As the deployment of the National Guard to the Capitol enters its second month with no fixed end in sight, politicians begin to question whether the troops exceed their welcome.
Pentagon officials have pointed to unspecified threats to justify their approval to detain about 5,000 guards at the Capitol by at least mid-March.
Local politicians, while agreeing with the need for the current deployment, have expressed concern about the safety on Capitol Hill that would become permanent, and cut off access to the residents of the area that is traditionally enjoyed.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have begun to openly question whether there is intelligence to justify the guards in DC, accusing the Democrats of using the guard.
“I sit on the intelligence committee, but I’m unaware of any specific, credible reporting of threats – which is distinguished from an ambitious, uncoordinated riot on the internet – that justifies this continued presence of the troop,” said Sen. Tom Cotton
Tom Bryant Cotton The investigation is getting bigger due to the presence of the National Guard at Capitol Cotton to remove the National Guard from the DCS Senate of the DC, and it will probably acquit Trump for the second time. (R-Ark.) Wrote in an essay for Fox News this week. “I therefore believe that the rest of these soldiers should also go to their families and civilian posts.”
Guardians from across the country began pouring into the Capitol in early January after rioters attacked former president President Trump
Donald TrumpPalm Beach Reviewing Trump’s Right of Residence at Mar-a-Lago Immigration Reform Can’t Wait for the Money: Five Questions About the GameStop Controversy | Biden, Yellen calls for faster action on new aid MORE attacked the building and U.S. security agencies warned of threats of further violence that led to the inauguration of President Biden.
At the height of the deployment, about 26,000 guards were patrolling Capitol Hill armed with M4 semi-automatic rifles. They broke down in the halls of the Capitol building, erected razor wire fences and parked military vehicles to block the National Mall and large parts of downtown DC.
The inauguration was finally free of incidents, and the guard now numbered about 7,000 members.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
Lloyd AustinScrutiny grows over National Guard presence at Capitol Pentagon chief tells Capitol guard troops ‘Department of Defense is behind you’ Overnight Defense: Biden takes first trip to Walter Reed as president | Pentagon strikes Trump’s last-minute council appointments | Space Force reveals the rank structure MORE visited guards at the Capitol on Friday to thank them for being there and ask if there was anything they needed. They said the Department of Defense is behind you. ‘
“I admit it’s not an easy duty, but it’s an important duty,” Austin told troops. ‘The legislators who work in those buildings behind you are really very grateful and happy. They do not get the chance to tell you in person every day, but trust me, they tell me how grateful they are. ‘
At the request of the Capitol police, about 5,000 were detained at least mid-March, while the leaders of the guard expressed sentiment towards their troops.
Major General David Baldwin, adjutant general in California, said Friday that officials told the 286 soldiers sent from their state to DC “to expect to be on mission no later than March 14.”
Meanwhile, Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman this week recommended that security measures, including the fencing and unspecified “backup” security forces stationed in a vicinity of the building, be made permanent.
The proposal caused a rapid setback from across the political spectrum, including from the DC mayor Muriel Bowser
Muriel Bowser The investigation grows over the presence of the National Guard at Capitol The Morning Report of Hill – Presented by Facebook – What path will the Democrats take on the COVID-19 bill? Bowser says DC will no longer accept permanent fences around Capitol (D).
‘Based on talks with federal partners, there are potential volatile events that require extra security. “Fencing and the presence of troops will be part of it,” Bowser tweeted.
“But we will not accept additional troops or permanent fencing as a long-term component in DC,” she added.
But Republicans are increasingly questioning what threats the National Guard now holds in DC.
Eleven Republicans, led by Rep. Michael Waltz
Michael Waltz The investigation concerns the presence of the National Guard among the Republicans of the Capitol House and asks for information on threats made by the National Guard in DC, Jill Biden visits Capitol to thank the National Guard MORE (R-Fla.), This week sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Defense John Whitley requesting an information session on intelligence on threats to the Capitol complex.
“As you know better than anyone else, our National Guard men and women are deployed at short notice and pulled away from their families and jobs,” they wrote. “The national guard should be used as a last resort.”
To justify the continued deployment, Whitley told reporters there are a number of upcoming events that the FBI is concerned about, but is being postponed to the office for details.
