National Guard deployment in DC extended until next presidential inauguration

News National Guard deployment in DC extended until next presidential inauguration Comments: by Ellen Mitchell - 07/14/26 1:50 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Ellen Mitchell - 07/14/26 1:50 PM ET Comments: Link copied

NOW PLAYING

The Pentagon is planning to keep a National Guard presence in Washington, D.C., through Inauguration Day 2029, a guard official confirmed to The Hill Tuesday.

The plan — first reported in March and awaiting final approval from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — would mean the guard’s federal mission in the nation’s capital would continue through Jan. 20, 2029, unless the president decides otherwise.

The Pentagon referred questions from The Hill to the Joint Task Force–District of Columbia, which referred questions to The White House, which did not immediately respond.

Nearly 5,150 National Guard troops are currently in the capital city, made up of 599 D.C. National Guard and 4,403 troops from 21 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Guard members have been deployed in Washington for almost a year, since late summer, when the federal government ⁠temporarily took over D.C. law enforcement through ‌presidential executive order and announced the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.

The number of troops deployed to the streets of Washington was around 3,500 before being boosted as part of a “summer surge” of law enforcement to the nation’s capital ahead of America’s 250th birthday, Justice Department officials announced in May.

The presence has not gone over well with local officials and Democratic lawmakers, who have said the deployment is unnecessary, costly, lacking a clear strategy and largely unhelpful given guardsmen can’t make arrests and patrol neighborhoods and tourist centers that typically have lower crime in the city.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office put the cost of the deployment at more than $3 million per day. That means the total amount could fall between $2.5 billion and $3.4 billion, depending on how many troops stay in the city, according to the Project on Government Oversight.

Despite the high cost, National Guard troops in Washington have not helped reduce violent crime in the nation’s capital, according to a study from the Niskanen Center, a Washington policy think tank.

While the guard’s presence led to a 24 percent decline in opportunistic property crime, the report found it is not the correct tool for violent offenses and comes at a far higher cost than traditional police law enforcement.

Earlier this month, “Free DC” protesters heckled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other administration officials during a D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force event at Meridian Hill Park.

The demonstrators blew whistles and horns and yelled into microphones as administration officials touted the work of the National Guard and law enforcement in Washington, praising them for helping lower crime and making the city safer.

While most of the states to send guard members have Republican governors, Democrat-run states including Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina and Hawaii also have chosen to send their National Guard troops to Washington to be used as part of America 250 celebrations.

That has been met with some controversy, with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) pulling his guard members from the city early after they were seen patrolling neighborhoods a good distance from the National Mall. Walz had sent his guard troops to Washington with specific orders that they only be used to help with America 250 events near the national monuments, NPR reported.

Two members of the West Virginia Guard were shot the day before Thanksgiving in November while patrolling in Washington. Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her injuries, while Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe is recovering after he was shot in the head.

Add as preferred source on Google Tags Pete Hegseth Tim Walz

Comments: Link copied