President Donald Trump is extending federal funding for National Guard deployments until mid-August to help states in their coronavirus pandemic response efforts.
“The men and women of the National Guard have been doing a great job fighting the CoronaVirus. This week, I will extend their Title 32 orders through mid-August, so they can continue to help States succeed in their response and recovery efforts,” Trump wrote on Twitter Thursday.
Title 32 status provides federal funding for the National Guard deployments across the country while allowing those forces to remain under the control of state governors as they help with coronavirus response. There are some 46,000 National Guard members supporting state coronavirus response efforts at the direction of state governors.
That federal funding was previously set to expire on June 24. Many state governors had asked the Trump administration to extend the funding.
An extension was also supported by the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, Gen. Joseph Lengyel.
The Pentagon said Thursday that there are currently some 46,000 members of the National Guard are supporting response efforts at their governors’ direction.