Amna Nawaz
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WATCH: Hegseth says politics doesn't play a role in hiring at Defense Department
Posted
June 11, 2025
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June 11, 2025
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2:25Now PlayingRep. Patty Murray, D-Wash., grilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a Senate hearing Wednesday, saying the Trump administration has “put civilian workforce under attack from Day 1” with a combination of resignations, firing probationary workers and installing hiring freezes.
The senator said military installations across the country have been forced to fire needed, highly skilled civilian employees, as well as onboard new hires who have to be individually reviewed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that appears to “ensure that they support the president’s priorities.”
Responding to Murray’s question about possibly firing more shipbuilders, Hegseth said the senator was putting forth a “totally disingenuous characterization” of the situation.
“We've offered through a right sizing of our civilian positions, which everyone in this committee would acknowledge that the Defense Department has had a bloated bureaucracy for a long time,” he said.
Murray said the U.S. Navy needs welders, “not people who can recite a president's executive orders.”
“If the Navy wants to hire a qualified candidate for the role, but that candidate happened to vote for or donate to Democrats, would they be hired?” she asked.
“Senator, there's never been a litmus test for hiring welders,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday after strongly defending President Donald Trump’s militarized response to the protests over federal immigration raids in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities.
He told lawmakers Tuesday in a House subcommittee hearing that the some 4,000 National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines activated by the president are expected to stay in Los Angeles for 60 days. The mobilization will also cost the Defense Department roughly $134 million, said Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, Hegseth’s acting comptroller.
Congressional lawmakers, especially Democrats, are demanding that Hegseth provide more details around the department's Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
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