Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin tried shouting down Republican strategist Scott Jennings Tuesday night during a panel discussion about a buyout offer for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees.
Employees at the CIA received a buyout offer, granting them eight months of paid leave in exchange for leaving the agency in an effort to entice those who opposed President Donald Trump’s policies to depart. Rogin claimed that the employees were not being treated “humanely” and that the buyout offer was “terrorizing” them.
“It’s harder to combat because it’s so crazy and so fast and so illegal. But there’s one point that Scott made that I really have to take issue with. That we’re treating these federal workers humanely because, you know, if you talk to any of them, and I’ve talked to hundreds of them over the last few weeks, hundreds, and I know hundreds of them, and I’ve known thousands of them over the course of my time living in D.C., and what you fail to understand is that everyone who has a job in the federal government has an opinion,” Rogin said.
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“Everyone has a view. What we grant them is the respect of knowing that they can do their jobs and put their political opinions aside,” Rogin continued, cutting off Jennings multiple times. “Does it happen in every single case? But the vast majority pride themselves in serving America. And when you go in and you say you’re either with Trump or get out, you’re the one politicizing the federal government, not the people inside the federal government. And what happens, what happens, Scott, when a Democrat takes over and goes into every agency and says, okay, all the Republicans, out.”
The FBI came under fire in recent years over the agency’s contacts with social media companies, the targeting of parents protesting at school board meetings, the reported presence of FBI sources at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol building, a memo published January 2023 warning about “radical traditionalist” Catholics and the conduct of Aug. 8, 2022, raid on Mar-a-Lago as part of a probe into allegations surrounding Trump’s handling of classified documents.
“A. No Democrat’s going to shrink the government. And B. They’re not forcing anyone out. These are voluntary buyouts. They’re voluntary. And the CIA is voluntary,” Jennings said as Rogin argued about plans to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-chair Elon Musk announced that USAID would be shuttered after agency employees initially refused to cooperate with DOGE’s efforts to look into USAID.
“Yes, they are reorienting. They are reorienting the soft-power bureaucracy,” Jennings responded. “But that’s different than the buyout program. They’re not making anyone take a buyout, they’re saying, if you want to leave, go ahead, and some will do it and some won’t.”
After Jennings had a back-and-forth with former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, Rogin started to resume his rant.
“They’re terrorizing Americans,” Rogin claimed, with Jennings responding, “It’s not terrorizing to get an offer.”
“You want [to get] the small — the tiny violin out for the people being offered eight months of paid vacation, talk to Americans who can’t afford groceries,” conservative columnist Brad Polumbo responded. “Eight months of paid vacation is terrorizing? Give me a break!”
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