DC National Guard deployment to cost $200 million, as soldiers pick up trash, blow leaves

[Thiệu Ngô]

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's deployment of the Washington, DC, National Guard to patrol national monuments, pick up trash and shovel mulch in its home city is projected to cost taxpayers $201 million – more than $1.8 million a day, according to internal budget information seen by USA TODAY.

By Cybele Mayes-Osterman

So far, the DC National Guard has spent more than $45 million on the deployment, with $18.8 million going toward operations and $26.6 million toward pay and allowances for soldiers, according to the internal tally. That price tag does not include the cost to deploy the more than 1,300 National Guardsmen from eight states that are also stationed in Washington.

The Pentagon said it will not know the cost of the mission until it concludes. It is currently set to wrap up on Nov. 30, but Trump could extend it.

Since Trump deployed the National Guard to the capital city in mid-August, saying its presence was needed to deter crime, uniformed troops have been spotted scooping trash and shoveling mulch at parks near the White House, pacing downtown train platforms and clustered around Humvees parked outside Union Station.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman USA TODAY
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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's deployment of the Washington, DC, National Guard to patrol national monuments, pick up trash and shovel mulch in its home city is projected to cost taxpayers $201 million – more than $1.8 million a day, according to internal budget information seen by USA TODAY.

So far, the DC National Guard has spent more than $45 million on the deployment, with $18.8 million going toward operations and $26.6 million toward pay and allowances for soldiers, according to the internal tally. That price tag does not include the cost to deploy the more than 1,300 National Guardsmen from eight states that are also stationed in Washington.

The Pentagon said it will not know the cost of the mission until it concludes. It is currently set to wrap up on Nov. 30, but Trump could extend it.

Since Trump deployed the National Guard to the capital city in mid-August, saying its presence was needed to deter crime, uniformed troops have been spotted scooping trash and shoveling mulch at parks near the White House, pacing downtown train platforms and clustered around Humvees parked outside Union Station.

The 958 members of the DC National Guard currently deployed have been joined by more than 1,340 sent from eight Republican-run states, including West Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi, according to a Sept. 16 daily update sent out by the National Guard.

Those troops have "cleared 1,015 bags of trash, spread 744 cubic yards of mulch, removed five truckloads of plant waste, cleared 6.7 miles of roadway, and painted 270 feet of fencing," according to the update.

Earlier this month, the DC National Guard sent a letter to local city leaders, asking for community projects. So far, one of Washington's eight wards has accepted the Guard's help to help with running a soup kitchen.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman USA TODAY
Show Caption

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's deployment of the Washington, DC, National Guard to patrol national monuments, pick up trash and shovel mulch in its home city is projected to cost taxpayers $201 million – more than $1.8 million a day, according to internal budget information seen by USA TODAY.

So far, the DC National Guard has spent more than $45 million on the deployment, with $18.8 million going toward operations and $26.6 million toward pay and allowances for soldiers, according to the internal tally. That price tag does not include the cost to deploy the more than 1,300 National Guardsmen from eight states that are also stationed in Washington.

The Pentagon said it will not know the cost of the mission until it concludes. It is currently set to wrap up on Nov. 30, but Trump could extend it.

Since Trump deployed the National Guard to the capital city in mid-August, saying its presence was needed to deter crime, uniformed troops have been spotted scooping trash and shoveling mulch at parks near the White House, pacing downtown train platforms and clustered around Humvees parked outside Union Station.

The 958 members of the DC National Guard currently deployed have been joined by more than 1,340 sent from eight Republican-run states, including West Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi, according to a Sept. 16 daily update sent out by the National Guard.

Those troops have "cleared 1,015 bags of trash, spread 744 cubic yards of mulch, removed five truckloads of plant waste, cleared 6.7 miles of roadway, and painted 270 feet of fencing," according to the update.

National Guard asks DC leaders for 'beautification' projects as Trump says crime is gone

Earlier this month, the DC National Guard sent a letter to local city leaders, asking for community projects. So far, one of Washington's eight wards has accepted the Guard's help to help with running a soup kitchen.

The military presence has touched off protests from Washington residents and a lawsuit filed Sept. 4 by the city's attorney general, Brian Schwalb, seeking an end to what it called "illegal federal overreach."

Schwalb and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser are scheduled to testify on Sept. 18 before the House Oversight Committee about the deployment.

Virginia Burger, a senior defense policy analyst at the Project on Government Oversight who is submitting written testimony for the committee, said, "$200 million is a lot of money, but it tracks."

"A domestic deployment of that scale is not cheap."