diff --git a/evm/src/wormhole/Governance.sol b/evm/src/wormhole/Governance.sol
index bfc6b95d8..5141c4a15 100644
--- a/evm/src/wormhole/Governance.sol
+++ b/evm/src/wormhole/Governance.sol
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ import "wormhole-solidity-sdk/libraries/BytesParsing.sol";
 contract Governance {
     using BytesParsing for bytes;
 
+    // Only 2 Guardian signatures are required for quorum to call the pause function on governed contracts.
+    uint public constant PAUSER_QUORUM = 2;
+
     // "GeneralPurposeGovernance" (left padded)
     bytes32 public constant MODULE =
         0x000000000000000047656E6572616C507572706F7365476F7665726E616E6365;
@@ -79,6 +82,8 @@ contract Governance {
     }
 
     function performGovernance(bytes calldata vaa) external {
+        
+
         IWormhole.VM memory verified = _verifyGovernanceVAA(vaa);
         GeneralPurposeGovernanceMessage memory message =
             parseGeneralPurposeGovernanceMessage(verified.payload);
@@ -115,11 +120,23 @@ contract Governance {
         internal
         returns (IWormhole.VM memory parsedVM)
     {
-        (IWormhole.VM memory vm, bool valid, string memory reason) =
-            wormhole.parseAndVerifyVM(encodedVM);
-
-        if (!valid) {
-            revert(reason);
+        IWormhole.VM memory vm = wormhole.parseVM(encodedVM);
+        GeneralPurposeGovernanceMessage memory message =
+            parseGeneralPurposeGovernanceMessage(vm.payload);
+
+        bytes memory pauseSig = abi.encodeWithSignature("pause()");
+        if (keccak256(message.callData) == keccak256(pauseSig)) {
+            // If we're calling the pause() function, only require 2 Guardian signatures
+            (bool valid, string memory reason) = _verifyVMForPause(vm);
+            if (!valid) {
+                revert(reason);
+            }
+        } else {
+            // If we're calling any other function signature, require the full 13 Guardian signatures
+            (bool valid, string memory reason) = wormhole.verifyVM(vm);
+            if (!valid) {
+                revert(reason);
+            }
         }
 
         if (vm.emitterChainId != wormhole.governanceChainId()) {
@@ -135,6 +152,54 @@ contract Governance {
         return vm;
     }
 
+    /**
+    * @dev LOGIC COPIED FROM WORMHOLE CORE CONTRACT AND UPDATED TO HANDLE THE PAUSING CASE.
+    * `verifyVMInternal` serves to validate an arbitrary vm against a valid Guardian set.
+    * This function is only meant to be called after `parseVM`, so the hash field can be trusted.
+    * It will return true if the number of signatures on the VAA is at least the number required for either full quorum or pausing quorum.
+    */
+    function _verifyVMForPause(IWormhole.VM memory vm) internal view returns (bool valid, string memory reason) {
+        /// @dev Obtain the current guardianSet for the guardianSetIndex provided
+        IWormhole.GuardianSet memory guardianSet = wormhole.getGuardianSet(vm.guardianSetIndex);
+
+       /**
+        * @dev Checks whether the guardianSet has zero keys
+        * WARNING: This keys check is critical to ensure the guardianSet has keys present AND to ensure
+        * that guardianSet key size doesn't fall to zero and negatively impact quorum assessment.  If guardianSet
+        * key length is 0 and vm.signatures length is 0, this could compromise the integrity of both vm and
+        * signature verification.
+        */
+        if(guardianSet.keys.length == 0){
+            return (false, "invalid guardian set");
+        }
+
+        /// @dev Checks if VM guardian set index matches the current index (unless the current set is expired).
+        if(vm.guardianSetIndex != wormhole.getCurrentGuardianSetIndex() && guardianSet.expirationTime < block.timestamp){
+            return (false, "guardian set has expired");
+        }
+
+       /**
+        * @dev We're using a fixed point number transformation with 1 decimal to deal with rounding.
+        *   WARNING: This quorum check is critical to assessing whether we have enough Guardian signatures to validate a VM
+        *   if making any changes to this, obtain additional peer review. If guardianSet key length is 0 and
+        *   vm.signatures length is 0, this could compromise the integrity of both vm and signature verification.
+        */
+        uint fullQuorum = wormhole.quorum(guardianSet.keys.length);
+        uint requiredPauseQuorum = PAUSER_QUORUM < fullQuorum ? PAUSER_QUORUM : fullQuorum;
+        if (vm.signatures.length < requiredPauseQuorum){
+            return (false, "no quorum");
+        }
+
+        /// @dev Verify the proposed vm.signatures against the guardianSet
+        (bool signaturesValid, string memory invalidReason) = wormhole.verifySignatures(vm.hash, vm.signatures, guardianSet);
+        if(!signaturesValid){
+            return (false, invalidReason);
+        }
+
+        /// If we are here, we've validated the VM is a valid multi-sig that matches the guardianSet.
+        return (true, "");
+    }
+
     function encodeGeneralPurposeGovernanceMessage(GeneralPurposeGovernanceMessage memory m)
         public
         pure
diff --git a/evm/test/wormhole/Governance.t.sol b/evm/test/wormhole/Governance.t.sol
index 10fc31b6d..bbcb962cb 100644
--- a/evm/test/wormhole/Governance.t.sol
+++ b/evm/test/wormhole/Governance.t.sol
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ contract GovernedContract is Ownable {
     error RandomError();
 
     bool public governanceStuffCalled;
+    bool public paused;
 
     function governanceStuff() public onlyOwner {
         governanceStuffCalled = true;
@@ -19,6 +20,10 @@ contract GovernedContract is Ownable {
     function governanceRevert() public view onlyOwner {
         revert RandomError();
     }
+
+    function pause() public onlyOwner {
+        paused = true;
+    }
 }
 
 contract GovernanceTest is Test {
@@ -215,4 +220,25 @@ contract GovernanceTest is Test {
 
         assert(myContract.governanceStuffCalled());
     }
-}
+
+    function test_pause_single_guardian() public {
+        // build VAA to call pause
+        // should go through smoothly (requiredQuorum == 1)
+    }
+
+    function test_pause_multi_guardian() public {
+        // hijack vm to overwrite Wormhole Guardian set to be 5 random private keys?
+        // requiredQuorum == 2
+        // build VAA to call pause, sign with 2 Guardians
+        // this should succeed
+    }
+
+    function test_pause_multi_guardian_fail() public {
+        // hijack vm to overwrite Wormhole Guardian set to be 5 random private keys?
+        // requiredQuorum == 2
+        // build VAA to call pause, sign with 1 Guardian
+        // this should fail since it won't hit quorum
+    }
+
+    // copy/paste any other relevant tests from the Wormhole Core Contract 
+}
\ No newline at end of file