FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2026
Crapo, Risch, Moran, Rosen Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Consolidate National Guard Duty Statuses
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Jacky Rosen (D-Neveda) to introduce the bipartisan Duty Status Reform Act to make comprehensive reforms to the National Guard by consolidating and streamlining the duty status framework.
“National Guard members answer the call whenever their communities, states or nation need them, and they should not have to navigate an overly complicated administrative system while doing so,” said Crapo. “The Duty Status Reform Act streamlines an outdated framework, improves readiness and helps ensure Guard members receive consistent pay, benefits and support regardless of the mission they are performing. This bipartisan legislation would better align policy with the realities of today’s National Guard and the critical missions it performs.”
“The Idaho National Guard is always ready, always there to protect our communities, respond to crises, and defend our nation,” said Risch. “The Duty Status Reform Act makes commonsense administrative changes to remove outdated and burdensome red tape and ensure the men and women of our National Guard receive the pay and benefits they have earned.”
“The men and women of the National Guard in Kansas and across the country play a critical role in serving our communities and defending our nation,” said Moran. “As the Guard’s mission has evolved, the duty status system has become increasingly complex. This legislation will simplify the structure and strengthen the Guard’s ability to carry out its missions by standardizing pay and benefits, bolstering readiness and better supporting those who serve.”
“Duty Status Reform is a necessary overhaul to antiquated administrative systems that have negatively impacted our Reserve and National Guard servicemembers’ quality of life and readiness,” said Rosen. “That’s why I’m proud to help introduce this bipartisan bill to cut through the red tape by simplifying the duty status structure from nearly 30 statuses down to four so the reserve component will receive timely and equitable pay and benefits without preventable delays or disruption. This legislation ensures the reserve component receives fair and equitable treatment when answering the call to service at a moment’s notice.”
The bill is also co-sponsored by Senators Tim Sheehy (R-Montana), Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey). Representatives Gil Cisneros (D-California) and Jack Bergman (R-Michigan) are leading companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Specifically, the Duty Status Reform Act would:
- Standardize pay and benefits;
- Improve deployment readiness by clearly outlining mission eligibility requirements;
- Provide servicemembers and commanders with greater clarity on the duties servicemembers can perform before extensions are required;
- Ease transitions as servicemembers move from one status to another; and
- Improve consistency in veterans’ benefits eligibility for Guard members by reducing disparities resulting from differing duty statuses.
The legislation would create four duty statuses:
- Category 1: Active Duty – war, national emergency, disaster response, cyber/WMD events, presidential call-ups and pre-planned missions.
- Category 2: Active Duty – disciplinary jurisdiction, missing status, required active-duty training and Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) functions.
- Category 3: Reserve Component Duty – required annual training, musters, Inactive Duty Training (IDT)-like duties and additional training with consent.
- Category 4: Remote Assignments – flexible tasks, online learning and individually assigned non-supervised duties.
Full text of the legislation can be found HERE.
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