Fox News host Jesse Watters suggested Wednesday that impending layoffs at the Pentagon may be too drastic, arguing that “veterans should get priority” when it comes to exemptions.
On The Five, Watters said he was recently contacted by a 20-year veteran named Chris who now works for the Pentagon, but has only been there “a few months” and is in a probationary period.
Many of the layoffs spearheaded by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have targeted probationary employees.
As Watters described it, Chris “just found out he’s probably going to get laid off. He’s going to get DOGE’d.”
“He texted me and said, ‘Jesse, this is not good. I’m upset. This is really sad,‘” he recalled, distinguishing Chris from a “DEI consultant” or a “climate consultant.”
“This guy is a veteran. So when you’re talking about DOGEing people, veterans should get priority. Because if you’re going to go out there and kill enemies and put your life on the line for this country, you shouldn’t be in the same category as people that are doing DEI,” Watters argued, before addressing co-host Harold Ford.
“Harold and his ilk like to talk about the slash-and-burn corporate ethos. We just need to be a little bit less callous with the way, Harold, we talk about DOGE’ing people. I want that to sink in,” he said.
Ford rebutted: “You’re arguing with yourself!”
“I am not guilty of that!” Watters replied. “I finally found one person I knew that got DOGE’d and it hit me in the heart.”
Even veterans in the federal government who have not been affected by the Trump administration’s layoffs are still experiencing negative consequences from the president’s executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and policies.
At the State Department, for instance, a volunteer resource group called Veterans@State, where veterans can speak with mentors, discuss their mental health and carry out community service, has been paused indefinitely. Current and former members of the group, NBC News reported, were frustrated and disappointed by the news.
