The National Guard apologized and arranged accommodation on Capitol Hill after being in the garage in the parliament building.

"I have just made a few phone calls and been told that the parliamentary police have apologized to the National Guard soldiers, they will be back on the block tonight. I will keep monitoring to make sure this.

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US National Guard in a garage outside Capitol Hill on the evening of January 21 Photo: Politico

The information was released by Duckworth after US media reported that hundreds of guards were forced to leave buildings on Capitol Hill the day after President Joe Biden's inauguration.

Major Matt Murphy, spokesman for the National Guard, said the guards were allowed to rest inside Capitol Hill while securing the inauguration.

"As parliament starts at session and the number of people traveling and working increases, the National Assembly police requires that the soldiers resting in the halls and corridors withdraw," Murphy said.

However, this sudden decision made many guards upset, because they had to sleep on the floor, had no socket to charge their radios and phones, and had no Internet, while the toilet was overloaded.

Hours later, Duckworth said the entire National Guard had left the garage.

Parliamentary Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said it had requested to shorten the National Guard's shift from 12 to 8 hours to add rest time outside of Capitol Hill, but did not explain why

The US National Guard said that the majority of the 26,000 guards involved in securing the inauguration were about to return home, with only 10,600 remaining on duty in Washington.

The removal of more than 15,000 soldiers from Washington, DC, could take 5-10 days.