{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-grills-defense-nominee-on-national-guard-in-cities-boat-strikes", "King Grills Defense Nominee on National Guard in Cities, Boat Strikes", "2026-02-26", "2026", "2026-02", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) today grilled potential Trump Administration officials on the legality and ethics of national guard deployments in American cities, as well as the controversial boat strikes in the Caribbean. In a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), Senator King questioned Mr. Mark R. Ditlevson, nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas Security Affairs, on the role of the Department of Defense, legal ramifications of DoD decision making, and his personal priorities if nominated to the post.\n\nSenator King began the conversation by asking about the classification authority of the strikes in the Caribbean, focusing on the September 2nd missile strike.\n\n\u201cHave you seen the second video from September 2?\u201d King questioned.\n\nDitlevson responded, \u201cYes Senator, I have. I am aware of that particular video.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat possible justification is there for the classification of that video where the first video 45 minutes earlier was on Fox News the next day along with the secretary? Why is the second video classified?\u201d King asked in response. \u201cI have seen it and I don't understand why the American public is being denied the opportunity to see it. What is the justification for its classification?\u201d\n\nDitlevson replied, \u201cSenator, I appreciate the concern on the video and what it shows. I can't speak to the release ability \u2013\u201c\n\n\u201cHow come? You\u2019re where the policy guy,\u201d King interjected. \u201cWhat is the policy that says this should be classified bit of information?\u201d\n\n\u201cSenator, that\u2019d be outside the purview of my particular office. We were not the classification authority for that particular video and the process and procedures governing declassification\u2014\u201d Ditlevson responded.\n\nKing concluded, \u201cI appreciate it if you take this question back. Because I have not, I have asked the secretary directly and not yet gotten a justification for why that video is classified. Except that it is embarrassing.\u201d\n\nSenator King then asked the nominee about the limits of the Department of Defense, stressing the National Guard should not be a local law enforcement organization.\n\nKing shared, \u201cI have got to tell you in your list of priorities: \u201cfocused on securing our homeland by bolstering security at our borders,\u201d no objection, no problem. \u201cDismantling narco-terrorist networks,\u201d no objection, 100%. \u201cDeterring adversary threats,\u201d no problem. But your final one is \u201crestoring law and order in our cities.\u201d That is not the role of the Department of Defense. We have state police, we have local police. It is not the role of the military to restore order in our cities. What concerns me is if indeed it\u2019s the President that designates a designated terrorist organization, what are the limits of that and what is to keep this president or a different president from saying some group they don't like inside the country is a designated terrorist organization, and therefore could apply military forces. I hope you will come back to me with the answers to my questions.\u201d\n\nAs a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator King is recognized as an authoritative voice on national security and foreign policy issues. He has been outspoken in his concerns over the boat strikes, going on national TV to stress that such attacks are defined by the Pentagon\u2019s manual of war as illegal. In a hearing last September, Senator King also pressed the nominee to serve as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict in the Department of Defense (DoD), about his views on the legality of the recent unprecedented lethal strikes on vessels in the Caribbean ordered by the Trump Administration.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T17:26:08Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-grills-defense-nominee-on-national-guard-in-cities-boat-strikes"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.533338101580739, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}