MUST-SEE: Star Democrat makes a FOOL out of Trump official at hearing

Administrator, are you familiar with Thomasville, Georgia? I don’t know. I’ve been a lot of parts of Georgia. I was just in Georgia about a week and a half ago. Thomasville is in uh southwest Georgia. It is a great town known for southern hospitality, great people. Mayor Mobley, Pastor Rich, there’s a lot of agricultural activity around there. There’s also a history a legacy of heavy industry uh that uh has led to significant air pollution and there remains significant concerns about air pollution specifically particulate matter 2.5 and reported high levels of uh leukemia leukemia and pneumonia uh in and around Thomasville. And as you know often times these rural communities don’t get the love and attention of the federal government. they they can be forgotten. In Georgia, uh big cities tend to get a lot of the federal support. Um so there was great news for the good people of Thomasville last year when they won an EPA grant to help build a new health clinic uh rehabbing the the gym in the school to build a new federally qualified health center uh near three daycare centers as well as to upgrade uh wastewater infrastructure. Earl Williams, who leads the Thomasville Community Development Corporation, called the grant a gamecher. Mayor Mobley said the award represented a quote transformative opportunity to make vital health and safety improvements. But administrator, you canled the grant, and I’d like to know why. So, I’m looking at uh this was part of the environmental and climate justice block grant program. That’s right. So the and this gets to an earlier uh interaction that we hear that we had and senator rounds got got added as well. When Congress appropriates a block of funding, an administration is going to uh apply their uh policy priorities to how that money is going to get spent. a new administration comes in, we still have to spend the appropriated funding unless something changes with administrator. With respect, I understand the appropriations process. My question is why you canled this grant. What is it about building a new health clinic and upgrading wastewater infrastructure for my constituents in Thomasville, Georgia, but it’s inconsistent with administration policy. So, I don’t have the full grant in front of me. I only have a a topline uh that which program it it came out of. So when a new administration comes in and they apply their policy priorities, you’re repeating yourself. My question is why you canled this grant. So when a new administration comes in, in this case, President Trump put out executive orders as it relates to environmental justice uh with regards to DEI. I would imagine that what does this have to do with is is is a new health clinic for Thomasville, Georgia woke? As I imagine as we look through the details of the particular program, there there must be some aspects of this applying. the last administration’s priorities on environmental justice. Uh here here’s a community here’s a community that suffered from air pollution, has a high disease burden as a result. Finally, the federal government comes. They’re going to help build a health clinic and upgrade some infrastructure. You canled the grant. Devastating for the community. Here’s what the head of the community development corporation said about your decision to cancel this grant, denying my constituents a new health clinic and new wastewater infrastructure. a decision you made but hurts my constituents in Thomasville. Here’s what he said. Quote, “We all worked so hard for this and we won.” And then all of a sudden, one day it’s gone. And it was just a great sense of disappointment. It was almost like I lost a good friend. He sent me another letter said, quote, “Our community is devastated. You hurt my constituents and I don’t need a civics’s lesson on the appropriations process or a broad critique of this program. I want to know why you cancelled this grant, Senator. Uh, so you’re when you go back to them and they ask, “Well, did you find out why the grant got cancelled?” Well, do you know why? I’m asking you. I’m ask you canceled the grant. I don’t need You don’t need to ask them why the grant got cancelled because it was your decision. So, tell me why. You could say I asked the question and then decided to spend the entire 5 minutes cutting him off eight times in the middle of his first answer. So, I was unable to get a full response. Why don’t you answer the question specifically and directly? Why did you cancel this grant? Why are you denying my constituents a new health clinic and new wastewater infrastructure? You want me to repeat anything that I said? I want you to actually answer the question with specificity and not give a broad critique of this overall program or a lesson on how the approach. If you were listening to anything that I said, Senator, say whatever you want, senator. Thank you, Madam Chair. That was Senator John Oaf and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldon in an exchange that perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with the Trump administration. In what should have been a straightforward budget discussion, we instead witnessed a masterclass in evasion, deflection, and the dangerous incompetence that’s become the hallmark of this administration. And let’s be clear, Assaf’s line of questioning