Trump Adds 3 More States To Those That Don’t Have To Pay For National Guard After Criticism

TOPLINE

Trump added three states to the list of those that would not have to pay 25% of the National Guard’s deployment costs after facing criticism for exempting only Texas and Florida, Republican strongholds whose governors are Trump allies.

KEY FACTS

Chief Critic 

“With American lives at risk, the President is continuing to manipulate our nation’s pandemic response to benefit his own political fortunes. The National Guard deployments are the latest development in the partisan games the President has played with states seeking critical supplies and aid,” said Noam Lee, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association.

Key Background

The National Guard has been a critical part in the Trump administrations fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. National Guard members have been deployed to all 50 states with guardsmen administering coronavirus tests, conducting contact tracing and helping enforce travel restrictions. In March, the federal government agreed to pay for the deployment costs for states to ease the financial burden on cash-strapped states. Before the extension, federal support for the National Guard’s coronavirus mission was set to end on August 21.

Further Reading

Trump extends National Guard virus mission through 2020 but cuts federal funds by quarter (Politico) 

Trump exempts Arizona, California, Connecticut from National Guard coronavirus deployment payments (Politico)

 Congress Pushes Back On Trump’s Plan To End National Guard Deployment (Forbes)