Peters and Kim Report Finds Trump Administration’s National Guard Deployment in D.C. Costs Taxpayers More Than One Million Dollars A Day, Does Little to Combat Violent Crime

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the HSGAC Subcommittee on Disaster Management, District of Columbia, and Census, released a new report showing that President Trump's deployment of the U.S. National Guard in Washington, D.C. has cost taxpayers more than $330 million-nearly $1.65 million each day-in the seven months since activation while producing no measurable impact on public safety. According to the senators' report, this substantial cost to taxpayers will likely represent only a fraction of the total price tag for the full operation, which does not have a scheduled end date.

"Protecting public safety is essential, but this deployment has spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars without making our nation's capital any safer," said Senator Peters. "The Trump Administration's decision to keep the National Guard in our nation's capital without clear goals, measurable outcomes, or an end date diverts critical resources away from important national security and public safety missions that keep our communities safe."

"This report shows that President Trump is spending hundreds of millions from working families' pockets to keep the National Guard in D.C. with no clear strategy, no evidence of effectiveness, and no end in sight," said Senator Kim. "If this administration was truly prioritizing the safety of our communities, it'd allow the National Guard to instead focus on their core military responsibilities and work together with congress to get local law enforcement and leaders in D.C. the funding and resources that they need from the federal government."

The Guard is currently on track to spend more than $602 million per year on this deployment. For comparison, the entire approved operating budget for the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in fiscal year 2026 is $599 million. With the expenditures on the National Guard, the Trump Administration is essentially doubling the budget of local law enforcement with little actual improvements to public safety. If those federal dollars were instead directed to local law enforcement, the District of Columbia would have additional resources to address crime and public safety more effectively, especially by focusing support on the neighborhoods experiencing the highest levels of violence.

In addition to the exorbitant costs, the prolonged deployment has raised serious concerns about Guard readiness, including the ability for Guard units to conduct regular training and prepare for other missions like the upcoming America 250 celebrations. The report also found that more than three dozen officers with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) have at various times been forced to go on leave from MPD to deploy with the Guard, limiting the actual number of D.C. police available to protect public safety during an ongoing staffing shortage. Meanwhile, this mission has pulled senior national security and counterterrorism officials away from their core responsibilities at a time when their expertise is urgently needed elsewhere.Tragically, one servicemember died and another was gravely injured in a targeted attack during this deployment, and a third servicemember died after suffering a medical emergency while off duty.

The senators' report also identifies the potential for privacy and civil liberties issues stemming from the Guard's use of analytics and social media monitoring tools, including Palantir's Maven Smart System, Dataminr First Alert, Meltwater, and Cision. While staff did not find evidence of misuse, the deployment in American cities of tools acquired by the Department of Defense, ostensibly for national defense use in primarily overseas settings, underscores broader concerns about the Administration's increasing militarization of civilian spaces, especially the Nation's Capital.

Read the Full Report

Read the Executive Summary, Findings, and Recommendations

In September 2025 and January 2026, staff from Peters and Kim's offices conducted oversight visits to the D.C. National Guard headquarters, and Senator Kim visited in October 2025, after the Department of Defense (DoD) failed to respond to Committee inquiries about the deployment. The report details information collected through multiple visits and from conversations between Committee staff and National Guard leadership.

Anyone seeking to provide further information to the Committee may find additional details about how to contact Ranking Member Peters' staff here.

###

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Tweet