Washington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday defended the administration’s mobilization of the National Guard and members of the Marine Corps to Los Angeles amid ongoing immigration protests.
“We believe ICE agents should be allowed to be safe in doing their operations and we have deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them in the execution of their duties because we ought be able to enforce immigration law in this country,” Hegseth said Tuesday, testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
Hegseth claimed ICE agents are “being attacked for doing their job, which is deporting illegal criminals.”
“If they’re attacked, that’s lawless, and President Trump believes in law and order,” Hegseth said, arguing the president “has every authority.”
According to acting Defense Department comptroller Bryn MacDonnell, who was also tesifying Tuesday, the estimated cost of deploying the National Guard will be $134 million. MacDonnell said the money will come from operations and maintenance accounts.
President Trump called for the National Guard to enforce order in the L.A. area over the weekend amid protests over activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prompting a clash with California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom warned that the move would inflame the situation, while urging that there is no shortage of law enforcement. And California sued the Trump administration Monday, after arguing that the move to call the National Guard without the state’s permission was illegal.
Later Monday, the military said it was mobilizing an additional 2,000 members of the National Guard, while activating 700 members of the Marine Corps to support the National Guard. Members of the Marine Corps arrived Tuesday in the greater Los Angeles area, a defense official told CBS News. Newsom’s office called the escalation “completely unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented.”
Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images 
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump took aim at Newsom in recent days, sharply criticizing his handling of the protests, while suggesting that his “border czar” Tom Homan could arrest the California governor.
“I would do it if I were Tom,” Mr. Trump said. “Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.”
Homan told CBS News late Monday that “there’s no intention to arrest” Newsom. But he defended calling in the National Guard, calling it “absolutely” necessary.
Hegseth says Defense can cover budget contingencies to maintain “law and order in a major American city.”
The developments come as Hegseth is testifying Tuesday before the appropriations panel on the administration’s proposed budget. Asked about the cost of mobilizing the National Guard and Marine Corps to California and the impact on the budget, Hegseth said the Defense Department has the capability to “cover down on contingencies,” especially “as important as maintaining law and order in a major American city.”
Troops in the field are “very well prepared,” Hegseth says
Asked about conditions for National Guard troops in Los Angeles, as Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar of California expressed “severe concern,” Hegseth said troops in the field are “very well prepared” and “responded incredibly rapidly to a deteriorating situation, with equipment and capabilities.” “There are moments where you make do as best you can temporarily, but we are ensuring they’re housed, fed, water, capabilities in real time,” Hegseth said.
The defense secretary’s testimony comes months after he endured a bruising confirmation process in the Senate. Hegseth was among the most embattled of Mr. Trump’s nominees for top posts in his administration, but the 45-year-old Army veteran and former Fox News host was ultimately confirmed by the Senate in a narrow vote. In recent weeks, he’s faced renewed scrutiny over the use of the encrypted messaging app Signal.
Eleanor Watson
contributed to this report.
