Democratic Sen. Chris Coons: National Guard Isn’t the Answer

Democratic Senator Chris Coons argues that deploying the National Guard is not an effective solution to America’s crime problem. Coons stresses that federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI have the resources and expertise to reduce violent crime when working in partnership with state and local police.

He contrasts this approach with the use of the National Guard, which he says is expensive, ineffective, and poorly suited for law enforcement roles. He points to recent Guard deployments in Washington, D.C., where members ended up handling non-policing tasks rather than reducing crime.

The senator highlights that the FBI itself is under budgetary strain, with a half-billion-dollar proposed cut and staffing shortages. He calls for reversing those cuts and boosting investment in the FBI to strengthen federal crime-fighting capacity.

According to Coons, a smarter path forward is to build sustainable partnerships between federal and local law enforcement, not to rely on the National Guard.