The following editorial appeared Sunday in The (Olympia) Olympian.

Gov. Christine Gregoire is right to challenge the federal government over a plan to move air refueling tankers from Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane to a base in Iowa.

The tanker shuffle was part of the military redeployment effort by the Department of Defense and the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Fairchild would stand to lose 200 military and civilian jobs.

But Gregoire’s lawsuit is not based on the job losses. She questions whether the federal government has the authority to move National Guard troops without her consent.

It’s a legitimate question, and one that the courts must answer.

The courts have sent a mixed message on the issue. Federal judges in Connecticut and Tennessee agreed last week to block the base closing commission from recommending changes at two Air National Guard bases, which the governors argued couldn’t be altered without their authority. But a federal judge in St. Louis threw out a similar Missouri lawsuit.

Because National Guard troops are deployed to fight wildfires and respond to other disasters, the question of authority to relocate them deserves a definitive answer by the courts.

That’s why Gregoire was right to launch the challenge.