to the border crisis.
“I am visiting today to work with my fellow Republican governors on solutions to the crisis,” he said on Facebook. “This summer I worked closely with the states of Arizona and Texas to determine the most impactful way to support their mission, and I sent a specialized team of Idaho State Police troopers to support drug interdiction efforts at the border.”
In his statement, Little claimed that Idahoans chose him as governor, not McGeachin.
“The people of Idaho can be assured that, as their duly elected governor, I will continue to fight this important issue,” he wrote on Facebook.
In Idaho, the governor and the lieutenant governor are elected on different tickets. Both are Republicans.
Little was first elected in 2018. He may run for reelection in 2022, if he chooses.
Meanwhile, McGeachin has already announced her candidacy for governor. She’s been campaigning for more than three months.
However, she has hampered her campaign by miring herself in a nasty lawsuit. A district court ordered her to release certain records from her office’s investigation of public schools, and she refused. Then, she waited too long to formally challenge the court order.
She also asked the state for $50,000 in taxpayer money to cover the legal bills, even though she hired a private attorney
Back in Idaho, Little accused McGeachin of using the National Guard to boost her political profile.
He said, “Attempting to deploy our National Guard for political grandstanding is an affront to the Idaho constitution and insults the men and women who have dedicated their life to serving our state and country.”
McGeachin has stepped on Little’s toes before, too. Little left the state in May, and, during that time, McGeachin banned mask mandates without his permission.
Little reversed McGeachin’s actions upon returning. He preferred to leave the decision up to local governments, and he himself has never issued either a mask mandate or a ban on mask mandates.
Little’s rivalry with McGeachin may become even more heated in the future. After all, these two politicians may be running against each other in 2022.
The AP reached out to McGeachin for comment, but she failed to respond.
Today, as Acting Governor, I fixed Gov. Little's Executive Order on "vaccine passports" to make sure that K-12 schools and universities cannot require vaccinations OR require mandatory testing. I will continue to fight for your individual Liberty! #idpol pic.twitter.com/Jz87jfZaWc
— Janice McGeachin (@JaniceMcGeachin) October 5, 2021
The Associated Press and The Horn editorial team contributed to this article.