Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth won’t say that a judge can order him to stop using federal forces for immigration enforcement.
A federal judge was set to hold a hearing Thursday after the court denied California Governor Gavin Newsom’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump administration from using Marines and the federalized National Guard to “enforce immigration laws and other civil laws on the streets of our cities.”
While testifying before the House Armed Services Committee Thursday, Hegseth was asked point blank by Representative Ro Khanna whether he would abide by a potential federal district court ruling ordering him to end the use of federal forces in Los Angeles.
“Well, this is a pending—this is a pending situation,” Hegseth replied.
“Sure. Will you agree, though—it’s not my legal view, it’s not your legal view that makes the decision in America. It’s the federal judiciary,” Khanna continued. The California Democrat then repeated his question but still got no answer.
“What I will tell you is my job, right now, is to ensure that the troops we have in Los Angeles are capable of supporting law enforcement,” Hegseth said. “And we know that we’ve got the constitutional and statutory authority to do that.”
“That’s fine, but can you just assure us that you’ll abide by the decisions of the courts?” Khanna said.
“We’ve always looked to the decisions of the courts,” Hegseth replied, again evading the actual question.
“Well, the vice president has said that he doesn’t believe that the courts should be respected in military matters,” Khanna replied. JD Vance has previously said that a judge had no right to challenge a military operation.
“This is not my lane, but we also recognize that the way that the judiciary has expanded its powers during the Trump administration—” Hegseth said, echoing right-wing criticism of supposed judicial overreach.
Khanna asked whether Hegseth intended to abide by a ruling from the Supreme Court, and the district court before that.
“What I can say is we should not have local judges determining foreign polices or national security policies for the country,” Hegseth said.
This has become a common defense for lawlessness by the Trump administration, which has argued that the courts have no place in challenging practically any aspect of the president’s agenda, from deportations to tariffs. As desperate as members of the Trump administration are to dismiss federal judges as so-called “local,” they remain a crucial pillar in the country’s checks and balances, as set out in the U.S. Constitution.
Over the weekend, the Trump administration bypassed Newsom’s authority and deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and then 700 Marines to Los Angeles to assist ICE agents conducting sweeping immigration raids. Trump said Thursday that he deserved thanks for blatantly violating the state’s sovereignty, while Newsom has claimed that Trump’s latest efforts are the sign of severe mental decline,
The post Hegseth Refuses to Admit Courts Can Stop Him in Alarming Testimony appeared first on New Republic.
