Derek Tran Asks Hegseth If He'd Treat Member Of Congress As Padilla Was At Noem's Briefing

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At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Derek Tran (D-CA) questioned Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth.

Transcript

00:00...recognizes Senator from California.

00:04Whoa, got promoted.

00:06I'm sorry.

00:07Thank you, thank you, Chairwoman.

00:08Sorry about that.

00:09Thank you, Chairwoman.

00:10Thank you to the witnesses for being here.

00:12Mr. Secretary, I just got word that Senator Padilla from my great state of California

00:16was physically assaulted and arrested for attending Secretary Noem's press event.

00:22The mere fact that he showed up, he was forcibly removed.

00:25Is this how you would treat a member of Congress who attends your press event,

00:28whether invited or not?

00:33I've been here for five hours, sir.

00:35I don't know about that.

00:36I'm just asking, would you have me forcibly removed from your press event if I walked in?

00:39I'm not going to speculate on a hypothetical.

00:41I'm sure there's more context.

00:42I'll take that as a yes.

00:45Mr. Secretary, does the DOD have any plans to allow the military to follow the orders

00:49of President Trump when his order violates the Constitution?

00:53Yes or no?

00:54I reject the premise of that question, which is that President Trump is ordering

00:58unconstitutional orders.

01:00I'll take that as a yes as well.

01:02Mr. Secretary, the deployment of active duty Marines to California is incredibly disruptive

01:07to the lives of service members who are being drawn into the President's publicity stunt.

01:12And I want to know how you're planning to take care of these troops.

01:16So will you commit to sending my office and this committee a detailed plan on how you plan

01:22to house and feed the 700 Marines and potentially thousands of Marines?

01:32What's disruptive is when concrete blocks are thrown at the heads of ICE officers.

01:36And so we're proud that National Guardsmen and Marines have responded in real time

01:39to help defend those federal law enforcement officers.

01:41So do you have a plan?

01:42Do you have a plan to house and feed these Marines?

01:44Not only do we have a plan, but it's been a focus of mine.

01:46I've held a riot shield before in a riot.

01:49I recognize what it means to respond in real time, without enough time.

01:53Mr. Secretary, will you get me that plan?

01:55And the leaders do everything they can as fast as they can.

01:56And we have a plan for that.

01:57Mr. Secretary, I reclaim my plan.

01:59Chairwoman?

02:02LA Mayor Bass stated that the area placed under the recent curfew is around one square mile.

02:08Is that the same area where service members will be deployed?

02:11Service members are in Los Angeles to defend law enforcement, ICE agents, and facilities.

02:19So essentially you're telling me that American people and the American people that a one square

02:24mile block of LA, and for the record, LA counties over 4,700 square miles, warrants the deployment

02:30of 700 Marines and the federalization of 4,000 California National Guardsmen.

02:35You testified earlier that you will send in the military to protect local law enforcement.

02:40Did LAPD Police Chief McDonnell ask you for your help?

02:46I read reports on a regular basis from ICE agents who couldn't be more grateful.

02:52Did LA Sheriff Luna ask for you to send in the military, Mr. Secretary?

02:57Did LA Sheriff Luna ask you to send in the military?

03:01Yes or no?

03:03I don't work for the LA Sheriff.

03:04Well, you said you sent them in to support the military, but they didn't even ask for

03:09your, to support law enforcement, but they didn't even ask for your help.

03:12Have you been to Los Angeles in the last seven days?

03:16My team is from the top down focused on making sure Los Angeles is-

03:21I'll also take that as a no.

03:22How did you arrive at the decision not to coordinate with local law enforcement and the governor's

03:27office on the initial deployment?

03:31It would be great if the governor attempted to actually coordinate instead of grandstand.

03:37All right.

03:38So I believe you're secretly deploying troops to an area without coordinating with local

03:41officials is somehow not disruptive to the logistical and operational conditionals on the

03:47ground.

03:47You agree with that?

03:48I would need you to repeat the question, sir.

03:53Does the department plan on coordinating with Governor Newsom's office on local law enforcement

03:59and local law enforcement going forward, Mr. Secretary?

04:04We've coordinated with local law enforcement quite well, but the governor's been an obstruction

04:08to that, of course.

04:10All right.

04:10Secretary Hegseth, this political stunt, and by your own admission, is expected to cost

04:14American taxpayer at least 134 million and will disrupt the lives of hundreds and potentially

04:20thousands of active-duty Marines and 4,000 National Guardsmen.

04:24That's 134 million and thousands of personnel diverted away from critical missions in the Indo-Pacific,

04:32where China is rapidly expanding from Europe, where NATO needs U.S. support amid growing Russian

04:38aggression, and from CENTCOM, where tensions are escalating so critically that your own general

04:43guerrilla had to cancel all his testimony in Congress today.

04:47Your redirection of combat-ready troops from real-world national security threats to manage

04:52a domestic protest is gross mismanagement and a slap in the face of service members whose

04:57lives are disrupted throughout this event.

05:01As a veteran myself, it's a disgrace, and you should be ashamed.

05:05I yield back.

05:06The gentleman's time has expired.

05:08Madam Chair, can we add into record, please, that the gentleman from California has just stated

05:13that it is okay to have one mile of complete criminality in L.A. so long as it doesn't

05:17cover the 4,700.

05:18That was not my statement.

05:19Madam Chair, we have-

05:20And that it's okay-

05:21Mr. Mills has not been recognized.

05:24This is absolutely-

05:24Either gentleman is recognized.

05:26You have not have the right to over to the-

05:29You have not been recognized by the chair.

05:31Either gentleman is recognized.

05:32The chair now recognizes the congressman from Louisiana, Mr. Higgins, for five minutes.

05:37Well, thank you, Madam Chair.

05:42Let's bring it down a notch, shall we?

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