Gen. Dan Caine, who since becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in April has assiduously avoided the public spotlight, on Wednesday broke with President Donald Trump’s assessment of the threat posed by Russia and the ongoing protests and violence in Los Angeles.

Caine’s comments during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing were restrained but significant, coming from the nation’s top military officer who Democrats and moderate Republicans had feared might show little appetite for going against a president prone to pushing falsehoods in pursuit of his political agenda.

Trump has routinely downplayed alarm about Vladimir Putin’s territorial ambitions in Eastern Europe and, in an address this week, branded those in the United States protesting his immigration policies as agents of a “foreign invasion.” But Caine declined to confirm either assessment.

When asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) whether Putin intends to “stop in Ukraine,” the general was frank: “I don’t believe so, sir.”

When pressed by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) to say if he believes the demonstrations and violence in Los Angeles are a sign the United States is “being invaded by a foreign nation,” as Trump told an audience of soldiers Tuesday in North Carolina, Caine said he doesn’t.

“At this point in time, I don’t see any foreign, state-sponsored folks invading,” the general replied, before adding, “but I’ll be mindful of the fact that there has been some border issues throughout time.”

When Schatz asked if there has been a “rebellion” against the government, another politically charged term the president and his administration have employed since unrest flared in Southern California, Caine declined to affirm that either. “I think there’s definitely some frustrated folks out there,” he offered.

Trump’s second term in office has been remarkable, in part, for the frequency with which false and misleading statements by the president go unchecked by a majority of Republicans on Capitol Hill, and Caine’s responses Wednesday offered a stark contrast with the man seated beside him, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

As the president’s top military adviser, the Joint Chiefs chairman is expected to provide honest and unflinching advice to the commander in chief, the defense secretary and to Congress, even when that assessment conflicts with the political messaging of the administration in power. During his confirmation hearing, Caine, a surprise selection for the job after Trump abruptly fired the general’s predecessor, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., in February, promised to earn lawmakers’ trust.

Hegseth tried to paper over what Caine had said.

“It’s quite easy to point out that there has been an invasion of 21 million illegals in our country under the previous administration,” he told Schatz. “So this administration was elected to get a hold of that.”

To Graham’s question about Putin’s intent to pummel Ukraine and turn his war machine westward, Hegseth allowed only that “it remains to be seen.”

Graham — whom Republican lawmakers often view as the senator best equipped to persuade the president on the GOP’s more traditional foreign policy postures — laughed. “Well, he says he’s not,” the senator said, referencing the Russian leader. He likened Putin’s ambitions to Adolf Hitler’s stated intentions to kill Jews and take over Europe in the 1930s. “It doesn’t remain to be seen,” Graham went on. Putin, he added, “tells everybody around what he wants to do.”

Wednesday’s hearing was the second time in as many days that Hegseth and Caine faced lawmakers’ questions, with another hearing, before the House Armed Services Committee, set for Thursday. Senate Democrats, just as their House counterparts had on Tuesday, seized the opportunity to attack Hegseth’s record of “chaos and poor judgment” while helming the Defense Department, and his unwillingness to respond to congressional inquiries and the news media.

The Trump administration has so far failed to provide Congress with a complete defense budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, and meanwhile the Pentagon has diverted funds meant to rebuild barracks and improve U.S. troops’ quality of life to support instead Trump’s immigration crackdown on the U.S.-Mexico border, said Sen. Chris Coons (Delaware), the subcommittee’s top Democrat.

Coons accused Hegseth of committing the “unthinkable” mistake of sharing sensitive military plans over an unclassified messaging app, including with members of his family; of firing some of the military’s most senior commanders “without cause”; and of “censoring” military academies’ libraries.

“Far more of your time so far has been spent inside the building on culture wars, rather than outside the building, deterring real ones,” Coons said.

“You are deploying the American military to police the American people,” Sen. Patty Murray (Washington), the full Appropriations Committee’s top Democrat, said to Hegseth of the scene in Los Angeles. “Sending the National Guard into California without the governor’s request. Sending the Marines — not after foreign threats, but after American protesters.”

If Caine toed a delicate line Wednesday, Hegseth — who caught the president’s eye during his tenure as a right-wing commentator on Fox News — adhered to White House talking points as he responded to Democrats’ queries and doubled down on Trump’s claims. He also left open the possibility that the deployment of troops to respond to protests in Los Angeles “could expand to other places.”

The president’s deployment order is partly about “getting ahead of a problem, so that if in other places, if there are other riots in places where law enforcement officers are threatened, we would have the capability to surge National Guard there if necessary,” Hegseth said.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the former Senate leader who has made little secret of his dislike for both Trump and Hegseth, criticized the administration for spending too little on national security, and for the appearance of siding with Russia in its war against Ukraine.

“Which side do you want to win?” he pressed Hegseth.

“This president is committed to peace in that conflict,” Hegseth replied, declining to name Ukraine. “Ultimately, peace serves our national interests and, we think, the interest of both parties, even if that outcome will not be preferable to many in this room and many in our country.”

Patrick Svitek and Amy B Wang contributed to this report.