Rep. Tim Burchett Schools CNN Anchor on DOGE in Fiery Exchange

We may be seeing a subtle change in the media approach to the DOGE train. 

Since it’s clear that it’s very popular to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, it looks like some in the media like CNN’s Pam Brown are restructuring their objections to “well, we’re just objecting to the process” or “the way you are doing it is wrong.” But of course, that isn’t all the Democrats and media have been saying — they’d been objecting to the whole thing, with Democrats even claiming this is about Elon Musk trying to steal your grandpa’s social security. That acknowledgement is a win.

On Tuesday, Brown asked Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) about nuclear weapon employees whom the government had fired but wanted to bring back; in her set-up question, the anchor claimed the employees supervised nuclear weapons. Burchett completely rejected what she was trying to sell.

🚨 911, I need to report the m*rder of CNN.

HOST: No one is disagreeing there is government bloat/waste, CNN has been covering it.

TIM BURCHETT: No you haven’t. All y’all do is run down Musk and Trump, and that’s why your ratings are in the tank.pic.twitter.com/RCGrhKzzVM

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 18, 2025

She cited Don Kettl, a professor at the University of Maryland “who specializes in civil service.” That’s a job? In an interview with the Washington Post, Kettl compared the actions to butchering the meat when you’re trying to cut the fat off the steak. She asked Burchett if he thought it was a a fair point, if it was “clumsy, more than methodical.”

Burchett leveled her with a withering fact about something that happened under Biden: Sam Brinton, the nuclear energy official who dressed as a woman, and was accused of stealing luggage at airports. She said she was unfamiliar with the case–and doesn’t that say it all? “I never heard y’all say a peep about that,” Burchett said, chastising her. 

Burchett continued, reminding her that there are bloated programs with no-show employees. She claimed no one was disagreeing with that. But Democrats have been disagreeing over it. 

That’s when Burchett let loose, “Then why are y’all not exposing it?” He brought up sending $10 million to Mozambique for circumcisions.