Hegseth authorizes expansion of National Guard operations in DC

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the National Guard to expand its operations in the nation’s capital. The expansion authorizes the National Guard to use boats, several dozen marked police cars, humvees and light-medium tactical vehicles, Politico reported. 
The Oct. 29 memo detailing the authorization doesn’t explain why the deployment is being expanded now. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard in August 2025 to respond to what he called a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C. The National Guard members support police, but they are not allowed to pursue suspects or make arrests. 
The boats, according to the memo, will provide “perimeter security” for police conducting drug interdiction operations in Anacostia, and federal officers “must always be on board” the boats. 
A Cato Institute report published last month found that robberies and motor-vehicle thefts have dropped in the nation’s capital since the National Guard were deployed in the city, but there were no detectable changes in other crimes, such as homicides and robberies. 
The analysis concluded that the highly visible presence of National Guard members in the city impacts opportunistic crimes that occur in public spaces, but it hasn’t had much of an impact on those that take place in private settings.

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