Reports are circulating that say Nancy Pelosi wants the National Guard troops to stay in Washington until at least the fall.
There are currently approximately 6,000 National Guard troops patrolling Washington, D.C. At one point, there were an estimated 26,000 National Guard members in D.C. to provide security for President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
An internal communication between the Department of Defense and the National Guard reportedly discusses keeping troops in the nation’s capital until the fall. Robert G. Salesses, who is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Global Security, allegedly discussed an extension of the National Guard in D.C.
“If it’s not possible to sustain at the current level with [National Guard] personnel, we need to establish the number of [National Guard] personnel (DCNG and out-of-state) we can sustain for an extended period – at least through Fall 2021 – and understand additional options for providing [Department of Defense] support, to include use of reserve personnel, as well as active component,” Salesses reportedly wrote to the Capitol Police and National Security Council in an email.
On Monday, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the cost of having the National Guard secure Washington, D.C. from Jan. 6 until March 15 will cost taxpayers $483 million.
Rep. Lisa McClain is among a group of House Republicans calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to brief members of Congress on why National Guard troops may remain in Washington, D.C., until the fall. “Myself and several of my colleagues have asked Nancy Pelosi for a briefing as to ‘Why do we need these troops here?’ And we have received zero information, zero,” McClain, R-Mich., said Monday on Fox & Friends. “It’s amazing to me that [Pelosi] can do this without any disclosure, without any information and just continue to spend money with no briefing,” she added. “Doesn’t make sense to me.”
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) questioned why there are still National Guard troops in Washington. “We still have National Guardsmen out there, away from their families, away from their jobs, supplementing the police,” Waltz told Fox News host Martha MacCallum. “And yet we can’t get a briefing on what is this dire threat that requires so many people. We still don’t have answers.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also questioned why there were still troops in D.C. “I sit on the Intelligence Committee, but I’m aware of no specific, credible threat reporting — as distinguished from aspirational, uncoordinated bluster on the internet — that justifies this continued troop presence,” Cotton wrote in a Fox News op-ed. “Thus, I believe the rest of these soldiers should also go home to their families and civilian jobs.”
You regularly hear those on the left complain about facism and comparing the US to third world, banana republics. Well folks, this is what that looks like. Fenced off legislatures, troops stationed around capitols for some unspecified threat, rule by executive diktat.
We’re just waiting for the equivalent of the Reichstag fire. The left thought they had it with the Capitol riot, but it didn’t quite work out that way.