Adam Smith Asks Pete Hegseth Point Blank If He Has A Plan To Invade Greenland Or Panama

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At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) questioned Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth about possible plans to invade Greenland or Panama.

Transcript

00:00Recognize the ranking member.

00:01Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:02Just on the budget point, I made this point before the committee before.

00:05The House just passed a budget that adds nearly $3 trillion to an already out-of-control debt.

00:11So if we do really want to spend money on defense or anywhere else, we ought to be willing to pay for it.

00:17And I just, you know, certainly go back through generations of, you know, bipartisan problems with this.

00:22You know, you can't have a debt that size and keep coming back talking about how much money you're going to spend,

00:26you know, whether it's defense or whatever your priorities are.

00:28And, Mr. Secretary, you said the 99% down on border crossings and the border is secure.

00:36At the same time, we're going to take a billion dollars out of the MilCon budget,

00:41out of building barracks, to send it for the border.

00:44And there's another 4,000 troops that we're planning on sending down to the border.

00:49Given that the border is secure, might you rethink that spending?

00:53Well, sir, we are securing it.

01:00It is secure, but it's become a manpower intensive effort at the beginning.

01:03Those are two different words there.

01:04It's either secure or secure.

01:06It didn't sound to me like you said it was secure.

01:08It is secure.

01:08Okay.

01:09What we're continuing to do is expand that and fortify it through infrastructure,

01:13which is a big part of the budget on the Department of Homeland Security side as well.

01:17So that billion dollars you're talking about was from the CR and FY25.

01:21We fully fund that back and more in FY26 with a recognition that we were dealing with the world as it existed when we came in.

01:29And the previous administration said they needed new legislation to secure the border.

01:33It turns out you just needed a new president.

01:34I would point out that you have not submitted.

01:36And the president with the defense department and DHS that was willing to go to the border and actually secure it, which is what we did.

01:41But not submitted a budget yet.

01:43So whether or not you're putting that money back in remains to be seen.

01:47You have definitely taken it out.

01:49And I think the obsession there, and I don't disagree, the border needed to be secure.

01:53But from a pure budget standpoint, let's just not keep the political focus on that.

01:58Let's make sure that we're funding some of the other priorities that we have.

02:03So when it comes back to acquisition reform and the chairman's point, it's our committee, certainly Congress is part of the problem.

02:09We set up a lot of requirements.

02:11Defense contractors are part of the problem.

02:14I'm curious, how would you get after reforming the culture at the Pentagon so that you can move faster, number one, and number two,

02:22how would you get after the defense contractors that push the requirements process?

02:27And specifically, what would you do about the requirements process to try to speed things up?

02:32Well, first of all, I think gold plating is a real problem, sir.

02:37I mean, across the department.

02:39Interesting to use the word gold in this particular context, but yes, I agree with you.

02:43We maybe could use a little bit more silver plating on occasion.

02:46A recognition that the 99% solution is oftentimes the enemy of the 85% solution that delivers two years sooner.

02:53And that's contractors and other companies wanting to do right but trying to do too much and overpromise,

03:01and then they're under-delivering.

03:02Not always wanting to do right.

03:05In some cases, just wanting to make money.

03:07But yes.

03:08The change is also in acquisitions about people.

03:11You need reformers in these positions.

03:14I'm here to be a disruptor of those processes.

03:16Our deputy secretary has extensive business experience.

03:19The types of people we're bringing in as undersecretaries have been disruptors and innovators in the private sector

03:24who recognize that bureaucracy can be dysfunctional and needs to be disrupted.

03:29So it's taking outside-the-box unique approaches.

03:32I mean, virtual design is a big example.

03:34How many times are we going to build something physically that takes a year to build

03:37when you could use AI and computing power, design it virtually, identify the flaws, and move more quickly?

03:45Or create open architecture?

03:47Our committee stands ready to work with you.

03:48I mean, there's 500 different things we can do, and we're doing them.

03:52Yeah, and I'm sincerely concerned about this.

03:54Is it the policy of the Department of Defense that we need to be prepared to take Greenland and Panama by force if necessary?

04:03Is this a policy that you have within the Department of Defense in accordance with the president's wishes?

04:08I heard what you said about those two countries and saying we need to worry about China.

04:15Well, we are worried about China.

04:17That wasn't my concern.

04:18China's malign influence in Panama.

04:20I was concerned with us saying that if China has control of force or malign influence over the Panama,

04:24we should pay attention to that.

04:27Right.

04:27So Panama is a very key terrain that we've focused on, and we've been willing to focus on, as is Greenland.

04:31We should take it by military force.

04:33They're important.

04:34I'm not going to argue with that.

04:35I'm arguing with the using our military to take it by force.

04:40Our job at the DOD is to have plans.

04:43Do you have a plan for that?

04:45Our job at the Defense Department is to have plans for any particular contingency.

04:49Including the contingency of basically evading Denmark.

04:51Any contingency you need, we've got it.

04:53We've got a building full of planners, and we're prepared to give recommendations whenever needed.

04:57Just to be clear, you have plans to take Panama and Greenland by force if necessary.

05:02I think the American people would want the Pentagon to have plans for any particular contingency.

05:08Not for them.

05:08Thankfully, we are in the planning business.

05:11Speaking on behalf of the American people, I don't think the American people voted for President Trump

05:15because they were hoping we would invade Greenland.

05:17I'm going to go out and live on that one.

05:19I yield back.

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