In ‘rare’ move, Missouri governor leaves US after calling up National Guard
When Gov. Mike Kehoe activated the Missouri National Guard last week ahead of planned anti-Trump protests, the Republican governor also declared a state of emergency “due to civil unrest” that will last through the end of the month.
The weekend protests in Kansas City and across Missouri were peaceful and came and went without incident. But the Republican governor’s state of emergency remains in effect — and now Kehoe has left the country for a scheduled trade mission trip in France.
In his place, Lt. Gov. David Wasinger, a first-time officeholder who ran as a conservative firebrand, will serve as acting governor until Kehoe returns on Friday.
Kehoe’s state of emergency and activation of the National Guard without evidence of widespread violence in the state drew sharp condemnation from critics. But the decision to do so just days before leaving the country, potentially giving another officeholder the power to oversee the state of emergency, was highly unusual, political scientists say.
“It’s probably not unprecedented, but it is certainly rare,” said Daniel Ponder, a political science professor at Drury University in Springfield.
Kehoe framed the move to call up the National Guard as proactive and there were no reports of soldiers deployed to protests across the state. But the active state of emergency now raises questions, experts and critics say, about how Wasinger will handle his temporary role.
“You can run into some problems when there’s an ambitious lieutenant governor who might be trying to assert more power than the governor would certainly want to exercise,” said Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
However, before he left the country, Kehoe issued, and Wasinger signed, a strict set of rules that severely limits the amount of power Wasinger will have in his new role. The document, obtained by The Star, transferred certain powers to Wasinger while Kehoe is considered “effectively absent” from the state.
But the guidelines also sharply curtail Wasinger’s ability to conduct most major gubernatorial actions without Kehoe’s written consent. Those actions include the ability to call the National Guard into active duty, issue executive orders and sign or veto legislation, among other decisions.
In addition to Wasinger’s limited power, the document also made clear that, during his absence, Kehoe can still “exercise the full powers of the Governor during this time if necessary.”
The restrictions are particularly noteworthy given Kehoe’s prior experience as lieutenant governor, where he appeared to have more leeway to make decisions. As acting governor when former Gov. Mike Parson was away from the state., Kehoe made appointments and extended or issued executive orders, including a state of emergency.
When asked how Wasinger would address the state of emergency declaration, a Wasinger spokesperson said in a statement that the acting governor “continues to monitor the situation.”
“At this time, there are no plans to alter or expand the current National Guard posture,” said spokesperson Chris Walker. “Should conditions change, he will work with the governor’s office and relevant state agencies to maintain public safety and the rule of law.”
Wasinger as acting governor
The questions surrounding how Wasinger might handle the temporary role come after the first-time officeholder campaigned on a promise to “take a hammer to the Jefferson City establishment.” Wasinger has since pushed to expand the powers of the office, sparking concern even among some Republicans.
“I think that there should be genuine concern that someone as politically inexperienced as our lieutenant governor has been left in charge of our state,” said House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat.
However, Aune added that she felt more at ease after reading through the strict set of rules Kehoe gave Wasinger. It seemed like Wasinger, she said, “actually doesn’t have any real power right now.”
The lieutenant governor position, which runs on a separate ticket from the governor, is one of the least public-facing statewide positions in Missouri and largely presides over the state Senate.
But, in a rare speech in the Senate chamber last month, Wasinger vowed to take “a far more active role” because “some rules need to be changed within this chamber.”
Concerns over National Guard activation
Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin, a Shelbina Republican, was one of the senators who criticized Wasinger’s speech at the time, saying that he was out of line and did not have authority to change Senate rules.
In an interview on Monday, however, O’Laughlin said she was not concerned about Wasinger serving as acting governor during the state of emergency. She also touted Kehoe’s decision to activate the National Guard, saying that he was wise to prepare for “what might happen.”
“(Wasinger) has a degree of common sense and he’s not going to do anything foolish,” O’Laughlin said. “It doesn’t appear to me that we’re having, you know, any major issues in the state of Missouri and I don’t foresee anything like that happening.”
While Wasinger’s role as acting governor over the next week could be limited, Kehoe’s decision to keep the emergency declaration in place while out of the country is still raising eyebrows.
Some critics, including the ACLU of Missouri, want Kehoe to rescind the order and apologize for activating the National Guard prematurely without evidence of riots. Meanwhile, political scientists emphasize the unusual set of circumstances that led to Wasinger serving as acting governor during a state of emergency.
“I can’t think of anything, certainly in recent times in Missouri, that would be comparable to this,” said Squire, the political scientist at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
