White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller sparred with CNN’s Brianna Keilar in a heated on-air exchange, slamming the network’s coverage of federal budget cuts and accusing Keilar of downplaying wasteful government spending. The discussion quickly escalated into a shouting match, with Miller demanding to know why CNN wasn’t applauding cost-cutting measures designed to curb waste and corruption in Washington.
The confrontation began when Keilar pressed Miller on whether the Trump administration recognized that 30% of the federal workforce consists of veterans. Unfazed, Miller quickly shifted the focus to what he saw as the bigger issue—ballooning federal debt and reckless government spending. “The U.S. government has thirty-six trillion dollars in debt,” Miller shot back. “The interest payments on the debt exceed the national defense budget. The American people are exhausted and tired of watching their tax dollars be corruptly spent, abused, wasted, and in every sense, robbed and stolen from them.”
“If you agree there is waste, if you agree there is abuse, if you agree there is corruption, why are you not
celebrating the cuts?” Miller asked in a raised tone. Clearly uncomfortable with the aggressive pushback, Keilar tried to calm Miller down. “Steven, let’s calm down. This is not—this is not having a debate,” she interjected, appearing to downplay the significance of the issue. However, Miller was determined to hold CNN accountable for its portrayal of the administration’s attempts to restore fiscal responsibility.
“When you’re going to try to debate me, I will be as excited as I want to be about the fact that we are saving Americans billions of dollars,” he fired back. “That we are ending the theft and waste and grift and corruption. That we are stopping American taxpayer dollars from subsidizing a rogue federal bureaucracy that has been relentlessly weaponized against the American people.”
Since its launch on January 20, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has embarked on an aggressive initiative to slash federal spending, with a goal of reducing expenditures by up to $2 trillion by July 2026. Established under the Trump administration and led by Elon Musk, the initiative has already achieved $55 billion in savings through fraud detection, contract cancellations, workforce reductions, and regulatory reforms, according to its website.
Major cuts have been implemented across multiple federal agencies, including USAID, the Department of Education, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Among the most notable eliminations were a $168,707 exhibit on Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health Museum and three Environmental Protection Agency contracts totaling $45 million.
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