00:00Mr. President, two weeks ago, I informed Senate leadership of my intent to object to the Senate
00:09proceeding to Trump's nominee to serve as Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
00:16So I rise today to both publicly and clearly explain my hold on this nomination and to
00:23demand that the Trump administration release all remaining U.S. military forces from the
00:31unnecessary and political deployment to Los Angeles. Now, earlier this week, the Trump administration
00:39did announce that they would be releasing 2,000 National Guard troops from deployment.
00:47No, not from an overseas mission, not from some disaster response to a region in need,
00:59but from a deployment against their own fellow citizens. Around 2,000 National Guards, women
01:09and men, and an additional 700 Marines are still in Los Angeles today. Why? Because Donald
01:21Trump needs a distraction. Think back to about a month ago. The president found himself in the lowest
01:30point of his presidency thus far. He was drowning in negative headlines, everything from his failing
01:39tariff wars that continued to raise prices and costs on working families. To Vladimir Putin,
01:47embarrassing him on the world stage. To a messy public breakup with Elon Musk.
01:55So in order to change the news cycle, which he does so often, to shift the headlines away from his many,
02:03many failures, President Trump chose to ramp up ICE raids in California. And when Californians took to
02:13the streets to exercise their First Amendment rights by peacefully protesting, Trump responded by
02:22federalizing the California National Guard. And then later, the U.S. Marines were ordered in
02:31to intimidate the people of Los Angeles. It was the first time that the National Guard has been deployed
02:41against the wishes of the state's governor since 1965. Many of these service members signed up to become a
02:55political prop. But Trump has put them in this impossible position that he knew would escalate tensions in the
03:05region. And take them away from their critical missions elsewhere. And it's exactly why in late June, a few weeks ago, the
03:18head of the U.S. Northern Command requested that Secretary Hegseth return at least 200 troops from the National
03:28Guard's wildfire unit who were stuck in Los Angeles for Trump's political purposes. Because every day that those
03:37troops were unnecessarily deployed to Los Angeles was another day that their primary mission went unmet.
03:48We're talking about undermining firefighting and fire mitigation efforts as we are approaching peak
03:56wildfire season. This is dangerous and unnecessary. And because the Trump administration continued to keep
04:06thousands of troops in Los Angeles, two weeks ago, I exercised my constitutional duty as a U.S. Senator
04:17to advise and consent to nominations in order to block the nomination of Lieutenant General Thomas
04:24Cardin. Lieutenant General Cardin currently serves as second in command of Northern Command, the combatant
04:33command that has overseen Trump's orders to militarize Los Angeles. But I want to be very clear about
04:42something. My objection is about more than Lieutenant General Cardin. None of what we are seeing in Los Angeles
04:53through this militarization is business as usual. Deploying the guard against the wishes of the governor,
05:01against the wishes of the mayor, and against even the wishes of local law enforcement, the sheriff, the police chief. None of that is normal.
05:14So today, I am making it clear to all of my colleagues, my intent to oppose any expedited consideration of this nomination until two conditions are met.
05:28First, that every last Guardsman and Marine must be released from this deployment in Los Angeles.
05:39And second, I will maintain my hold until I have been given sufficient commitments and assurances
05:55from this administration that no Guardsmen from other states will be sent to enforce the president's political demands on California.
06:08And until both of these conditions are met, I will maintain my hold on this nomination.
