Yesterday, January the 11th 2010, President Obama signed an executive order forming a new "Council of Governors."

The White House website states:

"The bipartisan Council will be composed of ten State Governors who will be selected by the President to serve two year terms.  In selecting the Governors to the Council, the White House will solicit input from Governors and Governors’ associations.  Once chosen, the Council will have no more than five members from the same party and represent the Nation as a whole.

Federal members of the Council include the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs, the U.S. Northern Command Commander, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau.  The Secretary of Defense will designate an Executive Director for the Council.

The Council of Governors will provide an invaluable Senior Administration forum for exchanging views with State and local officials on strengthening our National resilience and the homeland defense and civil support challenges facing our Nation today and in the future."

Ultimately this executive order helps to increase the power of the federal government by diminishing the sovereignty of the individual state, and helps to build a basic framework for possible martial law.

You can find the pdf of this executive order here-

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/2010executive_order.pdf