Democrats knock Trump adviser Habba over veteran jobs quip
Several Democrats, including some who are veterans themselves, have spoken out in opposition to President Trump’s advisor Alina Habba after she quipped about veterans not being fit for their jobs.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a Navy combat veteran, responded to a clip posted online of Habba, saying her remarks are “messed up.”
“Just today, I spoke to a veteran who was fired over email. This morning, he had to take a job working in a kitchen for minimum wage. He has a family to support,” Kelly said on X. “Trump and Musk are ruining veterans’ lives and this is what they have to say?”
Kelly was responding to Habba’s remarks, in which she suggested some veterans were “not fit” for government jobs, as the Trump administration slashes thousands of federal positions.
“As you know, we care about veterans tremendously. I mean, that’s something the president has always cared about, anybody in blue, anybody that serves this country. But at the same time, we have taxpayer dollars, we have a fiscal responsibility to use taxpayer dollars to pay people that actually work,” she said, adding, that the administration doesn’t forget veterans.
“We are going to care for them in the right way, but perhaps they’re not fit to have a job at this moment, or not willing to come to work,” she continued.
The response sparked outrage from Democrats.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Iraq war veteran and Purple Heart recipient, threw Habba's words back at her.
“Perhaps those who think it’s okay to fire our Veterans are the ones unfit for their jobs,” Duckworth said online.
Duckworth was among the first women to fly in combat missions as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. Her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, and she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D), an Army veteran, said American veterans risked everything for the United States.
“Now they come home to be told by those who’ve given nothing for this country that they’re ‘not fit,’” he said online. “They’re more than fit to serve.”
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said the Trump advisor’s comments were a “slap in the face” to veterans, and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) sharply criticized Habba’s remarks.
“It’s disgraceful that a high-ranking advisor to Trump believes that the more than 6,000 veterans fired by Trump and Musk may not be ‘fit to have a job at this moment,’” Nadler said in a post. “These are Americans who served our country with honor, and now they’re being discarded and insulted.”
Nadler argued that if a high-ranking Democratic official made such remarks, he would be calling for their resignation.
“The question is: will my Republican colleagues do the same, or will they remain silent in the face of this blatant disrespect for our veterans?” he questioned.
As the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seek to shrink federal spending, they have cut thousands of jobs.
Veterans make up about 30 percent of all federal employees.
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