By Harold Hutchison, Daily Caller News Foundation | January 06, 2025
Former campaign aides to President Joe Biden and CNN host Abby Phillip expressed angst Tuesday after Republican strategist Scott Jennings defended the Trump administration’s grant freeze.
A federal judge temporarily blocked a freeze on certain spending programs ordered by President Donald Trump Tuesday. Jennings said that while some Republicans were not making “the greatest political argument” for the review, voters might be surprised at what was being funded.
“I have a few thoughts on this. Number one, I assumed, when this all happened, it would get sorted out in court. That‘s obviously — process is underway. Not uncommon. Joe Biden had to have a few things sorted out in court, too, pretty common thing,” Jennings said. “Number two, I didn’t realize we were about 12 hours from full societal collapse after one government decision. I had no idea. I appreciate the briefing. Number three, I think the American people are appalled at the amount of money that goes out the door every year, and it seems to be on autopilot and it seems to be without political oversight. And I do think one of the lessons from the election was, can we get a little bit of political oversight over the unelected bureaucracy? That is what they are attempting to do.”
“Do I ultimately believe a lot of this is going to be walked back? Yes. Do I think members of Congress are going to draw attention to things that are quite necessary and quite useful? Absolutely,” Jennings said. “Will it take a few days to iron out? More than likely, but I do think there’s a little bit of overreaction on the left today because Donald Trump and his people decided to exercise a little bit of political oversight, which I think the American people want.”
Phillip and former Biden campaign aides Ashley Allison and Jenna Arnold piled on Jennings, claiming the freeze hurt people on Medicaid and Section 8, a housing program.
“Last night I got a text message from a new mom wondering if she was going to be able to keep her Section Eight apartment, last night, who works, who does — this is not the left, these are real people in a red state,” Allison claimed. “This mom, it is — it has real life consequences with human impact. So, I‘ll be okay, most likely. But people who voted for Donald Trump won‘t. And I think there is a responsibility on our elected officials, Democrat and Republican, to do things in a more responsible manner.”
“I got a — I got a text message from someone who has a child with Down Syndrome, who relies on Medicaid for supplies for that child,” Phillip said. “They were told by their medical provider, ‘We don‘t know if you‘re going to be able to get your supplies.’ Medicaid went down for a big chunk of the day.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday “direct assistance from the federal government” would not be impacted by the freeze, according to The Washington Post.
After Arnold said Trump “can’t mess” with programs helping people who voted for him, Jennings stepped in.
“You can mess around with them –” Jennings said before Arnold interjected, “Sure, then you can take food out of children’s mouths.”
“— if you want to try to exercise a little political oversight,” Jennings continued despite the interruption. “And maybe most of this stuff is fine, and maybe there isn’t as much waste, fraud and abuse as some people think. But my bet is there is going to be some. We’re also going to find out that some money is being spent that goes beyond what the Congress intended.”
Harold Hutchison is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation
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