Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) shamed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in his first hearing before Congress since his confirmation.
Hegseth has faced several scandals, including revelations that he was using the Signal app to share classified information.
McCollum asked why Hegseth has failed to get a budget to Congress in the four months since Congress requested it.
The Office of Management and Budget "has a responsibility to get management to the services so that contracts can be executed in a timely fashion," she said, noting that every defense contractor said that the process is "going too slow" while "time and taxpayer dollars are being wasted. Our national security is being put at risk because of the lag time. CR's are simply wasteful."
She noted that the budget was due in February, but Congress still doesn't have it. Instead of marking up an actual bill, McCollum said that all the members have "is a very rough draft and an incomplete defense appropriations act."
She cited Trump's "Golden Dome" project, which the president announced a few weeks ago, but hasn't outlined in any funding plan.
But it was her questions about the deployment of troops to Los Angeles that began a squabble on the House floor Tuesday.
McCollum called it "premature" and "escalatory" in her opening statement.
"Active duty military has absolutely no role in domestic law enforcement and they are not trained for those missions," she continued, requesting that they all "follow the law."
She went on to ask Hegseth where the money is coming from to host Trump's parade scheduled for June 14. Early estimates of the cost are at least $45 million, including $16 million to repair the damage to the streets that the tanks would cause, NBC News reported in May.
She also wondered where the funds were coming from for the deployment of the troops to Los Angeles and the border.
"I honor and celebrate the United States Army, but I'd like to know how much this parade is going to cost," she said, noting she's sent several letters on the matter that have been ignored.
McCollum cut in while Hegseth spoke over her about the safety of immigration agents in Los Angeles. She noted that, given her limited five-minute questioning period, she wanted to redirect him to her question about cost.
"You asked about the situation in Los Angeles, and we believe that ICE agents —" Hegseth began before being interrupted.
"I asked about the budget. I asked about the budget," McCollum repeated.
Hegseth continued to ignore the budget question, instead talking about protecting ICE.
"Mr. Chairman, if the secretary is not going to answer budgetary questions, I will yield back my time, if the secretary refuses to answer the budgetary questions put before him," McCollum said. "They're important. What training missions are happening, where are you pulling the money from, and how are you planning moving forward? These are budget questions that affect this committee!"
She noted that in only a few hours, the House committee would be required to vote on a budget, and she wanted him to answer questions about it.
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense chairman, Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), appeared to agree, asking Hegseth to answer her questions.
Hegseth responded by attacking President Joe Biden's administration, saying that they "thankfully have a 13% higher budget" for defense than in the previous administration. The 2025 budget was passed in 2024 under the Biden administration.
See the clip below or at the link here.
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