WASHINGTON – More Republicans are demanding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi inform lawmakers why thousands of National Guard soldiers are being held in Washington, DC, until mid-March.
Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), Who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said Pelosi (D-California) needed to explain why troops were being held in the nation’s capital when the threat of the deadly siege of the last month had decreased.
“Me and several of my colleagues asked Nancy Pelosi for a briefing on why we need these troops here, and we didn’t receive any information, zero,” McClain told Fox & Friends on Monday.
“It’s amazing to me that she can do this without any disclosure, without any information and just keep spending money without instructions,” she continued.
More than 26,000 soldiers were sent to Washington before President Biden took office after the deadly January 6 uprising, where the authorities were outnumbered by supporters of then President Donald Trump.
US Army officials confirmed that at least 5,000 soldiers would remain in Washington until mid-March.
An increasing number of Republicans in both chambers of Congress are demanding to know why the city is still heavily protected when normal government business has resumed.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Said in an opinion piece from Fox News published last month that National Guard troops had completed their mission and should be allowed to return home.
Military officials estimate the cost of National Guard troops sent to protect DC at an impressive $ 500 million – and it continues to rise.
McClain said he preferred his state’s troops to be used to assist in the vaccination efforts of COVID-19.
“I would prefer to have those men and women in the National Guard to help my constituents in my state than to help distribute the relief vaccine COVID,” she said on Monday.
“This, I know, is a credible threat.”