The American taxpayer spent nearly half a billion dollars deploying federal troops to U.S. cities in 2025, CBO finds | Fortune

"A new report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), released Jan. 28, provides the first comprehensive accounting of the federal government's push to utilize military assets for domestic law enforcement. The nonpartisan analysis, the response to a request for information from Senate Budget Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), reveals that between June 2025 and December 2025, the cost of mobilizing National Guard and active-duty Marine Corps personnel to six major American cities totaled approximately $496 million."

"The report highlights the financial burden is ongoing and significant. If the administration maintains the troop levels present at the end of 2025, the CBO estimates the recurring cost to the federal budget will be $93 million per month, while deploying just 1,000 National Guard personnel to a U.S. city in 2026 would cost $18 million to $21 million per month, depending largely on local cost-of-living differences."

"The half-billion-dollar price tag covers operations that began in mid-2025. According to the report, the administration deployed forces to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Memphis, Portland, and Chicago. While a deployment to New Orleans also occurred, it was initiated late in the year, so the CBO didn't include it in the report. This means the real cost of federal troop deployment was higher than calculated, but didn't stretch all the way back to June."

The Congressional Budget Office calculated about $496 million in federal spending to deploy National Guard and active-duty Marine Corps personnel to six U.S. cities between June and December 2025. Deployments occurred to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Memphis, Portland, and Chicago; a New Orleans deployment began late and was excluded, so actual totals were higher. If troop levels remain as of December 2025, recurring federal costs could reach $93 million per month. Deploying 1,000 National Guard personnel to one city in 2026 is estimated at $18–21 million monthly, varying with local cost of living. Retaining 200 mobilized Guardsmen in Texas after Chicago operations ended increased expenditures. The CBO labeled future costs highly uncertain due to unpredictable mission scale and duration.

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