wasn’t some gotcha. It was about a grant that Zeldon himself canled that directly impacts Osaf’s constituents. And yet, when asked directly about the cancellation of a $19.8 million grant to Thomasville, Georgia, money that would have replaced a failing wastewater system and built a community health clinic, Zelden quite literally could not provide a clear answer. Instead, he retreated to vague references about policy priorities and the administration’s obsession with eliminating anything remotely connected to environmental justice or DEI, prompting this pretty devastating moment. With regards to DEI, I would imagine that would What does this have to do with is is is a new health clinic for Thomasville, Georgia woke. There is a limit to how much Republicans can dine out on wokeness before they start looking like parodies of themselves. We have hit that limit and then far surpassed it. And again, these aren’t just abstract policy disagreements. As Osaf rightly noted, you hurt my constituents. Real people in Thomasville will continue to deal with inadequate wastewater infrastructure and lack access to health care because of ideological posturing disguised as governance. All because the Trump administration is solely concerned about pushing back against anything even tangentially connected to DEI. And there in lies the fundamental problem with this administration. They are so obsessed with fighting culture war battles against imaginary enemies that they are actively harming real live Americans across the country. Zeldon’s cancellation of nearly 800 congressionally approved grants isn’t about fiscal responsibility or good governance. It’s about how they can throw red meat to the base by attacking anything with the words environmental justice attached to it. Regardless of what the projects actually do, all of which reveals a more troubling reality. This administration is profoundly in over its head. Zeldon’s performance wasn’t just evasive. It demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding of how the government works and the legal limitations on executive power. When Senator Mkeley pointed out that withholding congressionally approved funds is illegal, Zeldon simply denied reality, saying, “We couldn’t possibly disagree more strongly with what you’re saying.” But this isn’t a matter of opinion. The Empowerment Control Act of 1974 explicitly prohibits the executive branch from withholding funds that Congress has appropriated. Multiple Supreme Court rulings have affirmed Congress’s power of the purse. Zeldon’s rejection of these basic constitutional principles isn’t just wrong, it is dangerous. So, how did we end up with such incompetent leadership at vital agencies like the EPA? It’s because Trump doesn’t appoint officials based on their qualifications, based on their expertise, based on their ability to effectively manage complex organizations. He appoints people based on their loyalty to him and their willingness to say nice things about him on TV. Lee Zeldon, like so many Trump appointees, got his job not because he has any particular expertise in environmental protection or agency management, but because he was a vocal Trump supporter in Congress. That’s it. His primary qualification is his willingness to go on Fox and defend the God King regardless of what policies he’s implementing. This pattern repeats itself across the administration. Consider Secretary of Defense Pete Hgsth, whose primary qualification was hosting Fox and Friends on the weekend. Or Dan Bonino, a Fox News pundit now serving as deputy FBI director. Or Tulsi Gabbard, a Fox News contributor now serving as director of national intelligence. The common thread isn’t expertise or experience. It is television presence and loyalty to Trump. This is about making entertainment and nothing more. The result is an administration incapable of handling complex challenges of governance. These are not serious people with serious policy agendas. They are performers who excel at deflection and culture war rhetoric, but freeze when faced with the actual work of running a government. Lee Zeldon quite literally could not conjure up an answer that wasn’t just a rehash of the same talking points he very clearly memorized beforehand. This Assaf Zeldon exchange perfectly illustrates the fundamental emptiness at the heart of the Trump administration. They have no coherent policy agenda beyond undoing anything associated with their predecessors and waging culture wars for Fox News. They have no expertise beyond media appearances. They have no answers when confronted with real world consequences of their actions. As Senator Patty Murray puts it, their approach to governance can be summed up in these words, burn it down. They are not interested in making government work better. They are interested in dismantling it regardless of who gets hurt in the process. That’s the reality of Trump’s America. incompetent leadership, illegal actions, evasive answers, and ultimately Americans left to suffer the consequences. The Thomasville Health Clinic may never be built, not because it wasn’t needed, but because the Trump administration is more concerned with fighting phantom wokeness than helping Americans live better this content and you want to see more and support independent media, please subscribe to this channel. The subscribe button will be right here on the screen.

