Mike Pompeo speaks at the National Governors Association's 2020 winter meeting. In 1907, the
Inland Waterways Commission thought it necessary to ask the
Conference of Governors to provide both state and national views relating to practical questions dealing with natural resources utilization and management in the
Progressive Era. The NGA represents the
governors of the fifty
U.S. states and five
U.S. territories (
American Samoa,
Guam, the
Northern Mariana Islands,
Puerto Rico, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands). It is funded primarily by state dues, federal grants and contracts, and private contributions. The NGA adopted a policy in 1977 formalizing its standard practice dating back to 1941: The position of NGA chair alternates yearly between
Republican and
Democratic governors, so that neither party can control the position for two consecutive years. The vice chair is of the opposite party to the chair, and generally assumes the role of NGA chair the following year. ,
Bill Clinton is the only former NGA chair to become
president of the United States.
Janet Napolitano became the first female chair in 2006. The association's declaration of bipartisanship has been challenged after incidents such as statements made at the White House and on air by Louisiana governor
Bobby Jindal during the 2014 annual summer meeting. In February 2020, then
secretary of state Mike Pompeo warned the National Governors Association that the
Chinese Communist Party was actively attempting to influence U.S. policy through state governors and local officials. In October 2020, the
United States Department of State discontinued U.S. participation in the U.S.-China Governors Forum to Promote Sub-National Cooperation due to alleged attempts by the
Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, a front organization for the CCP's
United Front Work Department, to "malignly influence state and local leaders" in the U.S. In July 2025 Democratic governors
Laura Kelly of Kansas and
Tim Walz of Minnesota, announced their intent to depart from the association citing a lack of criticism of policies during the
second presidency of Donald Trump and criticism of the organization's response to incidents of Trump threatening federal funding and threatening federal interference in operations in Democratic-run states. Similarly, in October 2025, Democratic governors
Gavin Newsom of California and
JB Pritzker of Illinois issued separate statements threatening to withdraw their states from the association in protest of the organization's lack of any denouncements of the deployments of the National Guard against the wishes of affected state governors. ==Chairs==