US states pledge National Guard troops for Washington if requested
The District of Columbia has not made any formal request for troops following the election.
More than two dozen states have indicated they would be willing to send National Guard troops to Washington if requested following the presidential election and in the run-up to the inauguration, Guard officials said.
The District of Columbia has not made any formal requests for Guard troops, but officials across the government have been preparing for the possibility the US Capitol could again be rocked by violence around the certification of the election by Congress on January 6 and the inauguration two weeks later.
About 25,000 Guard troops from around the country flooded into Washington in the days after the January 6 2021, riot, when thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s win.
The troops, along with local and federal law enforcement, locked down the city for the inauguration, securing the Capitol, monuments, Metro entrances and the perimeter of the central part of the city.
