National Guard in cities costing a half billion $$$

Congressional Insider -  A half-billion-dollar National Guard mission inside America’s cities is colliding with court limits, Pentagon budget strain, and a base that’s tired of “forever wars” abroad and open borders at home...

The Congressional Budget Office reported that National Guard deployments ordered by the Trump administration to Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Memphis, Portland, and Washington, D.C. cost about $496 million through the end of 2025. CBO also estimated the burn rate could reach roughly $93 million per month if missions continue. That dollar figure matters to voters watching inflation and energy costs, because it puts a hard price tag on interior deployments—not just border security.

Troops were first sent in June 2025 to multiple cities amid protests tied to immigration operations and protection of federal personnel. In August 2025, Washington, D.C. saw an additional deployment connected to a crime crackdown. By December 2025, withdrawals began in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland after a Supreme Court ruling against the administration’s legal authority for military involvement in Illinois law enforcement.