Soldiers and airmen from the District of Columbia National Guard will be on the city's streets this week as Washington braces for protests when Congress meets to officially confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the Nov. 3 presidential election.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser requested the Guard to have personnel on the streets Jan. 5-7 to help control traffic and perform other duties during expected protests.

"At the request of Mayor Muriel Bowser, District of Columbia National Guard is in a support role to the Metropolitan Police Department, which will enable them to provide a safe environment for our fellow citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to demonstrate," Maj. Gen. William Walker, commander of the D.C. Guard, said in a statement Monday.

Several pro-Trump groups, such as the Proud Boys, have pledged to protest in D.C. on Jan. 6 -- the day Congress is set to conduct a formal count of Electoral College votes and officially name Biden as the next president of the United States.

About 340 Guard members will be in D.C. at traffic control points and Metro stations identified by Metro police, Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Craig Clapper told Military.com, adding that personnel will be in uniform but will not carry weapons or protective equipment.

"They will not be armed ... and they will not be wearing body armor," Clapper said.

WASHINGTON — In an extraordinary rebuke of President Donald Trump, all 10 living former secretaries of defense are cautioning against any move to involve the military in pursuing claims of election fraud, arguing that it would take the country into “dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory.”

The 10 men, both Democrats and Republicans, signed on to an opinion article published Sunday in The Washington Post that implicitly questioned Trump’s willingness to follow his constitutional duty to peacefully relinquish power on Jan. 20. Following the Nov. 3 election and subsequent recounts in some states, as well as unsuccessful court challenges, the outcome is clear, they wrote, while not specifying Trump in the article.

“The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived,” they wrote.

The former Pentagon chiefs warned against use of the military in any effort to change the outcome.

“Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory,” they wrote. “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”

A number of senior military officers, including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said publicly in recent weeks that the military has no role in determining the outcome of U.S. elections and that their loyalty is to the Constitution, not to an individual leader or a political party.

Nearly all states resolved election disputes before the "safe harbor" deadline, guaranteeing their electors will be counted under federal law. But several GOP lawmakers signed a letter pledging to object to the results unless Congress investigated the election before they counted.

Any objections to a state's results on Jan. 6 would require support from at least one House representative and one senator to be considered. The two chambers would meet separately to debate and vote on any disputes.

Trump has met with some members to discuss plans to object to Biden's Electoral College win. The effort is sure to fail in the Democratic-controlled House and likely in the Senate, where several Republicans led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have warned colleagues not to challenge the Electoral College vote. Several, including McConnell, have acknowledged Biden as the victor.

However, a group of nearly a dozen Senators announced they would join the effort unless an "emergency 10-day audit" of the election returns in the "disputed states" is completed.