Armed Services leaders call for 'drawdown' of Capitol Guard troops
Thousands of National Guard troops were dispatched to the Capitol grounds in the wake of a Jan. 6 insurrection by a mob supporting former President Donald Trump that sought to delay the certification of the presidential election.
National Guard troops keep watch along Constitution Avenue on Capitol Hill in Washington, early Thursday, March 4,
By CONNOR O’BRIEN
03/11/2021 06:03 PM EST
The top Democrat and Republican on the House Armed Services Committee are calling for curtailing the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops at the Capitol.
The bipartisan pushback Thursday from Armed Services Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and ranking member Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) comes after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a U.S. Capitol Police request for nearly 2,300 Guardsmen to remain through late May.
In a joint statement, Smith and Rogers called for a "measured drawdown" of the Guard deployment and warned of the added cost and eroded readiness that would result from keeping troops at the Capitol.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/11/capitol-guard-troops-drawdown-475440
