Hegseth eludes questions on the cost of deploying Marines to LA

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fielded sharp questions from members of Congress about his tumultuous start as Pentagon chief, including his sharing of sensitive military details over a Signal chat, in three separate Capitol Hill hearings beginning Tuesday.

In a back and forth exchange with the defense appropriations subcommittee’s top Democrat, Hegseth refused to answer basic questions on the cost of deploying Marines to Los Angeles, instead falling back on political talking points.

Related: Protesters return for 4th day as anti-ICE demonstrations continue in LA; Marines deployed to assist

In a series of questions on the news that Marines would be sent to Los Angeles, House Appropriations defense subcommittee ranking member Rep. Betty McCollum told Hegseth “this is a deeply unfair position to put our Marines in,” she said. “There’s no need for the Marines to be deployed.”

McCollum asked what the cost of the deployment would be. Hegseth deflected on the costs, attacked the decisions of the previous Biden administration instead and talked about illegal immigration.

“Could the Secretary please address the budget” McCollum asked him.

Hegseth again refused to acknowledge McCollum’s question and attacked the politics of the past administration again. McCollum took back her time and Hegseth was instructed by the committee chairman to provide the costs in writing instead.

Under the Posse Comitatus Act, troops are prohibited from policing U.S. citizens on American soil. Invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows troops to do that, is incredibly rare, and it’s not clear if Trump plans to do it.

The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, will be on Capitol Hill testifying at a separate budget hearing Tuesday and is likely to face similar questions.

In Los Angeles on Monday, thousands of people returned to protest while an extraordinary confrontation between federal and state leaders over governance of public safety in the nation’s second-largest city intensified.