WASHINGTON, D.C. (KTTC) – Minnesota native Pete Hegseth appeared for the first time Tuesday before a House panel since he was confirmed as U.S. Defense Secretary in January.
The Republican, who grew up in Forest Lake, sparred with Democrats during hearing. Rep. Betty McCollum (DFL-Minnesota)—the ranking member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee pressed Hegseth for information about the funding for troop deployments in Los Angeles, as ordered by President Donald Trump.
Hegseth began by referring to the George Floyd murder protests, prompting McCollum to interject multiple times and urge him to address the budget question she posed.
The Defense Secretary accused Gov. Tim Walz (DFL-Minnesota) of having “abandoned a police precinct” in Minneapolis in 2020 and letting it burn.
“And because of that, the National Guard was eventually far too late mobilized, and President Trump recognizes a situation like that, improperly handled by a governor, like it was by Governor Walz,” Hegseth said. “If it gets out of control, it’s a bad situation for the citizens of any location.”
Later on Tuesday, McCollum, who represents the city of Saint Paul in Minnesota’s Fourth Congressional District, posted on Facebook, “The reason Secretary Hegseth refused to answer my question about the costs to deploy Marines to L.A. is because he didn’t know the answer. We’ve since learned that President Trump’s authoritarian political stunt will cost a staggering $134 Million – at least.”
That $134 million figure was announced by the Department of Defense’s top financial officer. The amount is the estimated cost of deploying the National Guard and the Marines to LA. Bryn MacDonnel said it’s largely related to travel, housing and food.
As for Hegseth’s statements about Walz’s handling of the 2020 Minneapolis riots, KTTC reached out to the governor’s office for comment, but have not received a response at this time.
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