Thousands of National Guard troops who flew into Washington to secure the inauguration have been allowed back into the U.S. Capitol amid bipartisan outrage from lawmakers after they were “banished” to a small parking garage.
The National Guard Inauguration Task Force commander confirmed in a statement late Thursday that troops will be taking their breaks near Emancipation Hall in the Capitol.
Photos of the troops hunkering down in a cold, cramped parking garage instead of the Capitol quickly went viral. Guard members were moved to the garage to take their break time, according to Politico, which first reported the story.
The photos showed Guardsmen resting between 12-hour shifts crowded together on the ground with some resting their heads against cement pillars.
On Thursday afternoon, U.S. Capitol Police asked the National Guard to relocate the troops who had been resting in the Capitol in between shifts, National Guard Bureau spokesman Maj. Matt Murphy told CBS News.
“As Congress is in session and increased foot traffic and business is being conducted, Capitol Police asked the troops to move their rest area,” Mr. Murphy said. “They were temporarily relocated to the Thurgood Marshall Judicial Center garage with heat and restroom facilities.”
In a statement, the Capitol Police said it requested that the troops’ schedules be changed so they work no more than eight-hour shifts and have more off-campus rest time.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle swiftly condemned the move to the garage. At least two governors reacted by immediately ordering their troops to return home.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott both said they had seen enough.
“They did an outstanding job serving our nation’s capital in a time of strife and should be graciously praised, not subject to substandard conditions,” Mr. Sununu said in a statement.
Federal lawmakers on both sides were also angered.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, called the move “outrageous” and vowed to get to the bottom of it.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina Republican, tweeted that he had visited the troops, brought them pizza and told them they could sleep in his office.
“No soldier will ever, ever sleep on a garage floor in the U.S. Capitol while I work in Congress,” he wrote. “Our Troops deserve better.”
I just visited the solders who have been abandoned & insulted by our leaders. I brought them pizza and told them that they can sleep in my office.
No soldier will ever, ever sleep on a garage floor in the US Capitol while I work in Congress
Our Troops deserve better. pic.twitter.com/4attFqhRRJ
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) January 22, 2021
Rep. Elise Stefanik called the move, “absolutely unacceptable and despicable.”
“We need to demand answers now and this needs to be fixed immediately,” she wrote.
More than 26,000 troops were deployed to Washington to secure the inauguration in response to fears of more rioting after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Those fears never materialized with only a few minor arrests on Inauguration Day.
Roughly 10,600 troops remain.
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