Senator Padilla Questions Hegseth on Trump's Purported Military Action to Turn On California Water
On Monday, Trump implied that his executive orders were already being hastily and aggressively carried out as he posted on Truth Socia.
by Dan Bacher
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) requested that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth clarify President Trump’s January 27th Truth Social post claiming that the U.S. military “entered” California and “turned on the water” flowing from Northern California to other parts of the state.
On Monday, Trump implied that his executive orders were already being hastily and aggressively carried out as he posted on Truth Social: “The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!”
This prompted the California Department of Water Resources, or DWR, to tweet the following response.
“The military did not enter California,” DWR clarified. “The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”
In his response to Trump’s post, Senator Padilla said, “Even though California is delivering as much water to farms and cities as during the previous Trump Administration, the President claimed that he used his ‘Emergency Powers’ as Commander-in-Chief to send the military to California to turn on the water. Contrary to misinformation circulated by President Trump, Southern California has record water storage on hand. Senator Padilla has pushed back against dangerous misinformation about the state’s water supply, which Trump is attempting to leverage to withhold disaster aid.”
“After President Trump was sworn in, federal pumping of water was briefly reduced due to outages for maintenance, which have since been restored to prior pumping levels,” Padilla stated.
“Clarity and transparency on these matters are crucial to ensure that the public is properly informed and that any actions comply with federal laws governing the use of the U.S. military within the United States,” wrote Senator Padilla.
Padilla asked Secretary Hegseth the following five clarifying questions in response to Trump’s post:
1. Which units of the U.S. Armed Forces have been assigned to this mission?
2. Specifically, where in California were they deployed? Please name the specific cities that were “entered” by U.S. Armed Forces, and the names and ownership of any facilities where troops were assigned.
3. When the President says members of the military “TURNED ON THE WATER,” what specific actions did U.S. service members undertake to accomplish this mission?
4. To which specific “Emergency Powers” is the President referring to justify this mission?
5. Compared to the week of January 13, 2025, how much more water is now flowing through the federal pumps?
Full text of the letter is available here.
If and when Hegseth responds, I will post his response here.
For my breakdown of Trump’s previous “Truth” Social post blaming the Delta Smelt and Governor Newsom for the LA Fires, go here: sacramento.newsreview.com/...
