Alina Habba, counselor to President Donald Trump, had a dismissive response Tuesday when asked about the veterans who have been abruptly fired from the federal government over the first weeks of Trump’s second term.
Without providing any evidence, Habba claimed that some who served in the U.S. military and went on to take government service jobs were not doing the work.
“As you know, we care about veterans tremendously. That’s something the president has always cared about,” she told reporters gathered outside the White House. “But at the same time, we have … a fiscal responsibility to use taxpayer dollars to pay people that actually work.”
“That doesn’t mean we forget about our veterans by any means,” she went on. “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.”
Some 6,000 veterans have been fired by the Trump administration so far, according to estimates by House Democrats.
“I wouldn’t take money from you and pay somebody and say, ‘Sorry, you know, they’re not going to come to work,’” Habba said, without providing any additional information.
Habba, who once asserted that she could “fake being smart” and would rather be pretty, previously served as a personal lawyer to Trump. She represented him over the course of writer E. Jean Carrol’s defamation case that resulted in an $83.3 million judgment against Trump, which he is still appealing.
One of the fired veterans, Gabriel D’Alatri, told MSNBC that he had indeed been showing up at his job making sure IRS facilities in Connecticut were running properly amid peak tax season.
“Can’t really do that job from home,” D’Alatri said.
Disabled veteran Chelsea Milburn — who was fired from the Education Department Trump wants to shutter permanently — told CNN that the government’s decision “feels like a betrayal.”
Many fired federal employees received emails announcing their termination that cited supposedly poor performance.
“I served my country for 11 years, nine of them on active duty … I was gone when my mom passed away. And I missed that to serve my country,” Milburn told the network, battling tears. “And I was excited to continue serving in this capacity. And they not only tore that out from under my feet, but couldn’t even just grant me a layoff, and instead placed the blame on me … I’ve got nothing but positive reviews.”
“So I feel very much like the message is that my service isn’t valued,” she added.
Some Democratic lawmakers have invited fired federal employees, including veterans, as their guests to Tuesday evening’s joint presidential address before Congress.