National Guard troops who were brought in to protect Joe Biden’s inauguration as president found themselves sleeping in an unheated garage hours after being booted from the Capitol on Thursday, prompting an uproar among lawmakers who scrambled to move them back.
The troops were among the more than 20,000 National Guard personnel who provided security for the inauguration Wednesday. They were relocated Thursday afternoon to the nearby Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, said Capt. Edwin Nieves Jr., spokesman for the Washington, DC, branch of the National Guard.
Early Friday, the DC Guard said that the soldiers had been moved back to the Capitol from the parking garage. Nieves said that they would take future breaks “near Emancipation Hall,” a part of the Capitol complex.
Nieves said that the Guard troops had been temporarily moved out of the Capitol on Thursday afternoon at request of the Capitol Police because of “increased foot traffic” as Congress came back into session. He did not specify how many soldiers had been moved.
The Capitol Police could not immediately be reached for comment Friday morning.
Two Guard soldiers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that they had been relocated without explanation and that they were without electrical power, heat or adequate restroom facilities. One soldier estimated that there were 1,000 troops sharing one portable restroom outside the garage.
“Zero guidance on mission, length of mission, nothing,” the soldier said.
The soldiers also said that their fellow troops were breathing in exhaust fumes because the garage at the Thurgood Marshall centre was still in use for parking.
Nieves said that the garage had heat and restrooms.
Reports of the move prompted protests from lawmakers from both parties, including House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Some offered to house the Guard troops in their offices.
“This is unacceptable and must be fixed,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., wrote on Twitter.
On social media, some lawmakers said they were making efforts to move the troops back to the Capitol.
In a tweet, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said that he had spoken to the acting chief of the Capitol Police about the issue.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said that 12 Guard soldiers had been removed from their duties at Biden’s inauguration after officials discovered that they had written texts and social media posts that made threatening comments toward political officials.
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