Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who is the incoming White House national security adviser, said over the weekend that drones that have appeared on the East Coast show that the U.S. has holes in its national security.
Waltz made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” with Margaret Brennan when asked about the situation.
“I think what the drone issue points out are kind of gaps in our agencies, gaps in our authorities between the Department of Homeland Security, local law enforcement, the Defense Department,” he said. “And I think Americans are finding it hard to believe we can’t figure out where these are coming from.”
“And I can tell you, from the Defense Department standpoint, you know, they’re focused on bombers and cruise missiles, and it’s pointing to gaps in our capabilities and in our ability to clamp down on what’s going on here,” he continued.
He said that the situation with the drones was worrying about there are “sensitive sites” like Picatinny Arsenal and President-elect Donald Trump’s residence at Bedminster.
“And you have other no-fly areas, those need to be enforced,” he said. “We need to know who’s behind it. But, right now, I think law enforcement seems to be – the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department are kind of all doing this and pointing at each other. So, when we come in, you know, how do we enforce these low-level, long-loitering, could-be-dangerous drones?”
“And one thing for people to appreciate, you know, they’re evolving so rapidly, it’s not necessarily somebody that’s just on the other end flying it. They could be following prepositioned GPS coordinates. They could be coming from offshore,” he continued. “And we need to take a hard look at our homeland defenses. President Trump has talked about an Iron Dome for America. That needs to include drones as well, not just adversarial actions like hypersonic missiles.”
WATCH:
Rep. @michaelgwaltz says drones being spotted above some East Coast states demonstrate “gaps in our agencies, gaps in our authorities,” saying, “We need to get to the bottom of it, and I think the Biden administration is working to do that.”
But Waltz, President-elect Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/VUtPlqpAcj
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 15, 2024
