CNN’s Scott Jennings Shrugs At Dem Analyst Asking If FAA Cuts Are OK ‘Even If Someone Dies?’

CNN’s Scott Jennings shrugged when Democratic analyst Karen Finney confronted him over cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by President Donald Trump and DOGE czar Elon Musk, asking if he supports them “even if someone dies?”

Musk and DOGE continue to slash (and later un-slash) jobs willy-nilly, including a slew of FAA firings on the heels of several aviation disasters. Those fired reportedly included employees hired for radar, landing, and navigational aid maintenance who were dismissed without cause because they’d been on the job for less than a year and were considered probationary.

On Monday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Shark Tank co-host Kevin O’Leary and Jennings cheered the cuts, and when Finney raised the possibility of deaths due to the cuts, Jennings smirked and dismissed her by asking, “Are you alleging that someone has died from this?”:

O’LEARY: I think the issue is they’re not whacking enough. There’s this concept in private equity when you get a bankrupt company and you go in there, you cut 20 percent more than your initial read. And then you find like a pool of mercury, the organization gels back together again. Always cut deeper, harder when there’s fat and waste.

The FAA, it’s not the people. The code is cobalt. It’s from the ’60s. It needs CapEx put into it for the technology to be upgraded to make it safer. Fat like a chicken. All of these agencies are like big fat chickens dripping over barbecues of fat. This is the best barbecue I’ve ever seen, but I don’t think it’s happening fast enough.

They’re not cutting enough. Keep slashing. Keep hacking while you have a 24-month mandate before the midterms. Cut, cut, cut. More, more cutting. Believe me, it’s going to work out just great. Everybody should be happy with this.

SIDNER: Even people with the nuclear codes, cut them, too.

O’LEARY: Cut everything because if you don’t see what they’re doing and they can’t show you that they’re adding value, you whack.

FINNEY: But it’s clear that they’re even asking people to show them, show us what you’re doing. Again, this was a story Friday and literally, Elon said, oops, we got to rehire them because nobody knows how to do what these people know how to do.

O’LEARY: Yeah, they need to think, okay, gets it wrong once in a while, big deal, so what? I agree with that 10 percent of the time.

JENNINGS: It’s okay. I actually think it’s okay if they run into a stumble here or there because the project is so massive. The need to cut is so massive. The government is so massive. It’s inconceivable that you wouldn’t make a mistake here or there. But I think that’s acceptable if the greater goal is achieved, which is a smaller government, more efficient government, trim the fat.

FINNEY: Even if someone is — if someone dies?

JENNINGS: Are you alleging that someone has died from this?

FINNEY: I don’t — we don’t know. I’m talking about when the rubber meets the road. I’m talking about, for example, Kansas City. Thirty thousand government employees might be laid off. It will destroy the economy of Kansas City. That’s okay?

O’LEARY: Why do you say that?

FINNEY: Because I’m reading what the individuals from Kansas City have been saying, that they’re very concerned.

O’LEARY: What do you think they’re going to say when they’re going to get whacked?

FINNEY: Of course they’re going to say that, but my point is, do we think that’s smart, to live in an American city, just go under?

JENNINGS: How many American cities need a massively oversized federal government to stay afloat?

FINNEY: Okay.

JENNINGS: I mean, isn’t that more about the city than the government?

JONES: But when did we get to the point where presidents are measuring themselves by how many people they put out of work instead of how many people they get jobs for?

JENNINGS: Not a moment too soon. Not a moment too soon.

JONES: This is — this is crazy. This is absolutely crazy. And if they’re big fat chickens, hopefully they lay some eggs and maybe then we can afford them.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.