At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) questioned Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth about following rulings from the Supreme Court.
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00:00Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses today.
00:04I want to echo first my colleagues and their concerns surrounding a number of issues,
00:07including the deployment of Marines to Los Angeles, the importance of supporting our ally in Ukraine,
00:11the alarming security breach that was signal gate, and the unjust termination of members of our military
00:15from diverse backgrounds who simply want to serve our nation.
00:18But before I get to my questions, Mr. Secretary, I want to just follow up on my colleague from New Hampshire.
00:23Setting aside district courts, do you believe you have the authority to defy a Supreme Court ruling, yes or no?
00:30We're not here to defy a Supreme Court ruling.
00:33Okay, I'll take that as a win.
00:34I want to move on to Cybercom in my state.
00:38Mr. Secretary, earlier this year, General Hawk was relieved of his command of Cybercom and NSA
00:42following a tweet that accused him of being disloyal to the president,
00:46and the oath that you took, the oath that I took, does not demand loyalty to any president,
00:51but to this Constitution.
00:52I, too, brought my copy from college with me.
00:54And yet, as of this date, General Hawk, his successor has not yet been named,
01:00and you've stated many times that lethality of the military is critical,
01:04so it's difficult to understand how this administration would allow any billet to remain unfilled,
01:11especially those who lead our combatant commands.
01:13I join my colleague, Congressman Bacon, in my grave concern that both the firing
01:17and the delay in hiring of a leader of Cybercom only gives assurance and comfort to our adversaries.
01:24So I'm sure you would agree that any combatant command cannot be at its most lethal
01:28if a commander remains absent.
01:32When will the president announce the new commander of Cybercom?
01:36I would note there's a very highly capable deputy there,
01:41so it's not adrift at all.
01:42We recognize that, and we are in the process of ensuring that slot is filled.
01:48In the next month, two months, three months?
01:52It will not be that long.
01:53Okay, I appreciate that.
01:54General Kane, during your confirmation process,
01:57you stated that the dual hat arrangement provides the ability to look across both organizations
02:01and has empowered both U.S. Cybercom and the NSA to fulfill their missions better than each could do alone.
02:08Can you confirm for this committee that you hold that view to this day
02:12and in one sentence or less speak to the importance of that dual hat arrangement?
02:17Yeah, that reflects the current policy of the administration.
02:20The secretary, of course, as does the president, reserves the right to rethink that.
02:26Both organizations are critical, and whether they're a single or dual hat relationship,
02:33if directed, we'll take a look at the risk associated with each one of them
02:37and come back to our civilian leaders with those risks and let them make a decision on it.
02:42But you are in the room.
02:43Are you not advising the president as what is best for our national security?
02:48I am in the room, yeah.
02:49And can you commit to—I agree.
02:51Can you commit to continuing your advocacy for that dual hat relationship?
02:56After some analysis at the time, I wasn't even in the military.
03:00I was still coming back in.
03:01So if directed to take a look at it, we'll carefully, ma'am, measure the goods and others of each of those.
03:08But you have my commitment that I'll continue, as I have,
03:11giving my candid, forthright military advice on the eaches and others of all those
03:16to the secretary, the NSA, and the president.
03:18Thank you, sir.
03:18I want to move on to sexual assault in the military,
03:21and it remains a stain on this DOD and this entire nation.
03:23It erodes cohesion.
03:25It brings a lifetime of pain and recovery for victims, including my constituents.
03:29It's important to members of this committee that funding for SAPPER in particular increases
03:33and that any flat line of that funding would be viewed as a decrease.
03:37In preparation for and during your confirmation, Mr. Secretary,
03:40you made commitments that you would support a robust sexual assault program and response program
03:45that, quote, seeks to drive sexual assaults in the military down to zero.
03:49I commend you for that commitment.
03:50I agree with it.
03:51And yet it's been brought up many times.
03:52We have no budget by which to measure your commitment and your promises.
03:56So can you commit to today that when we do at last receive your final FY26 budget,
04:01we will see an increase to SAPPER funding and a plan from you as to how to drive sexual
04:07assaults down to zero?
04:09As I said in my confirmation, I applaud Congress for the efforts that have been ongoing to address
04:14that issue, which we do need to drive to zero.
04:16That funding has not been reduced.
04:18We've looked at a lot of places for efficiencies.
04:20That has not been won.
04:21And I think you've seen the same news I have that, thankfully, sexual assaults are coming
04:25down and we continue to want to do that.
04:27But we have to remain ever vigilant, which is why I hope it's not level funded.
04:31I hope we can continue to drive that down.
04:32So I look forward to that final budget whenever we do receive it.
04:35Lastly, and I'll take this for the record, moving on to a similar topic, which is rape
04:39kits for DOD civilians overseas.
04:42In April, DHA issued a memo denying DOD non-beneficiary civilians who are victims of sexual assault
04:47and rape access to sexual assault evidence collection kits.
04:50If I could get for the record your explanation for this decision, these civilians support the
04:54DOD.
04:55It's incredibly important that we find and bring justice to those victims, and I look forward
04:59to working with you on it.
05:01And I'll yield back my time, Mr. Chair.
05:02Generally, his time's expired, Chair.