Fox 5 Washington D.C. obtained an internal email which was from the National Security Council asking the Department of Defense to speak with Capitol Police to strategize for staying after the expected March 12 stand-down date.
The Assistant Secretary for Homeland Defense and Global Security, Robert G. Salesses, wrote, “If it’s not possible to sustain at the current level with NG personnel, we need to establish the number of NG personnel (DCNG and out-of-state) we can sustain for an extended period – at least through Fall 2021 – and understand additional options for providing DoD support, to include use of reserve personnel, as well as active component.”
There is also a meeting scheduled for them to further these discussions on February 17.
On February 11 Democratic Delegate, Eleanor Holmes, Washington’s non-voting congressional representative held a virtual town hall where she was questioned on how long there will be an increased military presence and barriers throughout the city. There were no concrete answers provided.
The National Guard was deployed to the city as a means to quell the Capitol Building riot on January 6. Since then, the number of Guardsmen increased to 26,000 during the days leading up to President Biden’s inauguration and then went down, gradually, to the current estimation of 5,000-7,000 troops.
The Department of Defense estimates that the total cost in upkeep for keeping the National Guard deployed from January 6 till the then expected March stand-down date was close to $500 million.
