A new White House defense of sweeping federal layoffs, including those affecting military veterans, has drawn fierce criticism from former CNN anchor Jim Acosta, who condemned Trump adviser Alina Habba’s remarks and the administration’s handling of the cuts.
“Perhaps they’re not fit to have a job at this moment, or are not willing to come to work,” Habba told reporters Tuesday on the White House lawn when asked about military veterans among the thousands of federal employees who were abruptly laid off.
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She continued: “And we can’t, you know, I wouldn’t take money from you and pay somebody and say, ‘Sorry, you know, they’re not going to come to work.’ It’s just not acceptable.” Acosta responded with outrage during his Substack show, The Jim Acosta Show, arguing that Habba’s comments disrespected veterans and federal workers.
“Give me a break, give me a break,” Acosta fumed. “I mean, there’s tone deaf, and then there’s what Alina Habba said,” he told his audience Tuesday. “And I think this typifies the attitude that we’ve been hearing from the Trump administration. They seem to think that people who work for the federal government don’t actually work.”
Acosta then listed several critical government roles that he argued were unfairly dismissed in the administration’s rhetoric. “Tell that to the people who are trying to cure cancer at the NIH, tell that to air traffic controllers at the FAA, tell that to the people who work at USAID… people who protect the president at the U.S. Secret Service – they don’t work?” he said.
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He concluded forcefully: “Our military veterans are not waste, fraud, and abuse.” Earlier in his program, Acosta also criticized President Donald Trump’s address to Congress, calling it a “bitter pill to swallow for a lot of Americans” who are angered by his continued leadership.
“When a lot of Americans feel like – and you can put me in this category – he should’ve been disqualified from the presidency a long time ago,” Acosta declared. “He has no business being there.” The administration’s layoffs and the ensuing backlash highlight the ongoing tensions between Trump’s policies and public sentiment, particularly regarding veterans and federal employees affected by the sweeping cuts.
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