Hegesh listens to live updates: Hegseth defends the National Guard, the marine deployment in the
The Secretary of Defense, Hegseth, defended the deployment of 4,800 National Guard and Marines personnel to Los Angeles in his first testimony of Congress since he took over the Pentagon.
The representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota, the main Democrat of the Chamber Assignments Defense Subcommittee, insisted that the Marines are not trained for a national mission.
“All units on the ground have been completely trained,” said Hegseth.
Members of the California National Guard watch out of the Federal Building Edward R. Roybal on the morning of June 10, 2025, after another day of protests in response to federal immigration operations in Los Angeles.
Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP through Getty Images
On the other side of Capitol Hill, General Eric Smith, the commander of Marines’s body, said that the 700 Marines sent to Los Angeles are trained in crowd control and will provide support to the police to protect federal property.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, expressed his doubts to Smith about the use of combat -trained units saying that he had concerns and was “deeply worried” that his deployment increased the risk of lethal force.
“As Marines, Senator, I would say that all marines are trained in crowd control, rewarding the embassy, etc. So this is part of their training. Clear, all marines are trained in crowd control, Lord, the standard marine expeditionary unit before it unfolds, and this battalion was ready for that,” Smith replied.
