'Makes things up': Dem lawmaker knocks down 'extreme' claims by Trump aide Stephen Miller
A Democratic lawmaker knocked down claims by one of Donald Trump's top advisers justifying a sweeping halt to federal government funding.
White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller told CNN's Jake Tapper on Tuesday night that "the career federal service in this country is far left, left-wing," claiming that 98 percent of USAID employees had made donations to Kamala Harris or other "left-wing" candidates," and Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) told the same network the following morning that he was simply wrong.
"I really doubt that organizations like Meals on Wheels and others really have any sort of a political bent one way or the other," said Boyle, the ranking member on the House Budget Committee. "That's No. 1, No. 2, Stephen Miller is an individual who just makes things up in order to justify his hateful agenda. Ninety-eight percent of the organization hasn't made a campaign contribution. Actually, very few Americans make campaign contributions. I think they total under 1 percent of the population, so the reality is, we're dealing with an extreme ideology that is going to be pushing through many extreme things that the American people didn't vote for."
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"They voted for change simply because they didn't like how high costs had gone up in the post-pandemic era," Boyle said. "They're not getting costs coming down. Instead, they're getting all of this nonsense and craziness that they didn't vote for, and my concern is every indication is that it will continue under the Trump administration."
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration's freeze on congressionally authorized grants and loans while officials could conduct across-the-board ideological review of federal programs, and Boyle said the newly inaugurated president was carrying out plans laid out in the right-wing Project 2025 blueprint.
"I have to say I was not surprised," Boyle said. "As extraordinary as it is, and contrary to what Sen. [John] Thune (R-SD) said, this is unprecedented and extraordinary. This is not what an incoming administration ever does, because it is completely contrary to the Constitution and to federal law, but as remarkable as a step as it may be, I was not surprised because Russell Vought, the incoming [Office of Management and Budget] director, he was one of the principal authors of Trump's Project 2025, and in that document, he wrote in great detail that this is what they would be planning to do."
"So I think this is going to be litigated in the courts," Boyle added. "The Supreme Court previously has upheld unanimously the right of Congress to control the purse. It is pretty clear in Article 1 of the Constitution that Congress has the power of the purse, so I think we will ultimately prevail. But until that is finally resolved in the courts, I think you're going to cause a lot of disruption and a lot of heartache needlessly among the American people."
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