Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, responding to reporters’ questions concerning the decision to send Marines and National Guard troops into Los Angeles as protests continue against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, told Newsmax that the federal government is working to secure the city because its mayor and governor won’t. 

“We’re securing a city that Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass refused to,” Hegseth told Kilmeny Duchardt, Newsmax’s congressional correspondent, stopping in the halls of Congress for a quick comment. 

Hegseth was questioned by House Democrats Tuesday while testifying before the House Appropriations Committee, where he defended the Pentagon’s deployment of nearly 5,000 National Guard members and active-duty Marines to assist the Los Angeles police, reported The New York Times. 

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