Democrats Ambush Hegseth Over Trump's LA Troop Deployment... Instantly Regret It

What started as a routine budget hearing in D.C. turned tense the moment Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived. He had just authorized troop deployments to riot-hit Los Angeles, and Democrats were ready to pounce.

The hearing was billed as a routine discussion on defense appropriations.

But the moment Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sat down, it became clear Democrats were preparing for an ambush.

Rep. Betty McCollum opened fire, skipping over the budget’s big picture and going straight for Hegseth’s decision to deploy troops to Los Angeles in response to widespread violent riots.

“Where in your limited budget, Sir, in the remainder of this fiscal year, are you going to pull the money to cover these deployments?”

She expected financial figures.

But Hegseth didn’t respond with spreadsheets. He responded with battle scars.

“Well, Congresswoman, thank you for the question. You are right. We are both originally from Minnesota, which is why I recall 2020 quite well,” he said.

Then came the indictment of her failed colleague and governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz.

Hegseth unloaded with both barrels:

“When Governor Walz abandoned a police precinct and allowed it to be burned to the ground, and also allowed five days of chaos to occur inside the streets of Minneapolis.”

“The police precinct, ma’am, was abandoned and burned to the ground. And because of that, the National Guard was eventually far too late, mobilized.”

His attack cut deep—especially for a Democrat from Minnesota—because Hegseth wasn’t offering theory.

He was pointing to a case study in cowardice.

A police station handed over to rioters. The streets of Minneapolis turned over to mob rule. And no accountability.

Now, with chaos flaring in Los Angeles, Hegseth made it clear: this administration wasn’t going to repeat that failure.

“President Trump recognizes a situation like that, improperly handled by a governor like it was by Governor Walz, if it gets out of control, is a bad situation for the citizens of any location.”

And this time, federal leadership wasn’t going to sit back and watch it burn.

“So in Los Angeles, we believe that ICE, which is a federal law enforcement agency, has the right to safely conduct operations in any state and any jurisdiction in the country, especially after 21 million illegals have crossed our border under the previous administration.”

Rep. McCollum wasn’t done.

After hearing Hegseth’s defense of the LA deployment, she returned to the mic—this time visibly agitated—and with 17,000 officers on the ground, she argued, the city didn’t need federal backup.

But Hegseth didn’t budge. He tore down the woke polices that have led to this discrepancy in police officers.

“There are 17,000 LAPD, you mentioned that. There would be 18,000 if not for the defund movement, that folks like Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have implemented.”

“The police chief said she was overwhelmed, so we helped.”

That statement triggered Rep. McCollum and what followed was a total hissy fit, because she did not like hearing the facts.

“Mr. Chairman—I will yield back my time if the Secretary refuses to answer the budgetary questions I put before him!”

McCollum snapped: “They’re important.”

“What training missions aren’t happening? Where are you pulling the money from? And how are you planning this moving forward?”

But Hegseth didn’t backpedal. He stood firm—and issued a direct response.

“Well, thankfully, unlike the previous administration, we’ve got a 13% increase in our defense budget and we will have the capability to cover down on contingencies, which is something the National Guard and the Marine plan for.”

“So we have the funding to cover down on contingencies, especially ones as important as maintaining law and order in major American city.”

The room went quiet. McCollum got her answer—just not the one she wanted.

Just when it seemed the hearing might return to order, Rep. Rosa DeLauro took the floor—and unleashed the most unhinged moment of the day.

Her topic concern was related to shipbuilding.

But the exchange had nothing to do with steel or strategy.

“Ma’am, I fully acknowledge the investment this committee has made in shipbuilding and the challenge is our department under the previous administration squandered a lot of that—” Hegseth began.

He never got to finish. She began screaming.

“Please! I want—I WANT YOUR PLAN!!!” DeLauro screamed.

“I—I’ve—I’ve had difficulties with the prior administration and I don’t mind calling him out, what is your plan for the future?!!”

“Can we get that in writing and on paper, so that we know where you’re going? Because we don’t have anything today.”

“We have ZIP, NADA!”

“Unless this committee sees dollars and cents, and where you’re going and what your plan is, then we may reconsider what you need to do to go forward.”

“Give us the details!”

Hegseth, unshaken, offered a calm and deliberate reply.

“Congresswoman, we have the details and we will provide them for you.”

It was a telling contrast—DeLauro losing control, Hegseth holding the line.

Then came Rep. Pete Aguilar—a Democrat from Newsom’s failed state of California—and with him, a new narrative of attack.

He accused Hegseth of sending troops into Los Angeles without proper supplies.

Soldiers were sleeping on the floor, he claimed. No food, no fuel, no water.

Hegseth, a veteran himself, took this assault as an attack on him.

“The commanders and troops on the field are very well prepared,” he said.

“They responded rapidly to a deteriorating situation with equipment and capabilities.”

He spoke from experience—recalling his own deployment during the 2020 riots outside the White House.

“I know what it’s like to be immediately deployed into a situation like that. Sometimes, you make do for a moment.”

But he made it clear: this wasn’t neglect—it was urgency.

“We are ensuring they’re housed, fed, supplied in real time from my office,” he said.

“Because I care that much about the California Guard, the Marines, and the men and women protecting our ICE agents.”

Then he looked Aguilar in the eye and said what needed to be said:

“That’s a disingenuous attack. And it misrepresents how much we care about our troops.”

Aguilar wasn’t finished. He shifted from accusations to legality.

Under what authority, he asked, had the military been sent into a domestic city to support law enforcement?

“Why are you sending war fighters to interact with civilians?”

Hegseth answered without blinking.

“Every American citizen deserves to live in a community that’s safe,”

“And ICE agents need to be able to do their job. When they’re attacked for doing it—that’s lawless.”

This is the only way forward.

Aguilar fired back, citing federal law.

[Suddenly, Democrats love the law when it suits their needs, but not when it helps them garner new illegal alien voters.]

Deploying troops under U.S. Code §12406, he said, requires very specific conditions: foreign invasion, rebellion, or a state government’s failure to uphold the law.

“Which one are you claiming here?”

“All three,” Hegseth said.

“Millions of illegals… foreign flags in the streets… assaults on law enforcement. And a governor who refuses to act.”

Then he dropped a savage indictment of Governor Newsom himself.

“The governor of California has failed to protect his people. The mayor of Los Angeles won’t enforce the law. So President Trump will.”

Aguilar tried one last angle: federal deployment orders must run through governors.

But Hegseth had the last word.

“You and I both know that President Trump has all the authorities necessary,” he said.

“And thankfully, he’s willing to use them.”

Hegseth silenced Aguilar with a clear message: the era of lawlessness is over. That was Biden’s tenure, not Trump’s.

When the state’s leaders won’t lead, someone else will.

This story was made possible with the help of Overton —I couldn’t have done it without him.