Defense Secretary Hegseth told Senate he would follow appellate court but defy district court order blocking Los Angeles military deployment
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 18, 2025, stating he would respect the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling allowing the Los Angeles National Guard deployment to continue, but would not comply with U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer's temporary restraining order blocking it. Hegseth also asserted that deployed troops could "temporarily detain" protesters and hand them to ICE for immigration processing. Senator Elizabeth Warren extracted a commitment from Hegseth to follow Supreme Court orders—a response that itself implied he would not necessarily obey lower courts.