Hegseth refuses to commit to following possible court order on Marine deployment

LOS ANGELES — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to say Thursday whether he would abide by a possible legal ruling about the federal government's authority to deploy the Marines to Los Angeles.

"We should not have local judges determining foreign policy or national security policy for the country," he said in response to repeated questions by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, during a House Armed Services hearing that lasted more than five hours.

A federal judge in San Francisco was set to hold a hearing later Thursday on California's challenge to President Trump's deployment of U.S. Marines and National Guardsmen in Los Angeles.

During a testy back-and-forth with Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, Hegseth did say that the Marines in Los Angeles are not authorized to fire warning shots.

The congressman said he feared the federal government had escalated the situation on the ground in Los Angeles and described it as political theater, and asked if the Marines were allowed to protect federal property "by any means necessary."

Hegseth responded, "ICE officers and police officers being attacked is not political theater."

Several California Democrats questioned Hegseth on Thursday about the immigration raids that have roiled Los Angeles, the federal commandeering of the state's National Guard and the deployment of Marines in the region.

Several committee members said earlier that they received no advance notice about the federal immigration sweeps at workplaces and other locations that started Friday and that prompted large and at times fiery protests in downtown Los Angeles.

"That's going to change," said Rep. Derek Tran, D-Orange.

"We need to de-escalate the situation," Tran said in an interview. President Trump and his administration's moves, most recently deploying hundreds of Marines in Southern California, "escalates the situation, sending in troops that shouldn't be there, that are trained to shoot and kill."

Though largely peaceful, protests about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's actions have been punctuated by incidents of violence and lawlessness. As of Tuesday evening, several hundred people had been detained on suspicion of crimes or because of their immigration status.

After dissenters blocked the 101 Freeway, vandalized buildings in downtown Los Angeles and stole from businesses, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday imposed a curfew in the city's civic core from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Thursday's testimony before the House Armed Services Committee was Hegseth's third appearance on Capitol Hill this week. He was questioned Tuesday by the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense and the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Hegseth insisted the deployment of Marines in Los Angeles was lawful but couldn't name the law under which it is allowed. On Tuesday, he was buffeted with questions about the "chaos" in his tenure, his discussion of national secrets on a Signal group chat and the lack of information provided to elected leaders about Defense Department operations and budgets, including the cost of the federal deployment in Los Angeles.

"I want your plan!" Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., demanded. "What is your plan for the future? Can we get that in writing and on paper so that we know where you're going? Because we don't have anything today. We have zip! Nada!"

Hegseth responded that the agency has the details and would provide them to members of Congress. The Pentagon posted a video clip of the back-and-forth on X that tagged the congresswoman and was titled "WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING!"

Thursday's hearing is especially notable because the committee oversees the Pentagon budget. None of the Republican members of the committee are from California. More than a dozen who were asked to weigh in on the hearing didn't respond.

Republicans are expected to reflect the sentiments expressed by Trump, most recently on Wednesday when he took questions from reporters on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center shortly before attending a performance of "Les Miserables" with First Lady Melania Trump.

"We are going to have law and order in our country," he said. "If I didn't act quickly on that, Los Angeles would be burning to the ground right now."

"These are radical left lunatics that you're dealing with, and they're tough, they're smart, they're probably paid, many of them, as you know, they're professionals," he added. "When you see them chopping up concrete because the bricks got captured, they're chopping up concrete and they're using that as a weapon. That's pretty bad."

Democrats pressed Hegseth on the legal underpinnings of the deployment of federal forces in the state, the lack of notification or coordination with state and local officials and the conditions and future of residents swept up in the raids.

"The president's decision to deploy the National Guard and the U.S. Marines over the objections of California officials has escalated the situation, creating unnecessary chaos and putting public safety at risk," Rep. George Whitesides, D-Agua Dulce, said in a statement before the hearing. "As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I'm deeply concerned with the precedent this sets, and the apparent lack of protocol followed, and I will be seeking answers."

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