Maryland National Guard Says It’s In Dire Financial Straits After Congress Has Yet To Reimburse Funds Used To Protect The Capitol
Andrew Kerr
Investigative Reporter
July 20, 2021 3:34 PM ET
The Maryland National Guard may be forced to stop paying its troops and cease maintaining its equipment in the coming days if Congress doesn’t reimburse the costs it incurred sending troops to protect the Capitol following the Jan. 6 riot, according to Maryland’s top general.
“To date, neither the National Guard nor the Department of Defense writ large has received reimbursement for the deployment of over 25,000 National Guard members to the District for a period of over four months,” Maj. Gen. Timothy E. Gowen told Democratic Sen. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland in a letter Tuesday.
The U.S. spent nearly $500 million to deploy National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., before President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the Associated Press reported in February.
Gowen said that Congress’s failure to reimburse the National Guard for protecting the Capitol following the riot caused a “severe cut in our budget to cover training, maintenance, and payroll for our full time Soldiers and Airmen.”
“Without an immediate plus-up we will have to cancel most of our drill and annual training periods for the rest of the fiscal year,” he wrote. “In addition, we will be forced to cease most equipment and system maintenance right as we head into the height of hurricane season. Most importantly, the funding limitations will mean we cannot meet our payroll requirements for our civilian technician workforce.”
Gowen warned that if the Maryland National Guard is unable to pay its soldiers and airmen on time, it could lead to a “dramatic effect on retention.”
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https://dailycaller.com/2021/07/20/maryland-national-guard-funding-capitol-riot/
