Hegseth faces sharp questions from Congress on deploying troops to LA
and Pentagon spending
[June 11, 2025]
By LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was met with sharp
questions and criticism Tuesday by lawmakers who demanded details on his
move to deploy troops to Los Angeles, and they expressed bipartisan
frustration that Congress has not yet gotten a full defense budget from
the Trump administration.
“Your tenure as secretary has been marked by endless chaos,” Rep. Rosa
DeLauro, D-Conn., told Hegseth. Others, including Republican leaders,
warned that massive spending projects such as President Donald Trump’s
desire for a $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense system will get
broad congressional scrutiny.
The troop deployment triggered several fiery exchanges that at times
devolved into shouting matches as House committee members and Hegseth
yelled over one another.
After persistent questioning about the cost of sending National Guard
members and Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests over
immigration raids, Hegseth turned to his acting comptroller, Bryn
Woollacott MacDonnell, who said it would cost $134 million. Hegseth
defended Trump’s decision to send the troops, saying they are needed to
protect federal agents as they do their jobs.
And he suggested that the use of troops inside the United States will
continue to expand.
“I think we’re entering another phase, especially under President Trump
with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and Reserves
become a critical component of how we secure that homeland,” he said.
The hearing before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee was the
first time lawmakers have been able to challenge Trump’s defense chief
since he was confirmed. It is the first of three congressional hearings
he will face this week.
Lawmakers take aim at Pentagon's planned spending
Lawmakers complained widely that Congress hasn't yet gotten details of
the administration’s first proposed defense budget, which Trump has said
would total $1 trillion, a significant increase over the current
spending level of more than $800 billion. And they said they are unhappy
with the administration's efforts to go around Congress to push through
changes.
Spending issues that have raised questions in recent weeks include 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 coincides
with Trump's birthday Saturday.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., quizzed Hegseth on the deployment of about
700 Marines to assist more than 4,100 National Guard troops in
protecting federal buildings and personnel in LA.
She got into a testy back-and-forth with him over the costs of the
operation. He evaded the questions but later turned to MacDonnell, who
provided the estimate and said it covers the costs of travel, housing
and food.
Hegseth said the 60-day deployment of troops is needed “because we want
to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side
assaulting our police officers know that we’re not going anywhere."
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, but Trump has left open the
possibility.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
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Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies before the
House Committee on Appropriations subcommittee oversight hearing on
the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday,
June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Asked how he would determine whether the unrest amounted to an
insurrection, Trump offered little clarity. ”I mean, I could tell
you there were certain areas of that, of Los Angeles last night,
that you could have called it an insurrection.”
The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, told lawmakers
at a separate budget hearing Tuesday that the Marines in Los Angeles
have not yet been called on to respond. When asked by Sen. Richard
Blumenthal, D-Conn., about the danger Marines would use lethal force
that could result in injuries and deaths, Smith said he is not
concerned. "I have great faith in my Marines and their junior
leaders and their more senior leaders to execute the lawful tasks
that they are given.”
Pentagon learns from Ukraine but will cut funding
Committee members pressed Hegseth on Ukraine's surprise drone attack
in early June that destroyed a large number of Russian bomber
aircraft. And they questioned the administration's future funding
for Kyiv.
Hegseth said the strikes caught the U.S. off guard and represented
significant advances in drone warfare. The attack has the Pentagon
rethinking drone defenses “so we are not vulnerable to a threat and
an attack like that,” he said, adding that the department is
learning from Ukraine and is focused on how to better defend its own
military airfields.
He acknowledged, however, that funding for Ukraine military
assistance, which has been robust for the past two years, will be
reduced in the upcoming defense budget. That cut means that Kyiv
will receive fewer of the weapons systems that have been key to
countering Russia's onslaught.
“This administration takes a very different view of that conflict,"
he said. “We believe that a negotiated peaceful settlement is in the
best interest of both parties and our nation’s interests.”
The U.S. to date has provided Ukraine more than $66 billion since
Russia invaded in February 2022.
What Hegseth has focused on so far
The panel zeroed in on funding issues, with only a few mentions of
the other entanglements of Hegseth's early months. They touched only
briefly on his moves to fire military leaders and purge diversity
programs. And there was no discussion of his use of the Signal
messaging app to discuss operational details of strikes in Yemen.
Hegseth has spent vast amounts of time 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.
He was on the international stage about a week ago, addressing a
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 support for Ukraine.
___
Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed
reporting.
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