The National Guard force on Washington streets has fallen below 3,000 after swelling to more than 5,100 this summer. However, as D.C. parents and officials object to troops appearing near schools, more soldiers are arriving, and the Pentagon is preparing to keep the operation running through January 2029.
More than 60 Louisiana National Guard soldiers departed for Washington over the weekend, even as 11 states withdrew their contingents from the capital. As of Tuesday, 2,921 Guard members were deployed in Washington, down from 5,148 on July 10. Troops from 27 states and two territories have taken part in the deployment.
“We cannot have armed National Guards in or around our schools and young people,” D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto said after receiving complaints from parents, teachers and students about troops near schools and in residential neighborhoods. “Our schools must remain welcoming environments of learning and growth, and spaces where all D.C. students, parents, and school staff can feel safe and can thrive.”
President Donald Trump ordered the D.C. National Guard deployed on Aug. 11, 2025, after declaring a crime emergency in Washington. The operation expanded during this summer’s events surrounding the nation’s 250th anniversary, pushing the force above 5,000, before states began bringing some of their troops home.
Louisiana is deploying soldiers, and its new contingent, Task Force Pelican, includes members of the 139th Regional Support Group, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 225th Engineer Brigade and 61st Troop Command. The Louisiana National Guard said the soldiers will support the D.C. National Guard, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and other law enforcement agencies.
Louisiana military officials said their mission includes reducing crime, maintaining order, and protecting federal buildings, monuments, and other federal property.
For District residents, troops have become a familiar sight at Metro stations, federal buildings, parks, and neighborhood streets. Their presence near schools has raised alarm.
Pinto, who chairs the D.C. Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, said residents have reported Guard members near schools and residential areas. Opposition intensified after troops used a parking area shared by Wheatley Education Campus and the Joseph H. Cole Recreation Center as a staging area.
Pinto said she has repeatedly asked federal officials to keep military personnel away from schools.
“I continue to hear reports and deep concerns from parents, teachers, and students about the presence of National Guard troops near our schools and in residential areas, and it’s leading to understandable fear,” she said.
The Trump administration and military officials defend the deployment as a public-safety mission that has produced results beyond traditional law enforcement.
During the first year, Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard, the D.C. National Guard’s interim commanding general, said Guard members responded to 788 medical emergencies; administered Narcan 325 times for suspected opioid overdoses; reunited 43 lost children with their families; broke up 262 fights; and assisted law enforcement 479 times.
“Each of those represents fathers, mothers, children, people who have received emergency care, been returned to parents, and families, had their lives saved from opioid overdoses, or were involved in violent situations brought under control before further harm was done,” Blanchard said.
‘There is No Emergency in D.C. That Justifies This Continued Presence’
The cost of keeping troops in Washington continues to climb, as Pentagon estimates provided to Congress project that another $1.4 billion will be needed to maintain the operation through January 2029. The estimate includes approximately $596.9 million in fiscal 2027, $625.8 million in fiscal 2028, and $198.3 million through the final months of Trump’s term.
A $292 million housing contract signed this summer will provide up to 2,000 apartment units for Guard members. Military officials have said that moving troops from hotels to apartments could save approximately $90 million.
The Congressional Budget Office previously estimated that the operation was costing about $55 million per month when nearly 3,000 troops were deployed.
The length and cost of the operation have drawn objections from D.C. leaders and civil liberties groups. The ACLU and affiliates across the country have urged governors to bring their Guard members home, arguing that Washington does not face an emergency that requires a continuing military presence.
“Armed National Guard troops are neither needed nor wanted in the District,” ACLU-D.C. Executive Director Monica Hopkins said earlier this month. “There is no emergency in D.C. that justifies this continued presence, and we cannot allow armed troops patrolling the streets of our nation’s capital to become normal.”
Research has raised questions about how much the Guard has affected crime. A study by the Washington-based Niskanen Center found that the military presence coincided with reductions in some visible property crimes, including vehicle thefts, but found little measurable change in violent crime. Researchers said Guard members were concentrated largely around tourist corridors, transit hubs, federal buildings, monuments, parks and other public spaces rather than in neighborhoods where much of the city’s violence occurs.
Violent crime in D.C. had already been declining before Trump ordered the deployment.
The District’s unusual status gives the president authority over the D.C. National Guard that governors have over Guard units in their states. D.C.’s locally elected government does not control its own Guard.
The deployment has also been challenged in federal court, while District officials continue to argue that armed troops trained for military service should not be used as a standing presence in civilian neighborhoods.
The reduction from more than 5,100 troops in July to fewer than 3,000 on Tuesday means the District has fewer uniformed Guard members on its streets than it did over the summer. However, it does not signal the end of the operation. Nearly 9,700 Guard members had rotated through the capital during its first year, and the Pentagon’s plans would keep the mission operating for more than two additional years.
For Pinto, where the remaining troops are stationed remains an immediate concern for families whose children encounter them on the way to class.
“The National Guard must keep its distance from our schools,” she said.
