‘Who the Hell Voted for… Big Balls?!’ Paul Begala Throws Down with GOP Strategist

Todd: “We just spent the last four years, or at least three of the four years, the Democrats railing on the courts and AOC coming on this network and demanding that the president ignore the court rulings over abortion pills. And so, people who don‘t get their way in courts typically are unhappy with the courts. I saw Pam Bondi’s news conference today where she seemed very confident that they‘re following the law and that they‘re going to win in the courts. And I think we just have to let it play out.”
COLLINS: “Paul, do you think Democrats set a bad precedent here? Because — “
BEGALA: “I didn‘t know AOC said that. It‘s a terrible thing to say.”
COLLINS: “Well, it wasn‘t just AOC. It was certainly a lot of lawmakers — “
No, Democrats — that‘s just not true. Democrats gave up the White House when the Supreme Court ruled against them in Bush v. Gore. Democrats follow. It‘s not a — you can’t both-sides this.”
COLLINS: “What I‘m talking about, in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
BEGALA: “When Joe Biden tried to do certain things, I think student loans and a court stopped him, he stopped. It‘s just not true to say that Mr. Trump and — President Trump and President Biden are just the same, even Steven. By the way, this is just a procedural thing, okay? This is on standing, whether the AFGE union had standing, they’re gonna find another plaintiff. They‘re going to have to litigate this on the merits. I have a pro tip, though, for President Trump. If you want to reduce the federal workforce, maybe a good idea, try going the constitutional route. You know, I worked for President Clinton. We passed, I had to look it up, the Workforce rRestructuring Act of 1994. Buyouts. By the way, it passed the Senate 99 to 1, it passed the House 319 to to 17 — 391 to 17, and we reduced the federal workforce by 351,000 employees, a lower headcount than any president, any president since Eisenhower. And we still took care of special needs kids and our veterans and created 30 million new jobs. So you can do this, but you‘ve got to follow the Constitution. Mr. Trump is not following the Constitution.”
Todd: “Here’s my question. So when you all passed that on the cloture vote, eight Republicans voted with the Democrats on Bill Clinton‘s buyout plan. Do you think there will be eight Democrats who will vote with Republicans to a buyout plan right now?”
BEGALA: “Oh, sure, if you had — if it was following the Constitution, if you said, ‘Here are the parameters, here are the rules.’ Congress has the power of the purse. Mr. Trump is taking it. And the Republicans who run our Congress are handing the most important power Congress has over to the executive Branch, and it is a constitutional travesty and they‘re going to regret it.”
Todd: “It‘s going to play out in the appropriations process this year. But what I think is more notable is that Democrats who‘ve campaigned on making government more efficient now are nowhere to be found. They should — if they want them to bring it through — “
BEGALA: “That’s not true. There were several who wanted to be part of DOGE. Trump wouldn‘t let them in.”
COLLINS: “Let me ask you Brad, though, on — you use appropriations. For everyone sitting at home, there is a real question about if this is a real buyout and how genuine it is, and if they can trust it, because, as we all know, Congress has only funded the government through March 14th, really. I mean, and they‘re saying, ‘We‘ll pay you through September.’ There is a question of whether or not they can live up to what they‘re offering these workers.”
Todd: “Well, I think Attorney General Bondi is incredibly confident that what they‘re doing abides by the law. I‘m going to take her word for it, I‘m going to watch it be litigated. the White House, I think, is moving fast, and that‘s got a lot of people startled that they‘re moving fast. But I think the American people, meanwhile, are excited to see this action. You know President Trump‘s approval ratings are greater than they‘ve ever been at any point in his political career. Maybe they were higher when he was on ‘The Apprentice,’ I don‘t remember, but right now the American public is very happy with this action. They‘re happy it‘s swift. And, frankly, it‘s because people in both parties have campaigned on cutting government forever, and now you have a president who actually is doing it. I think that‘s what — “
BEGALA: “He is going after, as a political matter, his own voters.”
COLLINS: “Well, can I ask you, Paul, though, because there is this EO that was signed after that press conference that Trump and Elon Musk held in the Oval. He forgot to sign the EO, he had to sign it afterwards. But he did sign it. And I was looking at it, and it grants sweeping powers to the DOGE team. And part of that is, for every one person that they hire, four people have to leave an agency, that DOGE team leaders are going to be consulting with agency heads, which means cabinet members who are confirmed by the Senate, and that they have to submit hiring reports to DOGE of what that looks like. That is giving a lot of power where they‘re essentially working in conjunction with the cabinet secretary.”
BEGALA: “Who the hell voted for Mr. Musk? Who the hell voted for — excuse the phrase — a guy who calls himself ‘Big Balls,’ a 19-year-old kid going in there and trying to fire cancer researchers and scientists and teachers and agricultural specialists? It‘s appalling. And I say again, it is Mr. Trump‘s voters who are far more dependent on government than the Democratic voters. The 10 states who rely most, for example, on education funding for their schools, federal funding, all 10 voted for Mr. Trump.”