“It is certainly the policy of the Department of Defense that we believe military forces should be used as a last resort,” Whitley said. “We have faced an unprecedented crisis over the past three weeks, and our US military, particularly the National Guard, has responded in an exemplary manner. And we will always do it for the security of our country, if there is a need. ‘
The Department of Homeland Security also issued a terrorism bulletin this week warning that threats from domestic extremists continue after the inauguration.
“Information suggests that some ideologically motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other allegations fueled by false narratives, may continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,” he said. the bulletin said.
Among the upcoming events that could become a bolt of lightning is Trump’s indictment in the Senate, which begins on February 9. Supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory are also pushing for false allegations that Trump will be sworn in again on March 4, the original date of presidential presidency. inaugurations before the 20th amendment move it to January 20th.
The deployment of the National Guard began to take on a more biased tone after some guards were forced to rest during their shift in a parking garage instead of inside the Capitol complex as before.
The guards were quickly re-entered the building after photos of them in the garage were widely circulated online and lawmakers in both parties expressed outrage. But several Republican governors subsequently decided to announce that they would bring their troops home.
“They are not Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi Human Rights campaign calls for Marjorie Taylor Greene to be removed from committees Democrat calls for hearings to oust Marjorie Taylor Greene Capitol Police Officer for lying in honor in Rotunda MOREservants, ”said the Florida government. Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis The investigation into the presence of the National Guard in Capitol Florida raises a bid for the Olympics if Tokyo supports a scientist in Florida who accuses the state of manipulating coronavirus data tests positive for COVID-19, show her more (R) told Fox & Friends last week that he needed to order his Guard home, adding that the deployment at this point is “a half-done mission.”
Several other Republican governors, including in Montana, New Hampshire, Texas, Alaska, Arizona and Tennessee, have also announced that they are recalling their guards.
In his report on Fox News, Cotton, who during the summer called for the deployment of active-duty troops to suppress racial justice protests, also said the Democrats were “overreacting” to the initial scale of the deployment around the 74 million to portray President Donald Trump. voters as ‘domestic terrorists’. ”
Even before the Capitol was deployed, the National Guard has been stretched thin over the past year as it has been asked to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, support local law enforcement during protests against races, respond to hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters. , and the promotion of cyber defense and local voting workers during the election.
To increase tensions, guard soldiers themselves become susceptible to COVID-19 while in the country’s capital.
Guardians told reporters on Friday that about 2 to 3 percent of the guards deployed to the Capitol since January 5 had contracted the virus.
They could not give a concrete number of positive cases because it is ‘liquid over time as soldiers leave and arrive in the area due to the dynamic nature of the mission’, said Maj-Gen. Jerry Fenwick, director of the National Guard, said. Bureau’s office for the joint surgeon.
Democratic governors, meanwhile, have stepped up their deployments to the Capitol to fill gaps as other troops depart.
The U.S. Department of Defense has asked Illinois to assist federal and local agencies in this ongoing effort, and Maj. Gen. [Rich] “Neely and I are committed to ensuring that the state of Illinois continues its proud legacy of protecting our democracy,” the Illinois government, JB Pritzker (D), said in a statement. mission activated.
“Ultimately, we must eradicate the dark forces of racism, white supremacy and disinformation that this moment has created, but until we do, we will deploy extraordinary troops with honor.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo The investigation grows larger than the national guard at Capitol NYC to allow indoor dining on Valentine’s Day Overnight Health Care: Biden signs health care action to ‘undo the damage’ Trump has done | COVID-19 cases decrease, but variants indicate dangers ahead Novavax vaccine is almost 90 percent effective in the trial, but no longer against the South African variant (D) also deployed another 542 guards to DC, saying ‘our federal government faces a number of challenges unlike any other in modern history, and it must be able to do its business safely for the sake of all Americans.’
Major General Paul Rogers, adjutant general of Michigan, told reporters Friday that states are not forced to respond to all requests from governors, given how protracted they may be. He said leaders ‘have full discretion to give the feedback to the watchdog’ and said the watchdog is seen as a nationwide network meant to fill gaps when needed.
“If one state can not do it completely,” Rogers said, “another state will act and fulfill that obligation.”