'Did You Order A Pause In Offensive Cyber Operations Against Russia?': Goodlander Grills Hegseth

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At the House Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) questioned Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Transcript

00:00Time's expired. Chair and I recognize the gentlelady from New Hampshire, Ms. Goodlander.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to our witnesses for being here today.

00:08We have one really important thing in common. We all swore an oath to this great document,

00:13the United States Constitution. We swore that oath when we joined the military, and we swore

00:18that oath when we began the jobs that we're holding now. And I want to begin at the beginning

00:24of this document and at the beginning of your testimony, Mr. Hegseth. In the first sentence

00:31of your testimony, you said you're here today to testify about the fiscal year 2026 budget

00:35for the Department of Defense. You're required under law to submit this budget to the Congress

00:41because we've got the power of the purse, after all, by no later than the first Monday in February.

00:48Here we are in the second Thursday in June. We don't have your budget as the chairman,

00:53the ranking member, and many of my colleagues on this committee have pointed out. You have

00:58testified that you want to be accountable for every dollar, every taxpayer dollar and where

01:04it goes. We can't do our job without your budget. When can we expect your budget, Mr. Hegseth?

01:10Well, as I also acknowledged in my opening remarks, in the first year of an administration,

01:14it does take more time, especially while you're addressing the priorities of the previous

01:18administration. When can we expect your budget? You have details of it.

01:23already, and you will have it very soon. Can we expect the budget before the end of the month?

01:27I would refer to Brynn, who's working that, but I know there are a great deal of detail that is

01:33already with the committee. Okay, let the record reflect that you haven't given us a commitment,

01:37but you're required by law to do so. You're also required by law to pass an audit. That's been true

01:41since the 1990s. The Department of Defense is the only department that has continually failed an audit.

01:46You've committed to passing an audit in 2028, but we expect you to pass an audit this year and

01:51hope you will work with us to achieve that goal. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for your testimony

01:57and what you've said about the threats that we face as the United States, threats from China,

02:03Russia, and Iran, and I want to ask briefly questions about each. Mr. Chairman, you've said that

02:09the Chinese Communist Party is advancing an unprecedented military modernization effort

02:14with cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence. Do you agree that the United States

02:21military must have more powerful AI capabilities than China?

02:27Well, ma'am, first, thank you also for your service in the Navy. I think LLMs and AI really

02:34underpinning all of our command and control capabilities is now and will be in the future

02:40a key and essential tool for decision-making. Thank you. I agree that American AI dominance

02:45is extremely important. Mr. Hegseth, should American AI dominance be up for negotiation

02:50with China and any trade talks that are underway?

02:57As the chairman said, we're very focused on AI dominance. It's central to maintaining

03:01our cutting edge, and we're doing that. Good. Well, I hope—will you commit to telling

03:06the president not to sacrifice American AI dominance in any of his negotiations with the Chinese?

03:11Mr. The president is not surrendering any of our dominance to the Chinese.

03:17Good. I'll take that as a yes, that you'll be advocating for that. Thank you very much.

03:21I hope you'll also—you've both spoken to the importance of competition in the defense

03:26industrial base. I agree with that deeply. I'd point out that 40 percent of small businesses

03:32have left our defense industrial base supply chain in the past decade, and trade wars that have

03:38caused unprecedented uncertainty are going to drive more small businesses out of business. And that's

03:43something I hope we can work together to try to prevent, because it's very real in my home state

03:47of New Hampshire. Mr. Hegseth, did you order a pause in offensive cyber operations against Russia?

03:55I know the story you're referring to, and it's false. We said it then, and I'll say it now.

04:01So it is your testimony that you never ordered a pause in offensive cyber operations against Russia?

04:07We did not.

04:09Okay. Let the record reflect that, and we'll be following up on that. I'm going to skip

04:16Iran because there's been a lot said in this hearing that has given me grave concern. One of

04:23the things that's been said in this hearing, Mr. Hegseth, was I want to give you the opportunity to correct

04:29the record and make clear that you will abide by, that you will obey a ruling of the United States

04:34Supreme Court? I don't believe we have any cases pending before the Supreme Court right now. I want

04:42to ask you, will you abide by a ruling, by a decision of the United States Supreme Court if it is issued,

04:49and you're asked to do so? What I've said, and I'll repeat, is that district courts should not set the

04:56policy of foreign policy of the United States of America. Mr. Hegseth, this is a fundamental

05:01principle of the United States Constitution. Chair, ladies, time's expired. Chair, I recognize the gentleman.

05:06Now thank you, sir.

05:24Let's end.

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