WASHINGTON
—
The
deployment
of
National
Guard
and
active-duty
Marine
forces
to
several
US
cities
cost
American
taxpayers
around
$496
million
in
the
last
six
months
of
2025,
according
to
an
official
government
estimate.
And
if
those
deployments
were
to
continue
at
end-of-2025
sizes,
it
would
cost
approximately
$93
million
per
month,
according
to
a
new
estimate
by
Congressional
Budget
Office
(CBO)
Director
Phillip
Swagel.
The
information
was
revealed
in
a
letter
sent
in
response
to
an
inquiry
by
Sen.
Jeff
Merkley,
D-
Ore.,
the
ranking
member
of
the
Senate
Committee
on
the
Budget.
Furthermore,
Swagel
gave
a
general
cost
estimate
of
$18
million
to
$21
million
per
month
for
a
1,000
member
National
Guard
deployment,
stating
that
the
exact
cost
depends
on
the
cost-of-living
in
the
city
in
which
they
are
deployed
to.
Expenses
were
estimated
based
on
factors
such
as
pay
and
benefits
when
Guardsmen
are
deployed,
lodging
away
from
home
stations,
cost
of
food,
and
transportation
for
personnel.
Over
the
second
half
of
2025,
the
Trump
administration
deployed
the
National
Guard
and
Marines
to
six
US
cities:
Los
Angeles,
California;
Washington,
D.C.;
Memphis,
Tennessee;
Portland,
Oregon;
Chicago,
Illinois;
and
New
Orleans,
Louisiana.
The
New
Orleans
deployment
was
not
factored
into
the
June-December
estimate
as
it
“occurred
at
the
end
of
the
year.”
The
future
of
domestic
deployments
was
also
left
uncertain
in
the
letter,
with
Swagel
acknowledging
legal
barriers
the
Trump
administration
has
faced
in
regard
to
the
Guard
presence
in
US
cities.