Hegseth Authorizes National Guard Use of Boats, Humvees and Police Cars in Washington, D.C.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the National Guard to use boats, Humvees, light medium tactical vehicles and several dozen marked police cars in Washington, D.C., in an Oct. 29 memo first reported by Politico, and a Pentagon official confirmed the move to The Hill on Thursday. The Hill reported the number of police cars at up to 60. The memo says the vehicles are meant to support law enforcement operations, including drug busts, and the Daily Wire reported the authorization runs through the end of the year. Guard members remain barred from pursuing suspects or making arrests. The boats are to provide "perimeter security" for police targeting suspected gang leaders and drug traffickers in Anacostia, in southeast D.C. The memo says federal officers must always be aboard to make arrests and bars the boats from surveilling U.S. citizens. The Pentagon said the decision came just before Republicans' landslide midterm defeat. On Wednesday, D.C. police charged a man with threats in a menacing manner and assault on a police officer for allegedly making a "finger gun" gesture at Guard troops.

The New Republic, on the left, opens with reports that Hegseth may be on his way out and says the memo gives no clear reason for the expansion. It notes the vehicles were used in Afghanistan and Iraq, ties the move to the finger-gun charge, and argues the buildup will make troops look like an occupying army and challenge the post-midterm political landscape. The New York Times headlines the expansion of patrols and stresses its timing before the Republican midterm loss. The right-leaning Daily Wire frames the story as Trump giving troops "new muscle" while local Democrats try to push hundreds of out-of-state guardsmen out. It lays out the memo's limits in detail, including no arrests, federal officers on boats and no surveillance, and says the administration has not publicly explained the additions. Both sides agree on the memo's date and contents. They differ over whether the story is about political motive and optics or about law-enforcement support and the Democratic push to remove the Guard. The Hill's report largely matches the facts the others give.