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National Guard troops who were brought in to protect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s nomination as president found themselves asleep in an unheated garage hours after being kicked off the Capitol on Thursday, causing an uproar among the lawmakers who rushed to roll them back.
The troops were among more than 20,000 members of the National Guard who provided security for the inauguration on Wednesday. They were transferred Thursday afternoon to the nearby Thurgood Marshall Federal Judicial Building, said Captain Edwin Nieves Jr., spokesperson for the Washington, DC branch of the National Guard.
Early Friday morning, the DC Guard said the soldiers had been driven back to Capitol Hill from the parking lot. Captain Nieves said they would take future breaks “near Emancipation Hall,” part of the Capitol complex.
Captain Nieves said Guard troops were temporarily moved out of Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon at the request of Capitol Police due to “increased foot traffic” as Congress returned to session. He did not specify how many soldiers had been displaced.
Capitol Police could not be reached immediately for comment on Friday morning.
Two Guard soldiers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had been relocated without explanation and had no adequate electricity, heating or toilets. One soldier estimated that there were 1,000 soldiers sharing a portable toilet outside the garage.
“No orientation on the mission, the length of the mission, nothing,” the soldier said.
The soldiers also said their comrades were breathing exhaust fumes because the garage at Thurgood Marshall’s center was still being used for parking.
Captain Nieves said the garage had heat and a toilet.
Reports of the move sparked protests from lawmakers from both parties, including the parliamentary minority leader Kevin mccarthy, Republican and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York. Some have offered to house the Guard troops in their offices.
“This is unacceptable and must be corrected,” Arizona Democrat Senator Mark Kelly wrote on Twitter.
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On social media, some lawmakers said they were making efforts to bring troops back to Capitol Hill.
In a tweet, Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said he spoke to the acting Capitol Police chief of the matter about the matter.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said 12 Guardsmen were removed from their posts during Mr. Biden’s inauguration after officials discovered they had written texts and social media posts containing comments threatening to politicians.
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