John, it's Gabe.

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week, I confronted U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth directly about the U.S.-Mexico border, including the 180 miles that run right through the heart of southern New Mexico.

And John, he couldn’t answer a single one of my questions.

He didn’t know how much border New Mexico shares with Mexico. He couldn’t say where the wall starts or ends. He had no idea whether roads existed in the most remote terrain. And when I pressed him on cost-effective surveillance tools, he had no meaningful answer.

Hegseth is overseeing billions of dollars in border-related spending through the Department of Defense, yet he has no demonstrable knowledge of the border.

He’s sending our military into some of the most rugged, ecologically sensitive public lands in the country without any real understanding of how to defend the border — or any plan grounded in the facts on the ground.

Hegseth’s lack of knowledge isn’t just shocking, it’s disqualifying.

He’s blindly escalating military presence on our border, risking both national security and our civil liberties — and that’s not speculation.

His pattern of reckless behavior is nothing new. It followed him into this role and continues to raise serious concerns. From the controversies that dogged him before his appointment to the troubling way he’s handled sensitive communications since, it’s clear he’s not someone we can trust with decisions this serious.

I’ve been fighting for a smarter, more humane approach to border security — one that includes modern surveillance, expanded port-of-entry capacity, and real investment in what works, not what plays well on cable news.

But none of that will matter if we don’t flip the House next year and stop Donald Trump and his reckless, dangerous allies from militarizing the border and undermining our democracy.

We cannot afford more chaos. We need leaders who know our communities — and who will defend them, not exploit them.

That’s why I’m asking: will you chip in $10 today to help me keep fighting to protect New Mexico’s borderlands and hold one of the most crucial seats Democrats need to flip the House blue in 2026?

In this fight together,

Gabe