War Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed off on expanding the equipment available to National Guard troops stationed in Washington, D.C., even as local officials renew calls to end the deployment altogether.
Two Pentagon officials confirmed to Fox News Digital that Hegseth signed an Oct. 29 memo authorizing use of up to 60 marked police patrol cars, Humvees, military tactical vehicles, D.C. National Guard boats, and as many as 20 light towers and generators.
The authorization covers what the administration calls the “Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful” mission, under which roughly 3,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to the capital as part of President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown.
A War Department official described the scope of the order to Fox News Digital: “The October 29, 2026, guidance authorizes the use of up to 60 marked patrol cars, military tactical vehicles, up to 20 light towers and generators and D.C. National Guard maritime boat assets in support of federal and local law enforcement operations.”
Politico first reported the memo. It follows an earlier decision by Hegseth allowing National Guard troops to carry service-issued weapons when their mission requires it.
Local Pushback
The expanded authorization lands just as D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who chairs the council’s public safety committee, convened a hearing Thursday to scrutinize the ongoing federal law enforcement and National Guard presence in the city.
“I am very hopeful and optimistic that we now have the partners we need at the state and congressional level to push back and demand that this unnecessary, harmful and unlawful military presence be removed from the district,” Pinto said during the hearing.
Pinto called on newly elected Democratic governors in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas to pull back what she said totals 628 National Guard troops those states have sent to Washington. She also pressed congressional Democrats to tighten oversight of federal law enforcement operations come January, including requirements for visible identifying badges and body cameras on officers.
The equipment expansion comes against a backdrop of administration claims of progress: the FBI has reported roughly 6,000 arrests and a 44% drop in homicides one year into the crackdown.
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