46,000 Guard Members Helping with Pandemic
(Trump seeks to deprive them of benefits for service)
Trump is now
going to extend the federal deployment of over 40,000 National Guard troops
aiding coronavirus relief efforts.
This reverses
his earlier cutoff date plan, and it follows harsh bi-partisan backlash and
pressure from top DOD officials.
The federal
government will now keep funding National Guard troops in nearly the entire
country through mid-August.
Trump tweeted that announcement to show (I guess) his
support for the troops even after he was ready to screw them. What a hypocrite
he is.
Trump planned
to terminate the deployment on June 24 — which would have been one day before
thousands of Guard members would have qualified for key retirement and
education benefits for a 90-tour of duty.
My View: Trump should not have tried to pull that stunt in the first place — shame on him.
Original
story from here:
National Guard soldiers are helping with the COVID-19 Pandemic and Trump is about to screw them. Details in this story follow and folks, details are critical. Cite this headline from Politico:
“Hard stop:” States could lose National Guard virus workers
The Trump administration’s order ends deployments on June 24, just one day before (the magic 90-day mark) that would allow thousands to qualify for education and retirement benefits for their service.
The whole story: More than 40,000 National Guard members currently helping states test residents for the coronavirus and trace the spread of infections will face a “Hard Stop” order on their deployments on June 24 — just one day shy of many members becoming eligible for key federal benefits (according to a senior FEMA official).
The official outlined the Trump administration’s plans on an interagency call on May 12, an audio version of which was obtained by POLITICO.
The official also acknowledged during the call that the June 24 deadline means that thousands of members who first deployed in late March will find themselves with only 89 days of duty credit, one short of the 90-day threshold for qualifying for early retirement and education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill.
Full impact: The National Guard saw a surge in new applicants after Trump called for helping hands amid the pandemic. More than 46,000 Guard members are currently serving in the largest domestic employment since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They have staffed prisons, stocked local food banks and conducted tests at nursing facilities. Also, to date, some 1,100 Guard troops have been diagnosed with coronavirus.
As reported by Politico, FEMA officials called the “hard stop” deployment specifically to prevent troops deployed in late March from reaching the 90-day active duty credit mark.
That is period of time needed for them to qualify for early retirement and education benefits. That decision was made even as governors across the country have called for extended National Guard assistance.
Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) has pursued drastic measures to acquire and safeguard life-saving PPE supplies and that has included enlisting the his state National Guard to protect the equipment at an undisclosed location to endure delivery.
However, only one week after Gov. Hogan ordered the Guard to the Baltimore-Washington airport to escort PPE shipments to a secure location, the White House memo ended federal orders for state Guard deployments for June 24 — which happens to be one day short of the 90 days they would need to qualify for post-9/11 GI Bill education and retirement benefits for a 90-day active duty stent.
Current National Guard members must be enlisted for 20 years to qualify for a pension at age 60, however, for every 90 days they serve in a federal emergency (i.e., like active duty troops), they may speed up their retirement date by three months and qualify for reduced tuition at public universities.
Noteworthy also from AlterNet: The White House has come under swift pressure to back off this particular attack against frontline workers. A group of bipartisan lawmakers wrote to Trump and the Pentagon warning that the June cutoff would endanger Americans and then Senate Democrat introduced a bill to ensure Guard members can claim their benefits.
“It makes me sick to my stomach,” said Brig. Gen. (Ret.) J. Roy Robinson, the President of the National Guard Association in reference to this plan.
Hours later, White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley said: “The administration will continue monitoring the impact of coronavirus in the states and will work to ensure they are equipped to respond.”
Related to all that two-faced dealing is this story from earlier reporting on this same topic from Salon.com (April 9):
House probes role of Jared Kushner as federal government seizes orders of COVID-19 medical supplies
House Committees demand answers after officials in multiple states report the feds seized their supplies without warning
Two House committees have called on FEMA to turn over documents related to reports that they are seizing orders of coronavirus medical supplies from states under the eye of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The chairs of the House Homeland Security and Oversight committees called on FEMA to turn over documents responding to a “troubling report” from HHS IG detailing severe shortages of emergency equipment reported by hospitals around the country.
My 2 cents: Trump says he is 100% strong on the military and yet as this proves, he screws many of them. What a sad, sad man professing to be the best CINC ever – far from it. Despicable is the right word for Trump.
This image best describes Trump – make no mistake about it: His trademark is “Art of the Deal” but right now “Art of the Con” fits him to a Trump “T.”
Thanks for stopping by.
No comments:
Post a Comment