Sources:
https://x.com/SenOssoff/status/1922792234803450266
https://apnews.com/article/epa-congress-budget-funding-freeze-staff-cuts-17df474609c2b76dc6f88281b2bd1283

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50 comments
  1. So it is not a Trump priority to provide healthcare and wastewater upgrades. Things that would improve the health of people. Trump doesn't want environmental but that includes clean water, air and waste removal. All things every person deserves.

  2. After 249 years Americans Still refuse to vote in every Congressional, state, and local election for their own human rights in Order to form a more perfect Union to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. It was true than as it is today; "We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid"

  3. He answered the question – the new health clinic is not a priority for the Trump administration. Apparently, money in billionaires and corporations' pockets vs. people's health and lives.
    Totally impoundment of funds. When will this nonsense be stopped?

  4. They refuse to admit they are doing things that hurt people. Every department in this administration lives in another reality where they can lie with every breath (because that's why they were hired in the first place) and they don't have to answer for their bad actions. After all, dear leader has never had to face consequences so why should they?

  5. Ossoff got a tap dance rather than an answer. The answer may be "cruelty is the point," as it is often the answer with Felon 47 gesture.

  6. Yes, putting in a new clinic and upgrading wastewater infrastructure is woke because somebody finally woke up and realized it was needed by these neglected people. There is nothing wrong with being woke. There's something wrong with arbitrarily cutting and slashing funds and programs to make it look like you're saving money or eliminating waste when all you're doing is creating mayhem, chaos, and inefficiency.

  7. Senator Ossoff is great for pointing this out. However, I have little sympathy for the folks in GA. They are getting what they voted for. Maybe MTG will help them.

  8. If you don't know an answer, repeat yourself with more volume and aggression. That's all they do. Increasing your volume and aggression doesn't manifest the correct response. But, that's where we are.

  9. I'll bet that the grant money amount allocated to help Thomasville, GA in this particular case wasn't as much as just one weekend of Trump's golfing costs.

  10. Oh my this guy is pure evil to lie and cut good grants for people right here in America. Divide and Conquer is the method in America. Both parties should be shaken up enough to fight for the people they should represent. Trump is shaking up both these parties. Sad because this did not have to happen. Trump is a convicted criminal never forget.

  11. Go Jon Ossoff! He DESTROYED this moron with one simple question he could not answer.🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

  12. The senator represents a community needing a health facility. The administrator represents a president who doesn’t care about communities unless they don’t need something.

  13. Thank you for sharing this. I have family members who are pissed because they think the dems aren't standing up enough. This is just another example of the good they ARE doing, and people need to see this. Generally, I do not sit on the side of any party. If any good is coming out of this BS, it's that we're getting to see who these people really are. The incompetence and blindness are real.

  14. Are the democrats in that Georgia town putting billboards up and ads out saying Trump and the republicans got rid of this grant. Stating the republicans don’t care about this town. It’s great to bring it up in a congressional hearing but now the dems need to start fighting and getting their message out. Georgia can be a swing state

  15. This is trump’s circus full of his clowns…Lee Zeldin can not handle facts, reason or the truth….it simply is NOT in him or any other trump appointee !!

  16. Brian They never answer a question. Any question. Not even a simple YES or No? They must all have taken a class in avoidance and avoidance as a prerequisite to getting the job that None of are qualified for. Cripes

  17. 2 thoughts on this.
    1. if it's rural Georgia with a lot of industry… then they probably voted Trump and I'm sorry… they had it coming.
    2. if it's rural Georgia with probably many Republican voters… who do you think they'll vote next time?

  18. Zelden is ignorant of what his job is, as is the rest of Trump's people. Just give a straightforward answer. Glad Mr Osoff held him to it.

  19. Hooyah!
    Senator Ossoff!
    Yes!
    Promise: the Basis of Expectations; a statement that One will or not do something.
    SOW: Statement Of Work is a Promise.
    Break Promise, Lose Trust.
    Lost in Space…Fall through Time.
    No-thing to Relate With…
    Expose and Reveal…
    a
    Predatory Parasite?

  20. As a Democrat, I still would like to hear his explanation. Why not let him speak so we can hear what his reason is. I disagree with EVERYTHING they are doing by cutting essential programs and withholding funds. But he was at least attempting to answer the question. Unlike Kristi Noem who flat out refuses to answer and starts speaking talking points. It's much more effective if Ossoff would have let him speak and then use the remainder of his time to dismantle his argument. But to keep asking the same question and then cutting off the witness, is frustrating and not going to win back voters to our side.

  21. A grant has to be used for the exact thing that was explained in the grant request and the grant coverage. Zeldon is dancing to the wrong tune, he is one of the many magats who care nothing for the general public, Ossoff, on the other hand, cares about them all.

  22. It seems like these people, who are having trouble answering questions, need sentence starters… “I canceled the grant because…”

Comments are closed.