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A Washington Post report has revealed that the massive deployment of National Guard soldiers to Washington DC following the assault on the Capitol has already $500 million.
The deployment of 25,000 troops in the capital has been a policy of President Biden’s administration under the alleged suspicion of a second armed assault that could be executed by supporters of former President Trump.
According to a Post investigation of local, state and federal records, along with interviews with federal government officials, costs have been rising daily as government agencies at all levels “have been forced” to dedicate public funds to respond to actions taken by supporters of the former president. Currently, the National Guard has militarized the U.S. capital, allegedly for fear that new riots may take place.
Among the costs related to the National Guard are the costs of transporting troops from their home states to Washington, their salaries and benefits, as well as housing and other essentials.
“While more than $480 million of the total can be attributed to the military’s estimated costs for troop deployment through mid-March,” they explain, “the financial impact of President [Trump’s] refusal to concede the election is likely far greater than has been documented so far, and the true one may never be known.”
Many officials contacted by the Post said they were still trying to calculate the cost of quickly ramping up security to deal with the growing threat of violence from Trump supporters. It is unclear, however, whether that means they will increase the number of National Guard troops.
“I think any time we see an event like we saw on January 6th, it changes your perspective on the future. You don’t take things for granted like we used to,” explained Michael Rapich, superintendent of the Utah Highway Patrol, which spent $227,000 on Jan. 17 to deploy 300 National Guard troops to the Capitol after threats of an alleged armed siege by supporters of then-President Trump ahead of President Biden’s inauguration.
The impeachment trial against Trump begins Tuesday, and Democrats have largely focused on the former president’s speech to his supporters shortly before the Capitol riots.
Between additional legal fees to defend against Trump’s claims and increased security for election officials, state costs resulting from the president’s central complaint about the November 3rd vote have been rising rapidly.
Rafael Valera, Venezuelan, student of Political Science, political exile in São Paulo, Brazil since 2017 // Rafael Valera, venezolano, es estudiante de Ciencias Políticas y exiliado político en São Paulo, Brasil desde 2017