After walking past the National Guard standing around local Metro Stations for the past year, I thought it might be worth looking at why particular states sent troops to the Washington, DC, a first without a civil war, insurrection, or burning city to justify such deployments. Actually it comes down to numbers (or should I say money), not merely the blind obedience of Republican politicians to Trump. Below are two charts, the first comparing the states with Republican governors (states which have had 100+ troops deployed here are shaded in green) with the monthly median individual income of each state (Only states which have sent over 100 troops here are shaded. Others have sent a token dozen or two over the past year to demonstrate their fealty.). The second compares the states with Republican governors with the percentage of the states' K-12 education budget made up of federal funds (again, states which have deployed 100+ troops are shaded in green). As can be seen below, all of the states which deployed troops to DC have median individual incomes below the monthly national median ($4,005).
Most of the troops deployed here as Military Police have been Specialists (E-4) or Sergeants (E-5). In addition to their pay, they receive housing here (at first in hotels, but starting this month, apartments!), a generous allowance for meals, and health insurance. The pay for the E-4s range from $2,752 to $3,204 per month and the pay for the E-5s run from $3,001 to $3,517 per month. Thus most troops are doing better in pay and benefits than half of the people back in their home states. Thanks to their housing and meal benefits providing their needs here, many are able to send money home to support their families.
When the National Guard first came, many were mature adults, in their late 20s or 30s who likely had jobs and careers back home. Now many of the troopers seem to be much younger, kids fresh out of school with few skills and little experience. Many come from states where the minimum wage is often still $7.25 per hour. Back home they could earn $1,160 or so per month on minimum range, assuming they could get 40 hours per week, so they are doing great here with the pay and benefits described above. And the state governments don't have to try to encourage or develop jobs for the kids at home. As can be seen above, Republican led states with higher median individual incomes are less inclined to disrupt the civilian lives and careers of their National Guard troops to deploy them to DC.
The chart below compares the Republican led states which have deployed the National Guard to DC (shaded in green) with the percentage of their K-12 education budgets provided by federal funding (percentages greater than the national average are shaded in pink). Many of these states have recurring waves of tax cuts, particularly income taxes, resulting in an increasing proportion of the expense of educating children coming from federal funds, making the states dependent on the federal funds for what they proudly proclaim as a state function, disdaining federal interference, apart from accepting billions of federal dollars.
The Trump administration has admitted it has withheld federal funds from states and cities which did not vote for the President in presidential elections. The governors no doubt realize that a President with such a transactional mindset could withhold funds at perceived slights (witness the President's vengeance wrecked upon Indiana Republicans who voted against mid-decade gerrymandering), so they strongly consider deploying troops to DC to curry favor with the President. There is no cost to the states as the federal government covers all the pay and expenses of the deployment so, as long as there are not serious objections to being deployed by the troops (hence many states with low median incomes where National Guard pay is better than that of half of their citizens), it's a simple decision.
The troops will be deployed to DC through January 2029. The total cost will approach two billion dollars. Most of the states with troops deployed to DC receive more federal funds than they pay in federal taxes, so most of the tax burden for their deployment falls on Democratic led states which pay more in taxes than they receive in federal funds. The National Guard's deployment's effect on crime in DC has been negligible, but it does serve as one of the many monuments to the Trump administration's whimsical waste and its fetish for military and authoritarian gestures.
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