Trump admin updates: Trump calls for expanded deportations in LA, NYC and more
During congressional hearings, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the use of National Guardsmen and Marines in Los Angeles to handle protests, asserting that all actions were under presidential authority and lawful. Senator Jack Reed challenged this, arguing that law enforcement is a civil function and criticizing the military's involvement as potentially illegal and distracting from military readiness.
Hegseth goes on the defensive over LA military deployment
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., brought up the situation in Los Angeles and questioned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the administration's use of National Guardsmen and Marines to deal with the protests.
The senator said this week the Dept. Homeland Security sent a request to the Defense Department "to authorize military forces to detain or arrest American citizens, to provide D.H.S. with military drone surveillance support and to have the Marine Corps advise D.H.S. on running joint operations."
"Every authorization we provided the National Guard and the Marines in Los Angeles is under the authority of the president of the United States is lawful and constitutional," Hegseth said.
Hegseth argued that the military use in the city was part of an effort to maintain "law and order," but the senator pushed back.
"Law and order is a civil function under the Constitution of the United States. Civil enforcement, law enforcement authorities, not the U.S. military," Reed said.
"This is not only, I think, illegal, but also a diminution of the readiness and focus of the military," he added.
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