The Pentagon has authorized up to 25,000 National Guard members for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, the National Guard Bureau said in a press release Friday, marking an increase from the 21,000 troops authorized a day earlier.
“Every state, territory and the District of Columbia will have National Guard men and women supporting the inauguration,” the statement said. As of Thursday, there were 7,000 Guardsmen in Washington from more than a dozen states and the DC National Guard. That number will more than triple in the next few days. The surge in service members comes as law enforcement in the nation’s capital and around the country brace for more extremist violence after the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol last week. The FBI has received information indicating “armed protests” are being planned at all 50 state capitols and the US Capitol in Washington in the days leading up to Biden’s inauguration, according to an internal bulletin obtained by CNN.
