Trump's coronavirus National Guard order expires the day before many members would be eligible for key benefits

National Guard.
(Image credit: PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)

National Guard members tasked with lending states a hand during the coronavirus pandemic will see their deployments end June 24, just one day before many would become eligible for key federal retirement and education benefits, Politico reports.

Politico obtained audio of an interagency call in May which outlined the Trump administration's plans for the National Guard and it was acknowledged that thousands of members deployed in March would tally 89 days of service meaning they would fall one day short of the 90-day threshold for reducing their pension qualification age and earning 40 percent tuition discounts at public colleges and universities under the GI Bill.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.