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EXCLUSIVE: At a time of growing political polarization across the country, Bill McBride, who is stepping down as chief executive National Governors Associationprovided an inside look at how a bastion of bipartisan cooperation works to resolve national crises.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, McBride discussed his role in working with both Republican and Democratic governors to guide the 117-year-old organization through some of the most turbulent periods in recent U.S. history, including COVID-19 pandemic.
Under his leadership, NGA achieved record participation from all 50 states and five U.S. territories. He led the NGA with four different governors serving as chairmen: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat; Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican; Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Democrat; and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican. He launched several bipartisan policy initiatives that had an impact throughout the country.
Three recent NGA chairs: Gov. Jared Polis, Democrat of Colorado; Gov. Spencer Cox, R-Utah; and the current chairman, Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Oklahoma. (David Zalubowski/AP Photo; Brandon Bell/Getty Images; Rick Bowmer/AP Photo)
He explained that while politicians in Congress can get bogged down in political games – as evidenced by government shutdown “Governors are under enormous pressure to deliver results. The need to take action often helps them focus on solutions rather than politics.
“Leaders have to work, and you have to make quick decisions, because if you don’t, things just won’t get done.”
According to McBride, NGA has thrived under the most difficult circumstances. He said the pandemic was a real turning point in bringing governors from both parties to the table to discuss difficult issues. During this time, NGA convened governors weekly to coordinate strategy, share data, and interact directly with federal agencies.
“I think we did about 67 weeks of these calls. And these calls were answered by 40 to 45 governors. And looking back, we covered everything. You know, it started with what is a pandemic? Do you know what caused this virus? Then we talked about vaccines, getting vaccines, testing equipment and supplies and just all the challenges that governors were facing,” he said. “It really brought the group together a lot. And it wasn't just the weekly calls that we had, because then they started calling each other individually and exchanging information. So this has been a huge resource for governors.”
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National Governors Association (NGA) Chairman Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Oklahoma, and Vice-Chair Gov. Wes Moore, D-Maryland, shake hands after speaking to the media at the summer meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)
McBride lamented that this type of bipartisanship is becoming increasingly rare outside of groups like the NGA.
“I think we've gotten to the point where people are locked into different camps and don't want to compromise and talk to anyone else because maybe out of fear, maybe out of stubbornness, but I think you can really learn a lot by crossing the aisle and getting different opinions from different people before you form your own opinion,” he explained.
The NGA was founded as the Governors' Conference in 1908 at the call of President Theodore Roosevelt. McBride explained that by staying out of politics, NGA was able to focus on helping governors find practical policy solutions to the problems facing each state.
“Governors are leaders and they have to get results,” he explained. “We do everything from energy, education, infrastructure, homeland security to cybersecurity. I could go on and on. And we have teams that work on these policy issues and work with governors' offices to help them create policy solutions.”
“We're actually a politically driven organization, but another very important thing is we're a bipartisan organization, we're not a political organization. We do not participate in political campaigns,” he continued.
“What I've found fascinating in the time I've been here is when you see governors from both political parties together, how they get along with each other,” he said. “Of course they have philosophical differences on things, but they are all leaders of states facing similar problems, and they learn from each other, spend time with each other and share ideas.”
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Charlie Kirk speaks at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah, before his murder. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
He compared the NGA's mission to an initiative Cox launched when he was chairman called “Better to Disagree.” He shared that he believes this initiative helped Cox prepare well for the shocking murder of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
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“Disagree Better was founded on the idea that we can disagree with each other, but we don’t have to hate each other,” he said. “Governor Cox did a great job on it, and I have to say, I think it really helped prepare him for the situation he faced in Utah with the recent murder of Charlie Kirk.”
“We've seen Gov. Cox come to this point and talk about how we can disagree with each other, but we don't have to resort to violence,” he said. “Governors can take the lead on this issue, and I think they have done that.”
