U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen isn’t satisfied with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's answers about military layoffs in his Central Illinois district.
Sorensen questioned Hegseth about the decision to cut up to 150 jobs at Rock Island Arsenal during a hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee on April 29.
Sorensen's district cuts through Bloomington-Normal and Greater Peoria and winds up to the Quad Cities and Rockford.
Rock Island Arsenal contains headquarters for Army Sustainment Command and Joint Munitions Command, which manage the production and distribution of military ammunition and weapons.
The department pegged the layoffs as “surplus” jobs, according to reporting from Quad Cities-based WQAD, despite an escalating need to replenish stockpiles amid the ongoing war in Iran.
Hegseth told Sorensen he would have to look into the particulars, “but there have been places where we haven’t been moving fast enough with munitions. And when people don’t move fast enough in the Department of War, we find someone else that will run it.”
Hegseth rebranded the defense department as the Department of War late last year.
Sorensen, a Democrat, pushed back.
“This is joint munitions command,” he said. “Your department says that you’re prioritizing munitions, yet you cut 58% of joint munitions command at Rock Island.”
Many of the workers, Sorensen said, are veterans continuing to serve the military in a civilian capacity.
Hegseth said munitions are built by businesses, not joint command, adding that trimming workers had less to do with need and more to do with redefining departmental standards of excellence.
“Great performers will always have a job with the Department of War,” he said. “And when you reestablish merit, sometimes things happen, but we’re grateful for all the vets that serve.”
Hegseth pointed to a “Patriot Pipeline” established to provide retired service members with a pathway to second careers within the defense industry.
But Hegseth’s answers did not resonate with Sorensen, who said diminished stockpiles make the United States less safe.
“These are two essential parts of armed services, and Pete Hegseth is firing people,” Sorensen said during a recent stop in Bloomington-Normal. “We all should be worried about that.”
Exactly how low those stockpiles are is a matter Hegseth only discusses with the committee in a classified setting.
Collective bargaining
Sorensen characterized the whittling down of workers as “taking a wrecking ball to the civilian workforce.”
“You testified that if you work hard, you do the work, you keep your job,” Sorensen said. “But that’s not what’s happening.”
Hegseth also terminated most union contracts within the defense department, responding to Sorensen by saying he “fundamentally believe[s] the Defense Department should not be subject to collective bargaining. Full stop.”
In an interview for WGLT’s Sound Ideas, Sorensen said that is designed to make it easier to fire workers.
“I was not satisfied with Pete Hegseth’s answer and will be demanding more,” Sorensen said.
