The protesters jeered Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller as they visited Union Station, blocks from the U.S. Capitol, to thank the troops at a Shake Shack where they bought lunch for the guard members.

Earlier this year, five former defense secretaries condemned the Pentagon’s military leadership purge as “reckless.” It has only gotten worse since.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced off in the "Pete & Bobby Challenge," a competition where they challenged each other to 50 pull-ups and 100 push-ups.