National Guard unveils $292M plan to house service members for DC deployment

Defense National Guard unveils $292M plan to house service members for DC deployment Comments: by Mira Bhakta - 07/25/26 10:18 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Mira Bhakta - 07/25/26 10:18 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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The National Guard announced on Thursday its $292 million plan to provide “up to 2,000 apartment-style lodging units” for guard members stationed in D.C.

The housing contract was awarded to corporate lodging company Placemakr and is the largest interagency lodging acquisition in the National Guard’s history. Placemakr has partnered with Hilton in the past on the development of an apartment collection in Phoenix, Ariz.

The deal is receiving pushback from local activists for the lack of a stated end date on the deployment. The housing announcement does not include an end date to the contract.

A guard official confirmed to the Hill in July that the Pentagon is expected to keep a National Guard presence until Inauguration Day 2029. The plan still awaits approval from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and would mean that guard members are here to stay unless the president decides otherwise.

Hegseth has been supportive of the deployment, speaking to service members in July to thank them for their work in the nation’s capital.

The contract supports requirements outlined in Executive Order 14252 which created the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The guard members have been deployed for around 11 months in an effort by President Trump and other officials to lower crime and “beautify” the nation’s capital.

“You’ve [guard members] done over 530 medical assistances to personnel, you restored children back to their families 27 times, and you have done amazing things in support of law enforcement to make sure we reduce crime,” the National Guard wrote.

After nearly a year, about 5,150 National Guard troops are still in the nation’s capital, comprising 599 D.C. National Guard and 4,403 troops from 21 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The contract for housing these troops was completed in 85 days, which the agency claims is faster than other comparable contract timelines. It also reported that the accelerated timeline received some agency-level vendor protest.

The new housing project adds onto what the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated cost of deployment at $3 million daily. With Sens. Gary Peters (D‑Mich.) and Andy Kim (D‑N.J.) reporting in February that the cost of deployment for taxpayers is nearly $1.65 million.

This lodging deal, the National Guard claims, is nearly 50 percent cheaper than the projected costs from paying for commercial hotels.

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