Trump Lawyer Alina Habba Says Veterans Fired from Federal Government Are Perhaps ‘Not Fit to Have a Job at This Moment’

Alina Habba, counselor to President Donald Trump, was asked about veterans who had been fired from the federal workforce and responded that perhaps they were “not fit to have a job at this moment.”

The layoffs have been a major factor in the controversial first few weeks of Trump’s second term, with critics saying they are being done in violation of law, risk damaging core government functions and vulnerable people, and should not be driven by Elon Musk, the unelected billionaire heading up the DOGE team, due to his substantial conflicts of interest.

On Monday, MSNBC Chris Jansing interviewed Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Gabriel D’Alatri, a Marine veteran who had just been fired from the IRS and had been invited to be Courtney’s guest for Trump’s speech Tuesday evening to a joint session of Congress.

D’Alatri told Jansen that he was “hoping” to hear Trump “say that he has a plan to reinstate the veterans that were fired,” as well as their spouses and other military members who were employed by the federal government overseas.

“That’s really it,” he said. “I’m here on the on behalf of veterans.”

Jansing cued up a video of Habba being questioned by a reporter at the White House about veterans being laid off just a short time ago, noting that Habba “is a spokesperson for the White House”:

REPORTER: Is the president starting to think about maybe some of those veterans who worked for the federal government and maybe what the administration can do to at least help salvage their lives?

ALINA HABBA: Well, 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. That doesn’t mean that we forget our veterans by any means. 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. And we can’t — you know, I wouldn’t take money from you and pay somebody and say, “sorry, you know, they’re not going to come to work.” It’s just not acceptable.

“I’d like you to react specifically because she’s talking about veterans like yourself when she says they’re not fit to have a job at this moment, or not willing to come to work. Does that apply to you or any of the other veterans who you work with?” asked Jansing.

“No it doesn’t,” replied D’Alatri, who explained that he was “in the office all the time” and oversaw “all the IRS facilities in Connecticut,” and going into other offices all over New England, which was not the kind of job that could be done from home.

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.