National Guard may be forced to cut training if not reimbursed $521M in costs securing Capitol
At the height of the Capitol security needs, around 26,000 Guardsmen stood watch
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Facing a dire lack in funding, the National Guard could be forced to cut its training program beginning next month, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth warned before a Senate Appropriations Panel subcommittee Tuesday morning.
The Guard’s four-month deployment to Washington, D.C., in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot cost an estimated $521 million, which was pulled out of the Guard’s operational and training funds. Wormuth said the money must be reimbursed immediately.
"Without those resources, the Guard . . . will find themselves with training issues," Wormuth said. She added that the Guard has already postponed some training and could begin to cancel training events beginning in July.
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At the height of the Capitol security needs, around 26,000 guardsmen stood watch at the Capitol, after criticisms during the Jan. 6 breach that police faced an hours-long delay in receiving backup from the Guard. All remaining guardsmen returned home in May.
A bill to bolster Capitol security that included funding to reimburse the Guard made its way through the House, but the Senate has yet to work through its own version.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If we are not able to cover that right now, the Army Guard is basically in a situation where they are concerned about their ability to pay for training for the rest of this year," Wormuth said of the funding scarcity.
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sounded the alarm on Guard funding last week, telling the Senate that if it did not approve funding before its August recess, "It will impact their [the Guard's] ability in the near term to be able to train and adequately prepare the guard for its future, for its current responsibilities."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said that without reimbursement, the Guard will face a "significant negative impact on their ability to maintain their readiness."
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In addition to the Capitol deployment, the Guard has over the past year helped with southern border security, COVID-19 testing and vaccine distribution, responding to civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd's death, natural disasters and bolstering cyber defenses.