President Donald Trump announced this week that Democrat North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has been named to the National Governors Association’s (NGA) Council of Governors, a bipartisan group of state leaders tasked with strengthening state-federal partnerships on key national security, disaster response, and military coordination issues.

He will also serve as co-chair, along with Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-FL, Gov. Brian Kemp, R-GA, Gov. Jeff Landry, R-LA, Gov. Wes Moore, D-MD, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-MI, Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-NY, Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-PA, and Gov. Henry McMaster, R-SC round out the rest of the council.

The Council of Governors was established by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 and formally created by Executive Order 13528 in 2010. It is a key forum for governors and federal officials to enhance collaboration on disaster response, National Guard operations, and military integration within the states.

Governors are appointed to two-year terms by the President, five from each party, with two governors serving as co-chairs. The Executive Order specifically names several federal participants in the council, including the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, the President’s Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor, the Commander of US Northern Command, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau.

To ensure that the council appropriately represents all governors, the council co-chairs, through the National Governors Association, share documents for review and discussion with all governors’ offices before their approval.

The council lists as it’s key issues: Supporting the National Guard and Military Families, Improving Catastrophic Disaster Response and Recovery, Building Cybersecurity Partnerships and Resilience, and Informing Federal Budgetary Considerations.

Former Democrat Gov. Bev Perdue served on the council in 2010 and 2011.

Former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory was named to the NGA’s Executive Committee in 2014, and former Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper was named in 2017.

The committee members, who serve for one year, supervise the association’s operations on behalf of the entire membership, have general authority over all policy issues, and have primary jurisdiction over issues involving federalism, homeland security, the federal budget, and federal tax policy.