Chicago National Guard deployment cost taxpayers paid $21 million according to Congressional Budget Office report
It cost taxpayers $21 million for hundreds of National Guards troops to be deployed to Chicago and Illinois, where they were kept on base by legal challenges and never mobilized.
According to estimates released by the Congressional Budget Office this week, the overall cost of the Trump administration's National Guard deployment to six American cities cost taxpayers nearly half a billion dollars in 2025.
The breakdown from the CBO shows troop deployment to Chicago peaked at 375 troops, which cost $1 million through the end of December 2025.
Illinois and Chicago sued to block the deployment, and the courts agreed with them, issuing a temporary restraining order that remained in place for the duration of the mobilization. The Trump administration appealed that order all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, but justices rejected that bid as well. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
While no National Guard troops ever left local military bases, their official deployment didn't end until Jan. 21, 2026, which the CBO said cost taxpayers an additional $4 million.
National Guard troops were also deployed to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Memphis, Portland and New Orleans. While at peak deployment Los Angeles saw the highest number of troops (4,900), Washington D.C. has incurred the highest cot because more than 2,900 troops were and remain deployed there.
The CBO estimates that, in general, deploying 1,000 members of the National Guard to any city would cost $18 to $21 million per month, depending mainly on the city's cost of living.
The CBO analyzed costs including military pay and benefits, lodging, transportation and food. The CBO did not expect heavy costs would be incurred for equipment since the deployments "appear to mainly involve foot patrols conducted by small units."
