Under pressure, Trump administration weighs extending National Guard deployments

A plan to keep 40,000 troops on coronavirus duty through July awaits the president’s approval.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and DANIEL LIPPMAN
05/20/2020 08:46 PM EDT

Trump administration officials are preparing plans to extend the federal deployment of more than 40,000 National Guard members performing coronavirus relief work across the country, after scores of lawmakers moved to pressure President Donald Trump to keep the Guards in place past June.

Four people familiar with the matter said the administration is prepared to extend the deployments through July, which would maintain federal funding for troops administering Covid-19 tests, disinfecting nursing homes and performing other public safety duties in nearly every state and federal territory. An extension would also help thousands of Guard members qualify for federal retirement and education benefits for which they would otherwise fall only one day short of obtaining.

White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley did not confirm or deny whether Trump planned to authorize an extension past the current cutoff date of June 24, saying that "We will continue monitoring the impact of coronavirus in the states and will work to ensure they are equipped to respond."


On Tuesday, POLITICO first reported on a recording of Trump administration officials discussing the June 24 cutoff, its implications for Guard members’ benefits and the hardship it would cause states grappling with the pandemic, particularly as they attempt to prevent new outbreaks by identifying and isolating people who’ve been exposed to possible infection.

-snip-