MD State leaders say National Guard has not been paid for time at Capitol during riots

MD State leaders say National Guard has not been paid for time during Capitol riots

Maryland State leaders say members of the National Guard who were called to defend the Capitol during the January insurrection have not been paid.

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - Shortly after the January insurrection at the U.S. capitol, hundreds of Maryland National Guard members came in to help.

"We had 800 people there like overnight, literally overnight," said Maj. Gen. Timothy E. Gowen, the adjutant general of the Maryland National Guard.

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But answering the call doesn’t come cheap.

Gowen sent letters to members of Maryland’s congressional delegation earlier this week, urging Congress to reimburse expenses from the unexpected deployment, saying it’s already caused severe cuts in "training, maintenance, and payroll," and adding, it could lead to a "stoppage in pay for the soldiers and airmen who have sacrificed so much."

"There’s full-time people who aren’t gonna get paid," Gowen explained Friday. "They’re gonna go without basically the last three paychecks of the fiscal year, and these are soldiers and airmen and they’ve got families and mortgages and car payments and things like that."

The troops do have some support in congress, with Maryland Senator Ben Cardin sending FOX 5 a statement, reading in part, "There is no question that this was a federal mission and it should be paid for with federal funds. Congress needs to get this done."

Problem is, time is ticking. According to Gowen, there’s an August 1 deadline because unlike other agencies, the National Guard isn’t allowed to go into debt.

"Here we are with about a week to go before it really makes a difference," he said.

News Washington, D.C.