DeSantis orders Fla. National Guard home

Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered more than 600 Florida National Guard soldiers to return home from Washington following reports that troops were “banished” from U.S. Capitol buildings to a parking garage.

DeSantis blasted the treatment of soldiers in the nation’s capital during an appearance Friday morning on “Fox & Friends.”

DeSantis called the assignment a “half-cocked mission at this point” and took aim at Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“They are soldiers,” DeSantis said “They are not Nancy Pelosi’s servants.”

About 26,000 National Guard soldiers were stationed in Washington following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Even before the controversy, 15,000 troops assigned to the capital were set to return home within 10 days, according to the National Guard Bureau.

Top lawmakers from both parties took to Twitter to criticize the U.S. Capitol Police for ordering troops to vacate Capitol buildings. They demanded the situation be remedied. Democratic

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both her legs in combat, wrote in a tweet, “I am demanding answers ASAP. They can use my office.”

One unit, which had been resting in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, was abruptly told to leave on Thursday, Politico reported. About 5,000 troops were sent to a nearby parking garage without internet service, only one electrical outlet and one bathroom with two stalls, according to the Politico report. One National Guard member told Politico the unit had been “banished.”

By late Thursday night, troops were allowed back into the Capitol.

DeSantis also took issue with the FBI vetting soldiers for extremist beliefs in response to fears of an insider attack against President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.

Twelve National Guard members were removed from the assignment, including two who had made extremist statements in posts or texts, according to the Department of Defense.