On Tuesday, Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist, argued that the Democrats’ attempts to protect federal employees will not work with the American electorate.

President Donald Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by rebranding the United States Digital Service through an executive order on January 20. According to the department’s website, DOGE has executed widespread layoffs and pinpointed approximately $105 billion in potential savings. 

During a discussion with David Axelrod, a former Obama administration official, Jennings pointed out that Democrats had previously shown little sympathy for energy workers who lost their jobs or individuals terminated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, just before Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress.

“Guess what? Republicans love it. And I will just say, I think the Democrats —” Jennings said. 

Axelrod cut off Jennings, noting that the country is bigger than just Republicans. Jennings hit back, pointing at the Democrat party’s low approval rating compared to Trump’s.

“I know. Well, he’s got over a 50% approval rating and your party’s got 21%. So he’s doing okay. I think — I think making — dying on this hill of defending every single federal worker, that the idea that we can’t ever shrink the size of government because this sob story or that sob story that is not going to play with the American people,” Jennings countered.

“Democrats gave no care whatsoever to the 10,000 people who lost their jobs when the big pipeline was cancelled by Joe Biden, or the people who lost their businesses in the Covid shutdowns that went on and on and on, or the firefighters or the military that lost their jobs because they wouldn’t get the Covid vaccine. No care for that.”

The clash between both men came hours before reports broke that the Trump administration is undertaking an “aggressive” restructuring of the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), which involves cutting approximately 80,000 jobs.

The memo indicates that Christopher Syrek, the VA Chief of Staff, informed senior department officials that this reduction aims to revert the VA’s staffing to 2019 levels, totaling 400,000 employees. This action aligns with the Trump administration’s broader objective of eliminating wasteful spending across the federal government. 

The newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk, is actively reducing various federal programs and departments as part of this effort.