Ten thousand active-duty troops that will be patrolling the cities in the United States especially the streets of Washington is the target of the White House earlier this week to pacify protesters, however, according to an official of senior defense, Joint of Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper blocked the possible usage of active troops.
In a report by CNN, an approximate of 1,600 active-duty troops were moved by Esper to respond in case there is a need in the region of Washington, D.C., but the estimated 5,000 National Guard troops already in the region do not need assistance prompting active troops to leave on Thursday night.
The second defense official shared that the Joint of Chiefs of Staff General strongly felt the threshold, describing it informally as dire circumstances, for the call of active-duty troops could not be met, leaving the door open to whether such a possible presidential order would be legal.
On Monday, after the DC's violence, together with the militarized law enforcement presence, Milley reached for US President Donald Trump's political arch-enemy, the Congress's Democratic leaders.
According to the source in the Congress, it is confirmed that Milley made a call on Monday with Senator Chuck Schumacher, the leader of Democrats in the Senate.
ABC also reported that Milley made a Tuesday call with the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi but based on the defense official it is not the only call he made to Congress as several other calls were also made.
Exact discussions with the leaders of Democrats in the congress have not been released yet, but on Monday night, the Joint of Chiefs of Staff General had already tense words with the US President that active-duty military troops against protesters in DC was definitely unnecessary despite threats coming from the President as several officials confirmed.
Moreover, despite the support coming from the White House on Saturday for Esper, the second defense official shared that both men are certainly aware of the consequences they will be facing and the risk of Trump's ire as there is always a possibility to lose their jobs.
The extra effort reaching out Congress is only a portion of an extensive effort by both men in explaining their actions as they try to move forward in the face of massive personal criticism from past colleagues and former members of the Congress, but so far they are still waiting for the response from Pentagon regarding their request to testify before the House Armed Services Committee.
Milley and Esper also shared to their colleagues that they are distressed with the criticism about St. John's Church walk because it ended up as a photo-op with political spice.
An administration official close to Esper and Milley confessed that they regretted being part of the walk.
Esper also shared that he is trying his best to stay out of political events despite being always on the picture after failing to do so.
On the other hand, Milley has not yet publicly spoken regarding the walk wherein he was wearing his battlefield uniform.