Keeping the National Guard in Washington Through Trump's Term Will Cost Another $1.4 Billion, Pentagon Estimates Show

Budget estimates provided to Sen. Elizabeth Warren's office and reported on Aug. 4, 2026 put the cost of keeping National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., from October 2026 through Inauguration Day 2029 at an additional $1.4 billion. The figures break out to $375.7 million in pay and travel allowances plus $221.2 million in operations and maintenance in fiscal 2027, an estimated $625.8 million in fiscal 2028, and $198.3 million for the remainder of the term. They were supplied by Jules Hurst as part of his confirmation process to become the Pentagon comptroller, and assume roughly 2,500 troops, excluding the temporary surge for Freedom 250 events.

The deployment began with 800 D.C. Guard members on Aug. 11, 2025 and has grown to about 4,600 troops drawn from multiple states, extended several times and now set to run to the end of the term. The estimates put a figure on what an open-ended domestic military presence in the capital costs, separate from the contested question of what it accomplishes.

The Congressional Budget Office has put the running cost at about $3 million a day. Studies cited by NOTUS find little to no measurable effect on violent crime; the D.C. Guard's interim commander said a new $292 million housing contract will cut housing costs in half.