Sen. Merkley cites CBO estimate of roughly $589 million for federal National Guard deployments, urges halt

Summary

Sen. Jeff Merkley said President Trump’s deployment of federalized National Guard troops and immigration agents to U.S. cities is "incredibly authoritarian," citing a Congressional Budget Office estimate of about $589 million through January and roughly $93 million per month thereafter and called for the deployments to stop.

Sen. Jeff Merkley criticized President Trump’s use of federal forces in U.S. cities, saying the deployments are authoritarian and costly. "He's operating in an incredibly authoritarian way," Merkley said, adding that the actions are "horrific and has to end."

Merkley told the body he asked the Congressional Budget Office for the cost of deploying federalized National Guard troops and related forces and said the CBO estimated "some $589,000,000 by the January and about another $93,000,000 a month thereafter" to sustain those deployments. He said the spending diverts federal resources from priorities such as health care, housing and education.

Merkley named deployments that include federalized National Guard forces, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) and customs and border patrol agents. He described the deployments as involving "incredible constitutional abuse and the law breaking," and argued the expense compounds the harms.

"Let's put a stop to all of it," Merkley said, urging an end to the deployments and the associated federal spending. The remarks in the transcript did not include a response from administration officials or other speakers.