President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy troops to Los Angeles amid mass deportation protests will likely cost $134 million, the Pentagon’s budget chief told lawmakers.
Acting Pentagon comptroller Bryn MacDonnell, testifying at a House budget hearing on Tuesday alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said the estimate covers costs such as travel, housing and food.
Trump has ordered 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to assist law enforcement with the protests, although California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have said they are not needed.
Hegseth sparred with Democrats during the hearing about the deployment, arguing Newsom mishandled the situation. But the embattled Defense secretary — a former Fox News host with experience in front of a camera — left his first appearance on Capitol Hill since his contentious confirmation largely unscathed.
He faces two more hearings this week, and will likely need to juggle more pronounced questions about his rocky tenure.
The Pentagon chief blamed most issues on the shortcomings of the Biden administration — such as “chronic under investment” in military power and securing the border. He touted his push to root out diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the Pentagon. And he blamed local Democratic leaders for the need to deploy troops.
“The governor of California has failed to protect his people, along with the mayor of Los Angeles, and so President Trump has said he will protect our agents,” he said in an exchange with Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Democratic Caucus. “And our Guard and Marines are proud to do it.”
California has sued the Trump administration over the use of troops, arguing it violates state sovereignty. Hegseth countered that Trump has “all the authorities necessary” to intervene.
Hegseth also clashed with several Democrats on the typically bipartisan House Defense Appropriations panel about the lack of a formal defense budget. But lawmakers failed to pin him down on myriad controversies, such as major turnover on his senior Pentagon staff, the abrupt firings of several senior military officers or his use of Signal to share military operational plans.
When Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) noted that the 2020 unrest in Minneapolis over George Floyd’s killing didn’t involve active-duty troops, Hegseth pivoted to criticizing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate in 2024.
“President Trump recognizes a situation like that, improperly [handled] by a governor, like it was by Gov. Walz, if it gets out of control, is a bad situation for the citizens of any location,” he said.
