This is the month that troops first deployed.

This is the month that the last troops ended their deployment.

This is the mission as stated by an official government source. The visualization currently includes the following missions: border security support, civil unrest response, counter drug, federal protection, ICE support, inauguration support, public safety, and special event support.

This is the location(s) in which troops are deployed. If cities/towns are known, they are listed. If not, the state of the deployment is listed.

This is the state(s) the National Guard troops are from. If the deployment is of active duty troops, this section reads “N/A,” as the federal government supplies active duty troops.

This number is the highest number of troops deployed at one time. Accurately tracking troop fluctuations over the course of a deployment is not possible using publicly available information. If a number is provided, the tracker links to the source for that number.

The law requires a mobilization authority to call up National Guard members from their civilian status to conduct a military mission. Active duty troops do not need a mobilization authority as they are already in a military status. The most frequently used National Guard mobilization authority for federal domestic military deployments is Title 32 § 502(f). Recently, the president has also used Title 10 § 12406 as a mobilization authority. Mobilization authority, which allows the president to order National Guard personnel into active duty, differs from mission authority, which authorizes the purpose for which the National Guard will be used. The mission authority appears in a separate column in this tracker. 

In situations where the mobilization authority is not publicly known, the tracker records “unknown.”

All military missions must rest on a legal theory (constitutional or statutory) authorizing military personnel to conduct the specific mission(s) the president or other executive branch official has ordered. 

Common mission authorities include Title 32 § 112 (counter-drug missions) and Title 32 Chapter 15 (defense support of civil authorities activities). Recently, the president also claimed mission authority on the basis of what it describes as the protective power, an inherent Constitutional Article II power, to authorize military missions.

In situations where the Executive Branch has not explicitly identified the mission authority but has made public statements suggesting or implying a particular mission authority, the tracker reads “Unstated; assumed [mission authority].” For example, the Executive Branch may not provide a public mission authority but may state the mission includes “protecting federal property,” which indicates it is likely relying on an inherent Article II protective power argument. For this example, the mission authority category of the tracker would read “Unstated; assumed inherent Article II protective power.” In cases where the likely mission authority cannot be identified through official designation or inferred from government officials’ public statements, the tracker reads “unknown.” 

*In the 2025-2026 National Guard deployment in the District of Columbia, the president claimed both mobilization authority and mission authority on the basis of 32 U.S.C. § 502(f), which based on the language of 502(f), would place no limitation on mission, except that it comes from the president or the Defense Secretary. This is a novel argument and differs from executive branch practice regarding the use of 32 U.S.C. § 502(f), except potentially for the first Trump administration’s 2020 deployment in the District of Columbia. 

This covers the statutory or Constitutional authority to deploy the troops. Authorities invoked include Title 32 § 502(f), Title 10 Chapter 15, Title 10 § 12406, and inherent Constitutional Article II power. Note that mobilization authorities such as Title 32 § 502(f) and Title 10 § 12406 provide the authority to mobilize the National Guard but do not provide the authority to conduct specific missions. Mission authority must come from elsewhere, such as Title 32 § 112 (counter-drug mission) or Title 32 Chapter 15 (homeland defense activities).

This provides a binary yes or no on whether the governor of the state in which troops were deployed consented to the deployment. In a hybrid Title 32 deployment, the consent of the governor is required. By contrast, in a federal Title 10 deployment, the governor’s approval is not required; consent is thus determined by reference to public statements or litigation documents. For deployments to the District of Columbia, this field provides a yes or no on whether the mayor consented to the deployment; however, the mayor of the District of Columbia does not have the same authority as a state governor. That is because of the District of Columbia’s unique legal status; the commander-in-chief of the District of Columbia Guard is the president of the United States, not the mayor.

This provides a binary yes or no on whether troops were conducting any activities that are classified as law enforcement. The tracker’s list of law enforcement activities is based on Defense Department Instruction 3025.21 (“Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies”), 10 U.S.C. Section 275, and tests used by the courts to determine if activity is law enforcement. 

For purposes of the tracker, activities are considered law enforcement if the activity includes any of the following:

• Interdiction of a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or other similar activity;
• A search or seizure;
• An arrest or apprehension; stop and frisk; engaging in interviews, interrogations, and canvassing or questioning potential witnesses; or similar activity;
• Using force or physical violence, brandishing a weapon, discharging or using a weapon, or threatening to discharge or use a weapon except in self-defense, in defense of other Defense Department persons in the vicinity; or in defense of non-Defense Department persons, including civilian law enforcement personnel, in the vicinity when directly related to an assigned activity or mission;
• Evidence collection; security functions; crowd and traffic control; and operating, manning, or staffing checkpoints;
• Surveillance or pursuit of individuals, vehicles, items, transactions, or physical locations, or acting as undercover agents, informants, investigators, or interrogators;
• Forensic investigations or other testing of evidence obtained from a suspect for use in a civilian law enforcement investigation in the United States unless there is a Defense Department nexus or the evidence was obtained by consent.

This provides details on known operational restrictions on troops actions while conducting their mission. This includes restrictions on arming troops and use of lethal and less than lethal weapons, whether troops have arrest authority or not, and other rules for the use of force. It was created to provide insight on operational restrictions that limit the domestic operations; however, much of this information is not publicly available.

This provides any federal law or state law challenge to the legality of the deployment with a link to the court case(s).