President Donald Trump's deployment of the California National Guard and Marines to quell the rioting in Los Angeles is expected to cost $134 million and last for 60 days, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and a Pentagon official told House lawmakers on Tuesday.
Hegseth and Bryn MacDonnell, the Pentagon's acting comptroller, testified during a hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense about the Pentagon's priorities for the 2026 fiscal year. The discussion turned to the administration's efforts to contain the rioting that began Friday following Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that led to the arrests of more than 100 illegal aliens, many with criminal records.
Hegseth was angered by allegations from Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., that the Pentagon is pulling funds to deploy approximately 4,000 National Guardsman and 700 Marines to Los Angeles from areas that would affect the military as a whole, such as housing and barracks. Hegseth called such allegations "disingenuous and incorrect" before turning to MacDonnell to address the costs and how they are funded.
"So, the current estimated cost is $134 million, which is largely just TDY costs, travel, housing, food, etc.," MacDonnell said, adding that the funds are coming from the Pentagon's Operations and Maintenance budget.
Hegseth bristled at allegations by Aguilar concerning deployed troops lacking basic necessities, such as food and water. Hegseth vociferously defended the Pentagon's commitment to the deployed troops, calling such accusations a "disingenuous attack."
"The commanders and troops on the field are very well-prepared, sir," Hegseth said. "They responded incredibly rapidly to a deteriorating situation with equipment and capabilities. We have made sure from the top down as a secretary of defense who has been in a unit holding riot shields outside the White House during the chaos of the summer of 2020. I know what it's like to be immediately deployed into a situation like that. 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 from my office because I care that much about the California Guard and the Marines and the men and women who are supporting our ICE agents on the ground.
"It's true every day, and that's a disingenuous attack that misrepresents how much we care about our troops and what they're doing to defend ICE agents. I'm not going to take the fact that we don't care about the troops. Nobody cares more about the troops, at the top, then this secretary … and the department."
After being asked by Aguilar about how long the deployment will last, Hegseth said, "We stated very publicly that it's 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters, and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we're not going anywhere. We're here to maintain the peace on behalf of law enforcement officers in Los Angeles, which [Democrat California Gov.] Gavin Newsom won't do."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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