The Trump administration spent almost half a billion dollars to send military personnel to U.S. cities to smother crime and protect federal buildings, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office.
Starting in June, the Pentagon deployed Marines and National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles; Washington; Memphis, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon; Chicago and New Orleans.
“The administration has also kept 200 National Guard personnel mobilized in Texas after they left Chicago,” according to the report that was released this week.
The CBO report covers June to December. It provides the first comprehensive accounting of the White House’s push to use military personnel for domestic law enforcement missions. The New Orleans deployment is not part of the final $496 million tally because it was ordered at the end of the year.
National Guard troops are compensated at the same rate as active-duty personnel when they’re called to federal service. That includes base pay, housing allowance, retirement pay and health care. It costs about $95,000 per soldier annually when the part-time troops come onto active duty, according to the report.
The monthly costs of deploying National Guard troops to U.S. cities vary from city to city. The numbers range from $28 million a month for 1,500 personnel in Memphis to $55 million a month for 2,950 military personnel in the District.
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“The marginal costs of such deployments would be lower if active-duty personnel were used instead of National Guard members, because active-duty personnel already receive full pay and benefits,” according to a letter from CBO Director Phillip Swagel to Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the senior Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee.
Many of the deployments that began in 2025 have been challenged in court. That has prevented National Guard personnel from being deployed to Portland and Chicago, although they were stationed nearby after being mobilized.
“Such a situation does not necessarily reduce costs, because National Guard members who are mobilized and awaiting deployments while away from their home stations incur essentially the same costs as deployed personnel,” according to the report.
The Trump administration has indicated a desire to establish a permanent quick-reaction force to enable more regular deployments in the future.
“Deploying 1,000 National Guard personnel to a U.S. city in 2026 would cost $18 million to $21 million per month, depending mainly on the city’s cost of living,” the report stated.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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