Hegseth faces Congress for first time since Signal leaks and Marine
deployment to Los Angeles
[June 10, 2025]
By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to field
sharp questions from members of Congress about his tumultuous start as
Pentagon chief, including his sharing of sensitive military details over
a Signal chat, in three separate Capitol Hill hearings beginning
Tuesday.
Lawmakers also have made it clear they are unhappy that Hegseth has not
provided details on the administration's first proposed defense budget,
which President Donald Trump has said would total $1 trillion, a
significant increase over the current spending level of more than $800
billion.
It will be lawmakers' first chance to ask Hegseth about a myriad of
other controversial spending by the Pentagon, including plans to spend
hundreds of millions of dollars on security upgrades to turn a Qatari
jet into Air Force One and to pour as much as $45 million into a parade
recently added to the Army's 250th birthday bash, which happens to
coincide with Trump's birthday on Saturday.
Lawmakers may quiz Hegseth on the latest searing images coming out of
the immigration raid protests in Los Angeles. Hegseth has deployed about
700 active-duty Marines to assist more than 4,100 National Guard troops
in protecting federal buildings and personnel. But there are questions
about what the troops will have to do and how much it will all cost.
Under the Posse Comitatus Act, troops are prohibited from policing U.S.
citizens on American soil. Invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows
troops to do that, is incredibly rare, and it's not clear if Trump plans
to do it.
The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, will be on Capitol
Hill testifying at a separate budget hearing at the same time as Hegseth
and is likely to face similar questions.
What Hegseth has focused on so far
Hegseth has spent vast amounts of time during his first five months in
office promoting the social changes he's making at the Pentagon. He’s
been far less visible in the administration’s more critical
international security crises and negotiations involving Russia,
Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and Iran.
Most recently, Hegseth directed the renaming of a Navy ship that had
honored Harvey Milk, a slain gay rights activist who served as a sailor
during the Korean War. His spokesman, Sean Parnell, said the renaming
was needed to ensure "the names attached to all DOD installations and
assets are reflective of the commander-in-chief’s priorities, our
nation’s history, and the warrior ethos.”
Hegseth has posted numerous videos of his morning workouts with troops
or of himself signing directives to purge diversity and equity programs
and online content from the military. He has boasted of removing
transgender service members from the force and firing so-called woke
generals, many of whom were women.
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He was on the international stage about a week ago, addressing an
annual national security conference in Asia about threats from
China. But a trip to NATO headquarters last week was quick and
quiet, and he deliberately skipped a gathering of about 50 allies
and partners where they discussed ongoing support for Ukraine.
His use of the Signal messaging app
Hegseth's hearing Tuesday before the House Appropriations Defense
Subcommittee will be his first public appearance on Capitol Hill
since he squeaked through his Senate confirmation with a
tie-breaking vote. It was the closest vote of any Cabinet member.
While he has talked a lot about making the military more lethal, it
was his use of the unclassified, unsecured Signal messaging app that
quickly caught public attention.
Set up by then-national security adviser Mike Waltz, a group chat
included Hegseth and other senior administration leaders and was
used to share information about upcoming military strikes in Yemen.
The chat became a public embarrassment because the editor-in-chief
of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to it.
Waltz took responsibility for the gaffe, but Hegseth was roundly
criticized for sharing details about the military strikes in this
chat and in another one that included his wife and brother.
Multiple investigations are looking into his use of Signal. The
Defense Department's acting inspector general has been looking into
the initial chat at the request of the Republican and Democratic
leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Pentagon’s
watchdog also is reviewing whether any of Hegseth's aides were asked
to delete any Signal messages.
Controversial Pentagon spending
While any number of those issues could come up at the House Armed
Services Committee hearing Thursday, money issues are more likely to
be the focus of the hearings Tuesday in the House and Wednesday
before the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.
Already defense leaders have been grilled in other hearings on the
plans to retrofit the Qatari jet and the costs of the military
parade. Trump has long wanted a parade, and Army leaders defended it
as a good way to attract new recruits.
Other questions may involve the costs of expanding the use of
military forces to secure the southern border, the plans for the
Golden Dome missile defense program, and how the department intends
to fund modernization programs for drones and other critical weapons
systems.
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