Hegseth spars with Senate Democrats over Marine deployment to LA anti-ICE riots: 'Not about lethality'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparred with Democratic senators during a hearing Wednesday about the Trump administration's deployment of 700 Marines to Los Angeles amid the ongoing anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots. 

In his opening statement before the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Hegseth reiterated how President Donald Trump charged him to focus on restoring "warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards and readiness" to the Department of Defense – a point Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., later honed in on during his line of questioning for the secretary. 

Reed noted that the Trump administration federalized 4,000 California National Guard members and deployed 700 Marines to Los Angeles. 

Reed said what is happening in Los Angeles comes in addition to the approximately 11,000 military personnel, including active duty soldiers and Read Entire Article