NASHVILLE, TN—For two years, Representative Rick Eldridge (R-Hamblen County) has attached his name to the Defend the Guard Act as a co-sponsor, aligning himself with this constitutional, America First legislation. While he has quietly enjoyed the credibility that comes with supporting a bill that protects Tennessee’s National Guard from being deployed into active combat without a congressional declaration of war, when the time came to stand firm, Eldridge crumbled under pressure, choosing fealty to federal subsidies over his sworn duty to the Constitution.

This week, as the Defend the Guard Act advanced toward a crucial vote, Eldridge attended a caucus meeting where the Tennessee Department of Military—represented by Lt. Col. Brian Celatka, the department’s legislative director—attempted to derail the bill with baseless threats and outright misinformation. Celatka, a taxpayer-funded bureaucrat masquerading as a neutral military expert, interrupted the presentation to claim that if Tennessee passed Defend the Guard, the National Guard Bureau, the Department of Defense, and the federal government would strip funding from the Tennessee National Guard.

Rather than push back against this obvious federal coercion, Eldridge immediately began wavering—despite having his name attached to the bill for two years.

But the most revealing moment of the caucus meeting came when Celatka was forced to answer a simple question: Under what authorization is the United States military—including the Tennessee National Guard—engaged in Syria?

Dan McKnight, Chairman of Bring Our Troops Home, laid out the exact reason Defend the Guard is necessary. He reminded the caucus that when President Obama sought authorization to take the U.S. military into Syria, Congress explicitly denied him. But he went anyway.

Turning directly to Lt. Col. Celatka, McKnight posed a simple but devastating question:

"We've been fighting in Syria for 12 years. Under what authorization are we there? When this war started, Congress told Obama ‘No, we are not going to war in Syria,’ and he ignored them. Instead, he used the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) from Afghanistan to justify sending American troops into Syria. What authorization is being used today?"

Caught off guard, Celatka stammered through his response:

"We have lots of authorizations."

McKnight pressed: "Let's name them."

Celatka, growing uncomfortable, doubled down:

"We have proper authorizations. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be there."

Pressed again, Celatka refused to name a single authorization, admitting:

"I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to name it."

Let that sink in: A taxpayer-funded lobbyist, sent to the Tennessee legislature to intimidate elected officials, could not even cite the legal justification for sending Tennessee’s National Guard into war. If the Pentagon’s own representatives can’t explain what legal basis allows Tennessee soldiers to fight and die in Syria, then how can anyone pretend that federal war policy is being conducted lawfully?

Despite having every opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to the Defend the Guard Act, Eldridge left the meeting uncommitted.

The next day, the Defend the Guard Act was heard in a subcommittee. A packed room of Tennessee veterans, citizens, and stakeholders showed overwhelming support for the bill. The opposition? The Tennessee Adjutant General, who—just like Celatka—repeated the same tired threats of lost funding, hoping to scare legislators into submission.

Then came Eldridge’s moment of truth.

Instead of voting to support the very bill he had co-sponsored, Eldridge made a motion to send the bill to a summer study session—a well-known legislative graveyard designed to quietly kill bills without forcing lawmakers to go on the record with a vote.

"Eldridge had two full years to research and understand this bill," said Dan McKnight, Chairman of Bring Our Troops Home. "Yet after a ten-minute scare session from a lieutenant colonel, he suddenly decided he needed ‘more time’ to study it? That’s not leadership—it’s cowardice."

McKnight continued:

"Eldridge has clearly forgotten his oath. When the men and women of the National Guard raise their right hand, they swear to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic—even at the cost of their lives. The legislators in the Tennessee House of Representatives take that same oath. But for them, the price of defending the Constitution is not life or limb—it is merely political courage. Eldridge demonstrated that his oath is meaningless and that federal subsidies matter more than the supreme law of the land. If he can’t handle the responsibility, he should resign immediately and enroll in the nearest elementary school for a remedial civics class."

"Eldridge sleeps comfortably at night knowing that the men and women of the Tennessee National Guard are willing to stand up and honor their oath to defend America when called upon. But the men and women of the Tennessee National Guard do not have that same comfort in knowing that Rick Eldridge has their back on the homefront—to ensure that they are not misused in violation of the very Constitution they swore to protect.”

Tennessee’s National Guardsmen risk their lives upholding their oaths. But Rick Eldridge wouldn’t even risk a vote.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Brian Celatka, the military bureaucrat tasked with lobbying against the bill, couldn’t even articulate what legal authority justifies Tennessee’s National Guard fighting in an unconstitutional war.

The cowardice and betrayal displayed by Rick Eldridge and the military lobbyists fighting against Defend the Guard has been seen and noted by his constituents, by veterans across Tennessee, and by every American who believes in constitutional governance, state sovereignty, and an America First foreign policy.

Eldridge’s name will now be synonymous with political cowardice. And when he faces his constituents again, he will have to answer for selling out Tennessee’s National Guard to unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.

REPRESENTATIVE RICK ELDRIDGE BETRAYS TENNESSEE VETERANS AND THE CONSTITUTION, CAVES TO FEDERAL THREATS

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