WASHINGTON – The cost of deploying federal troops to six U.S. cities, a significant move by the Trump administration, has reached approximately $496 million by December’s end. According to the latest findings from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), maintaining these deployments through the year could push expenditures beyond $1 billion.

President Donald Trump has defended the decision to dispatch National Guard troops as a necessary measure to tackle crime and bolster local law enforcement efforts. However, this initiative has sparked criticism, with opponents arguing it weakens state and local governance and oversteps the president’s constitutional authority.

The CBO released these financial estimates following a request from Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon and the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee. Their report highlights the financial implications of deploying National Guard and active-duty Marines to various cities.

Senator Merkley expressed concern over the mounting expenses, stating, “The American people deserve to know how many hundreds of millions of their hard-earned dollars have been and are being wasted on Trump’s reckless and haphazard deployment of National Guard troops to Portland and cities across the country,” referring to the CBO’s findings.

The cost projections include deployments to cities like Chicago, Memphis, Portland, and Los Angeles, particularly noted during June when protests erupted over immigration arrests. The CBO report estimates that ongoing deployments in these areas could incur monthly expenses of around $93 million.

The estimate excludes the military’s December deployment to New Orleans.

For further possible deployments down the road, the CBO estimates deploying 1,000 National Guard personnel to a U.S. city in 2026 would cost $18 million to $21 million per month, depending on the local cost of living.

National Guard troops are expected to remain deployed in Washington throughout 2026, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press earlier this month.

The troop deployments have provoked legal challenges from local leaders, and some have been successful. A California federal judge in January ruled that the Trump administration “willfully” broke federal law by sending National Guard units to the Los Angeles area.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson did not address the CBO’s cost estimate but said in a statement that the White House’s deployment efforts have driven down crime.

“Thanks to the Trump Administration’s highly successful efforts to drive down violent crime, cities like Memphis and D.C. are much safer for residents and visitors — with crime dropping across all major categories,” she said. “The media should talk to individuals who are able to go about their daily lives without fear of being assaulted, carjacked, or robbed thanks to the Trump Administration.”