Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
Lloyd AustinBiden vows to end the “scourge of sexual assault in the military.” Hill’s 12:30 report, presented by Johns Hopkins University, CDC announces expected guidelines for fully vaccinated Americans. Will Lloyd Austin resist the generals? MONTH has approved keeping about 2,300 national guards at the U.S. Capitol through May 23, the Pentagon said Tuesday evening.
The measure extends the deployment of the Guard more than two months later, when it was due to end this week. The number of approved troops is about half of the 5,100 currently stationed at the Capitol.
“This decision was made after a thorough review of the application and after detailed reflection on its potential impact on preparation,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement.
During the overtime, Pentagon officials “will work with U.S. Capitol police to incrementally reduce the National Guard’s footprint as conditions allow,” Kirby added.
“We thank the National Guard for their support throughout this mission, as well as their significant efforts across the country to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
National guards from across the country were deployed in Washington, DC, to bolster security at the Capitol following the January 6 riot by supporters of veterans President Trump
Donald Trump Trump promises “There will be no more money for RINOS,” instead of encouraging donations to his federal judge that the federal judge considers the “QAnon shaman” too dangerous to be released from prison. Pelosi says the Capitol riots were one of the most difficult moments of his career MORE, reaching a height of 26,000 troops.
The guards were initially intended to increase security President Biden
Joe BidenCNN: Bidens dogs withdrawn from the White House, federal judge finds ‘shaman QAnon’ too dangerous to be released from prison. Pelosi says the Capitol riots were one of the most difficult moments of his career MOREthe inauguration, but then the deployment was extended until March 12 due to continued security concerns.
Security concerns were related, in part, to the misconception of QAnon’s conspiracy theory that Trump would be reopened on March 4, the original date of the presidential inauguration until 1933, when the 20th Amendment moved it to the 20th. January.
On March 4 he came and went without incident. But that same day, Capitol police asked the Pentagon to extend the deployment of the National Guard for two more months.
A brief statement from Capitol police last week confirming that it was requesting to expand the deployment of the Guard did not detail what specific threats justified the U.S. military presence at the Capitol.
Similarly, Kirby declined Tuesday afternoon when asked about the threat assessment.
“The presence of the guard on the hill, while certainly there to meet a requirement that is based on the concerns of law enforcement, is also there to help strengthen and support the Capitol police and their capabilities, which may not be at the level where you have to be considering that we are in a kind of new environment in this country, ”Kirby said at a Pentagon briefing. “So it’s not just an assessment of the threats. It’s about helping and supporting the capabilities that the Capitol police may be lacking now and need to try to improve on their own.”
Although the extension announced on Tuesday ends in May, questions are beginning to be raised about whether the National Guard will have a more lasting presence at the Capitol after a security review recommended radical changes.
One of the recommendations of the review, written by a team led by Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, was to establish a permanent rapid reaction force to respond to emergencies in Washington, DC, which could consist of members of the National Guard.
Asked on Tuesday if the National Guard mission will become a lasting mission, Kirby told reporters that “I don’t think anyone can answer that question right now.”
However, lawmakers are increasingly wondering if the Guard is still needed in the Capitol, saying Capitol Police should inform them of the threats leading to the extension.
Calls from lawmakers piling up to send troops home are concerns about the conditions facing guards stationed at the Capitol.
In January, lawmakers were outraged after some guards were forced to rest in a garage instead of inside the Capitol complex. They were quickly moved inside after photos of them crammed into the garage circulated on the internet.
More recently, lawmakers on both sides have expressed concern after members of the Michigan National Guard received food supplied by a contractor that was “undercooked, raw, flowery and even full of metal shavings.” , according to Michigan lawmakers in a letter to the head of the National Guard Office last week.
Kirby said Monday that the contractor would not be changed after the food vendor’s facilities were inspected several times “without having recorded substantial problems”.