National Guard's post-Capitol riot mission cost $521M bill as final troops head home
by Abraham Mahshie, Defense Reporter |
| May 24, 2021 05:02 PM
Just over 1,000 National Guard members remain in Washington to protect the U.S. Capitol after their mission following a riot by Donald Trump supporters ran up a bill topping $500 million.
The $520 million National Guard presence, which surrounded the Capitol compound for months, began after the Jan. 6 riots and ended at midnight Sunday. The National Guard Bureau estimated the initial mission cost from January through March to be $410 million, and the extension until Monday cost an additional $111 million for a massive $521 million bill to protect a vast perimeter of the Capitol grounds through the winter and spring.
At its peak, nearly 26,000 Guard members were on duty in Washington, D.C., from all 54 states, territories, and the District of Columbia.
“There's no reimbursal plan,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told the Washington Examiner Monday. “The thousand or so [members] that are still in the [National] Capital Region are preparing for departure.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/national-guards-post-capitol-riot-mission-cost-521m-bill-as-final-troops-head-home
