CNN, MSNBC Hyped ‘Constitutional Crisis’ Over 200 Times Since DOGE Shut Down USAID

CNN and MSNBC used the phrase “constitutional crisis” more than 200 times since Feb. 3, when Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chairman Elon Musk announced that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was shutting down, the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation learned in a keyword search of footage archived by Grabien News.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the decision to shutter the agency during a Feb. 3 press conference in El Salvador, saying that his concerns about its oversight began when he was in Congress. He said the agency is “completely unresponsive” and “not functioning” as intended after DOGE representatives appeared at USAID headquarters Jan. 31 and gained access after a standoff with agency employees, ABC News reported. During a Feb. 4 Fox News interview, Rubio accused USAID of “rank insubordination.”

MSNBC used the phrase “constitutional crisis” 141 times from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Feb. 3 to 12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Tuesday, either from a host or a guest, according to the DCNF review. While CNN used the term only 69 times in that timeframe, 57 of those occurrences took place Monday and Tuesday, a pace similar to MSNBC’s 68 uses in that same time period, a count that includes re-airings of primetime shows late at night and in the early morning hours.

The increased usage of the phrase came after Vice President JD Vance criticized United States District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, who was appointed to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama. Engelmayer issued an injunction