'Heartless': Trump administration decides to end National Guard deployments day before they can claim benefits

‘In peace time we should never balance our budget on the backs of our soldiers’

Democratic congressman Max Rose has criticised the Trump administration for deciding to end the National Guard‘s deployment a day before they could claim benefits.

The Trump administration announced that the deployment of the National Guard in some states, amid the coronavirus outbreak, will be extended to 24 June, just one day before thousands of members would have qualified for early retirement and benefits.

National Guard members have been receiving federal pay since they were deployed on 12 March, and would have been entitled to education and retirement benefits if the deployment was extended by an extra day.

Mr Rose, who served in the US Army in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013 and was awarded the Purple Heart for his service, announced in March that the National Guard would be deployed in New York City to help tackle the outbreak.

At the time of the deployment, the city was the epicentre for the virus in the US and was struggling to cope with the amount of coronavirus cases and deaths.

In a statement released on Monday, the representative for New York’s 11th district, called the decision to end their deployment a day before members could claim extra benefits as “unpatriotic [and] economically unsound.”

He said that “intentionally ending orders one day short of a deadline for National Guard soldiers to receive benefits for their heroic sacrifices is the definition of heartless.”

Mr Rose said: “In peace time we should never balance our budget on the backs of our soldiers,” and added, “so why anyone would think this is okay to do in the middle of a wartime effort is beyond human comprehension.”

In a statement, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spokesperson Wayne Hall said that a decision has not yet been made on extending the deployment beyond 24 June, according to Politico.

“We’re not there yet on the determination,” he said. “Nobody can say where we’ll need to be more than a month down the road.”

A National Guard spokesperson told The Hill that FEMA has the final say on whether the deployment is extended.

“We are always supportive of policies that provide National Guard soldiers and airmen with benefits that match the service they provide to their communities, states, and our nation,” they said.

“We are always supportive of policies that provide National Guard soldiers and airmen with benefits that match the service they provide to their communities, states, and our nation,” they added.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 1.5 million people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 92,149.