Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday declined to discuss the expected cost of deploying National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles to suppress immigration raid protests, instead attacking Democratic leaders for their handling of current and previous incidents of civil unrest.
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), House Appropriations defense subcommittee ranking member, asked Hegseth about funding the deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles.
He instead defended Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as having “the right to safely conduct operations in any state and any jurisdiction in the country.”
He also referenced the George Floyd murder protests in 2020 in Minneapolis, attacking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) for his actions at that time and arguing that the National Guard was “eventually far too late mobilized.”
“President Trump recognizes a situation like that, improperly handled by a governor, like it was by Governor Walz, if it gets out of control, it’s a bad situation for the citizens,” Hegseth said.
The answer prompted McCollum to interrupt him to press him to address her original question.
“Chairman, I have limited time, I asked a budget question,” McCollum interjected.
McCollum also asked Hegseth whether any trainings were being pushed off due to the troop deployment, but grew frustrated at his lack of answer.
“I will yield back my time if the secretary refuses to answer the budgetary questions I put before him. They’re important,” she said.
“What training missions aren’t happening? Where are you pulling the money from? And how are you planning this moving forward? These are budget questions that affect this committee and the decisions we’re going to be making in a couple of hours.”
Hegseth only replied that the Pentagon has the funding “to cover down on contingencies, especially ones as important as maintaining law and order in major American city.”
In her opening remarks, McCollum criticized President Trump’s decision to call in some 4,000 California National Guard troops as “premature,” and the decision to deploy 700 active duty Marines as “downright escalatory.”
“I ask you Mr. Secretary, and I ask the president, follow the law,” she said.
