CNN host Abby Phillip and pundit Scott Jennings got into a heated debate on her show Monday over President Trump’s agenda meeting pushback in the courts.
“Every single one of these cases deals with a discreet issue,” Phillip said in reference to orders from judges temporarily blocking efforts by the Trump administration from halting funding and reducing the size of federal agencies. “They’re all being dealt with by different judges. It’s not broad swaths of policy here.”
“It is,” Jennings interjected.
“When the court says, ‘Congress appropriated this money — you must unfreeze it,'” she continued. “Why can’t Trump comply with that?”
“So you’re saying a judge should decide how and when money is spent,” Jennings responded. “And not the president of the United States.”
A seemingly frustrated Phillip said, “Let me explain it a little more slowly.”
“You don’t have to talk to me like that,” Jennings scoffed. “I have a position on this. If you disagree with me, we can talk about it.”
“But you’re not listening,” the host shot back. “And you’re making claims that are not connected to the facts.”
Jennings said he “totally disagreed” with a judge having the power to allow funding to federal programs during ongoing litigation over the issue.
A former GOP aide, Jennings has made a name for himself on CNN defending President Trump’s agenda and sparring with various guests and hosts on the network. He was speculated to be in consideration to be White House press secretary.
Trump has been dealt a series of setbacks in the courts in the early weeks of his second term, with Democrats increasingly sounding the alarm that the White House will simply ignore those rulings. A federal judge on Monday ordered the administration to comply with a previous order unfreezing federal grant money, after Democratic states said the ruling was not being upheld.
