The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that National Guard troops will remain stationed in Washington, D.C., through Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2029, nearly three more years of federal deployment in the nation’s capital.
A guard official confirmed the plan to The Hill after it was first reported in March. Final approval from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is still pending. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Nearly 5,150 National Guard troops are currently deployed across Washington, made up of 599 D.C. National Guard members and 4,403 troops drawn from 21 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The deployment began in late summer 2025, when the federal government temporarily took over D.C. law enforcement through presidential executive order and launched the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force. Numbers were boosted ahead of the America 250 Independence Day celebrations.
The Congressional Budget Office put the cost at more than $3 million per day. Depending on troop levels, the total cost of the full deployment could reach between $2.5 billion and $3.4 billion, according to the Project on Government Oversight.
Despite the price tag, the National Guard presence has not reduced violent crime in the capital, according to a study from the Niskanen Center. The report found the guard’s presence drove a 24 percent drop in opportunistic property crime but is not the right instrument for violent offenses. The researchers concluded the deployment costs significantly more than traditional policing would.
The deployment has drawn criticism from local officials and Democratic members of Congress, who have called it unnecessary and lacking a clear mission. Guard members cannot make arrests and are largely restricted to patrolling tourist centers and areas near the National Mall.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pulled his state’s guard members from the city early after they were found patrolling neighborhoods far from the National Mall. Walz had deployed them under orders limiting their use to America 250 events near national monuments, NPR reported.
Two West Virginia Guard members were shot while on patrol in Washington the day before Thanksgiving in November. Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her injuries.
The mission will continue unless the president orders otherwise before January 2029.
