Alina Habba says ousted veterans may not be “fit to have a job at this moment”

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Alina Habba says ousted veterans may not be “fit to have a job at this moment”

Counselor to the president Alina Habba on Tuesday said veterans who were let go from their federal jobs “perhaps” are “not fit to have a job at this moment or are not willing to come to work.” 

Habba, who served as President Trump’s personal attorney during his court cases and now works as a top adviser in the White House, made the comments during an exchange with reporters on the White House lawn Tuesday morning. 

A reporter pointed out that some Democrats are bringing ousted federal workers to the president’s joint address to Congress Tuesday night, including veterans who were let go from their jobs. The reporter asked if Mr. Trump is considering what the administration can do to help those veterans salvage their lives. 

“Well, as you know, we care about veterans tremendously,” Habba responded. “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.”

“That doesn’t mean that we forget our veterans, by any means,” Habba continued. “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 are not willing to come to work. And we can’t — you know, I wouldn’t take money from you and pay somebody and say, ‘Sorry, you know, they’re not gonna come to work.’ It’s just not acceptable.”

The number of veterans affected by the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce isn’t yet clear. As of fiscal year 2021,

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of civil service employees were veterans, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

For Mr. Trump’s joint address to Congress, Democratic Rep. Eric Sorenson of Illinois invited James Diaz, a disabled veteran who was laid off in February as a fuel compliance officer at the IRS. Diaz supports many of Mr. Trump’s policies, according to Sorenson’s office, but has been disappointed in how federal workers, especially veterans, have been treated during the president’s overhaul of the government. 

“I’ve given my life to this country, and to be laid off without warning or respect is disheartening,” Diaz said in a statement. “My notice of termination cited performance, and I know my performance was documented as excellent, yet we were treated like garbage. I understand the need to trim the ****, but you can’t treat people this way.”  

Kathryn Watson

Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.

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