'Absolutely insane': Dem Crockett stunned by what GOP lawmakers do 'behind closed doors'
A progressive Texas Democrat raised some eyebrows late Friday on CNN, telling anchor Kaitlan Collins her Republican colleagues made "absolutely insane" moves behind closed doors this week.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) joined Collins on "The Source" late Friday to talk about the GOP's budget proposal.
"I just wonder what you make of how this is playing out among Republicans," Collins said, introducing her guest. "Because Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed this, he praised it. But we heard from several Republicans who said they didn't like it — Senator Roger Wicker said that the president's advisers were apparently not listening because of the Pentagon’s spending; Senator Mitch McConnell said it was 'material neglect.' Susan Collins called it late and expressed concern over those cuts as well. What do you think is going to happen here?"
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Crockett bluntly replied she has "no idea" and said she feels lawmakers in both chambers aren't listening to their constituents, who she said are outspoken about their "pain."
She then made a notable statement about what's happening in those discussions.
"It's interesting — as we are going through reconciliation, we had a reconciliation markup in Oversight as well as Judiciary. So I had a very long night on Wednesday. And to listen to them — the things that they were not willing to say they were okay with cutting, or the things they were willing to cut — right? It's absolutely insane."
Democrats on the House Budget Committee are ensuring that every district is listed out with the number of people who will be impacted by any Medicaid cuts, as well as the number of people impacted by cuts to supplemental nutrition.
She also questioned why defense spending continues to rise despite failing the last seven audits, and as those most vulnerable are poised to get "hurt the most."
"It seems like they do whatever [Donald Trump] wants them to do at all times, right?" she later added. "Like, behind closed doors, they will talk about how these things are crazy. You can find plenty of Republicans that will tell you that these tariffs are a problem. They will tell you that. And they know that it's a problem."
Crockett asserted her Republican colleagues are actively avoiding town halls, knowing the MAGA agenda is deeply unpopular.
"This is exactly why, if you tune in and watch any of these hearings, when it comes down to marking up these bills where these cuts are supposed to be, you know who won't even defend them? The Republicans," she said.
Democrats listened for hours to amendments as they proceeded through markups. Every time, said Crockett, they called out specific Republicans and said, "'Congressman such and such, what do you think?'"
"They literally were silent. It was almost like they were told, 'Don't say anything because we can't win. We just have to vote down these common-sense amendments and get through this, because this is what we've been told to do,'" she added.