The National Guard isn’t going anywhere in the nation’s capital, evident by the very expensive housing plant they just announced for service members keeping the city safe.
According to The Hill, they just announced the housing plan will cost $292 million and will house around 2,000 service members:
The National Guard announced on Thursday its $292 million plan to provide “up to 2,000 apartment-style lodging units” for guard members stationed in D.C.
The housing contract was awarded to corporate lodging company Placemakr and is the largest interagency lodging acquisition in the National Guard’s history. Placemakr has partnered with Hilton in the past on the development of an apartment collection in Phoenix, Ariz.
The deal is receiving pushback from local activists for the lack of a stated end date on the deployment. The housing announcement does not include an end date to the contract.
A guard official confirmed to the Hill in July that the Pentagon is expected to keep a National Guard presence until Inauguration Day 2029. The plan still awaits approval from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and would mean that guard members are here to stay unless the president decides otherwise.
Hegseth has been supportive of the deployment, speaking to service members in July to thank them for their work in the nation’s capital.
The contract supports requirements outlined in Executive Order 14252 which created the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The guard members have been deployed for around 11 months in an effort by President Trump and other officials to lower crime and “beautify” the nation’s capital.
“You’ve [guard members] done over 530 medical assistances to personnel, you restored children back to their families 27 times, and you have done amazing things in support of law enforcement to make sure we reduce crime,” the National Guard wrote.
After nearly a year, about 5,150 National Guard troops are still in the nation’s capital, comprising 599 D.C. National Guard and 4,403 troops from 21 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
There may not be an end date on the contract, but I think we all know the end date is January 21, 2029. In any event, I hope they make Washington DC pay for this because it is their safety after all. But since it’s a federal thing, I doubt they will.