Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fiercely defended deploying Marines and the National Guard to Los Angeles, a move that the Department of Defense revealed would cost an estimated $134 million.
The Pentagon chief appeared on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to testify before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, where he got into heated exchanges with multiple Democrats.
“In Los Angeles, we believe ICE, which is a federal law enforcement agency, has the right to safely conduct operations in any state and any jurisdiction in the country,” Hegseth declared.
His comments came as he was being pressed by ranking member Betty McCollum about the cost of the deployment.
During their testy exchange, Hegseth refused to answer how much the mobilization would cost, but it was later revealed in the hearing that the deployment would cost an estimated $134 million, including travel, housing, and food.
McCollum blasted the president’s decision to deploy 700 Marines and some 4,000 National Guard troops as premature and escalatory.
She argued that local law enforcement and the governor calling in the National Guard in her home state of Minnesota in 2020 over the protests over George Floyd’s death were able to handle the situation, and the decision to mobilize the Marines put them in a deeply unfair position.
The congresswoman asked Hegseth to reveal the cost of the deployment and how it would affect the budget, as well as what training would not take place because of it, but Hegseth would not answer the question directly.
The defense secretary instead fired back that in 2020, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz “abandoned a police precinct and allowed it to be burned to the ground.” He also claimed the National Guard was called in too late.
“President Trump recognizes a situation like that improperly handled by a governor, like it was by Governor Walz, if it gets out of control, is a bad situation for the citizens of any location,” Hegseth claimed.
He also declared ICE should be able to operate in any jurisdiction in the country and blasted the previous administration for illegal border crossings.
McCollum tried to cut in and point out that she had asked a budget question, but Hegseth kept going.
“We believe ICE agents should be allowed to be safe in doing their operations, and we have deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them in the execution of their duties,” he insisted. “We ought to be able to enforce immigration law in this country, unlike what Governor Waltz did in 2020.”
Hegseth also claimed the police chief said she was overwhelmed, “so we helped.” However, the Los Angeles Police Chief called the deployment a “significant logistical and operational challenge.”
As Hegseth continued to evade answering, even the chairman tried to get him to answer the budget question.
“Thankfully, unlike the previous administration, we got a 13 percent increase in our defense budget, and we will have the capability to cover down on contingencies,” the defense secretary claimed.
Hegseth called it important to maintain law and order in a major American city, leaving the door open to future domestic military activity. He also said all the units were fully trained.
McCollum was not the only Democrat who grilled Hegseth over the deployment. Rep. Pete Aguilar noted images of the troops sleeping on floors and not being provided food or water by the Defense Department, and asked why they were not prepared with basic necessities.
On Monday, California Governor Newsom said only 300 of the mobilized National Guard troops were being utilized and those deployed were not provided food or water.
“The commanders and troops in the field are very well prepared, sir,” Hegseth insisted. “They responded incredibly rapidly to a deteriorating situation with equipment and capabilities.”
The defense secretary then noted that he himself had been in a unit “holding riot shields outside the White House during the chaos of the summer of 2020, I know what it’s like to be immediately deployed into a situation like that.”
“There are moments where you make do the best you can temporarily,” Hegseth said. “But we are ensuring they’re housed, fed, with water capabilities in real time from my office because I care that much about the California guard, and the Marines and the men and women who are supporting our ICE agents on the ground.”
Aguilar said that was not the case on the ground, and he should look into it, but Hegseth said that was a “disingenuous attack.”
“I’m not going to take the fact that we don’t care about the troops,” he said, pointing his finger at the congressman. “Nobody cares more about the troops at the top than this secretary and the chairman and our department.”
Hegseth said the deployment would last 60 days. He also refuted that money for the operation would come from programs that affect military families.
While Hegseth blasted Newsom and accused him of failing to “protect his people,” the governor has sued the Trump administration over what he has called the illegal deployment of troops to Los Angeles, as he did not request the National Guard be called in.
It is the first time since 1965 that a president called National Guard troops to respond to civil unrest without the governor’s official request for assistance, in a move experts have called unprecedented.
Federal troops are also prohibited from using military force against civilians in normal law enforcement, with the rare exception under the Insurrection Act. However, the president has not invoked the Insurrection Act.
The president said on Tuesday, “If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it.” But that did not stop the defense secretary from defending the move.
“You and I both know that President Trump has all the authorities necessary,” Hegseth told Aguilar.
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