Hegseth Lays Out a Case for Troop Deployments in 'Any Jurisdiction in the Country'

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told members of Congress on Tuesday that he believes Immigration and Customs Enforcement "has the right to safely conduct operations in any state and any jurisdiction in the country."

Given that Hegseth and President Donald Trump have cast the National Guard and U.S. Marine deployments to Los Angeles as an effort to protect ICE personnel as they carry out the administration's mass deportation campaign, the Pentagon chief's testimony to lawmakers represented a justification for troop mobilizations to any part of the nation where protests against ICE are deemed a potential threat.

Watch Hegseth's comments:

Hegseth's remarks came amid growing concerns that the Trump administration's aggressive response to ongoing protests in Los Angeles is just the start of a broader deployment of U.S. troops to crush dissent wherever it arises. The troop deployments to Los Angeles, authorized for at least 60 days, are expected to cost roughly $134 million, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers on Tuesday.

The language of the memorandum Trump signed on Saturday gives Hegseth broad latitude to "employ any other members of the regular Armed Forces as necessary to augment and support the protection of federal functions and property in any number determined appropriate in his discretion."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is suing Trump and Hegseth over the National Guard deployment in Los Angeles, pointed out in a social media post on Monday that the president's memorandum "doesn't just apply to CA."

"It will allow him to go into ANY STATE and do the same thing," Newsom observed.

Trump himself openly suggested he could deploy U.S. military personnel across the country, telling reporters on Sunday that "we're gonna have troops everywhere."

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Monday that "we must recognize, and recognize quickly, that Los Angeles is only the beginning."

"In a matter of months, weeks, or even days, some contrived crisis may reach our cities. And then we'll find the armed forces on our soil, with their guns trained on our people," said Clarke. "That's always been his goal—to ensure every American knows the fear our immigrant neighbors now feel. As he threatens to arrest a sitting governor and readies to brutalize protestors to feel like the strongman he never will be, we all must understand that Trump established a dangerous new precedent today. Time is running out to prepare for exactly what that means."

Rolling Stone's Asawin Suebsaeng, Andrew Perez, and Ryan Bort wrote Tuesday that "Trump has wanted his own personal police state, with himself sitting at the top as its undisputed boss, since his first administration."

"The standoff on the streets of Los Angeles, which escalated late last week after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) started shooting pepper balls at protesters, shows how truly eager Trump and his administration are to turn America's vast warmaking powers inward on the president's domestic foes and critics," they added.