Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Do you think, it is worth that amount?
$1,204.
That was the median weekly earnings for full-time employees in the U.S. in 2025, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
If you multiply that number by 52 (a year), you get a median yearly income of approximately $62,600.
Now, if we multiply that by 16, we get $992,448 — a yearly salary most of us can only dream of ever having.
But that amount is still not what it costs to have the National Guard deployed in Washington, D.C. — every single day.
Mounting costs
Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee have released a new report claiming that the Trump administration’s National Guard deployment in D.C. has already cost taxpayers more than $330 million.
The report was released Thursday by Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan and Andy Kim of New Jersey, who said expenses are on pace to exceed $600 million by August, one year after the mission began.
“What’s interesting is that despite that significant investment of taxpayer dollars, now six months into the mission, the National Guard has been unable to identify any specific, measurable public safety outcomes directly attributable to their presence,” Peters told reporters on a media call, according to NBC News.
The 14-page report describes the assignment as loosely defined, with goals that could keep Guard troops in Washington indefinitely. It follows President Donald Trump’s August executive order declaring a crime emergency and sending more than 2,300 Guard members from Washington and eight states into city neighborhoods.
Impact disputed
Trump described Washington as “one of the most dangerous cities,” despite Justice Department data showing crime fell to a 30-year low in 2024. Peters said the spending has not made the city safer and has “blurred the line between military and civilian law enforcement.”
Kim questioned the effectiveness of out-of-state troops unfamiliar with local communities, saying the costs were hard to justify. While overall crime has declined, the senators said they found no evidence tying that trend to the Guard’s presence.
The report also notes that two Guard members were shot near the White House in November, one fatally, and criticizes the Defense Department for failing to respond to oversight requests. A federal judge ordered the deployment halted in November, but an appeals court later allowed it to continue.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, NBC News, Senate Homeland Security Committee report, Justice Department
