Trump admin’s ‘level of incompetence and indifference’ putting Americans at risk, says top Dem

Joining us now, Congressman Adam Smith of. Washington. He is the top Democrat on the House Armed Services. Committee. Congressman Smith, thank you as always for. coming to The Last Word. With this ground stop now lifted, what if anything has been communicated. to you and your colleagues in Congress? Well, we've been trying to pry information. We've been trying to pry information out. of the administration all day. Rick Larson, fellow Washingtonian who's. the ranking member soon to be chair. of the transportation committee. and I have spoken. And there's just been a lack of communication.

with this administration as David just said. I mean, it seems most likely. that this was a software upgrade. that overloaded the system, but they haven't said that. and they ought to know. I mean, they really ought to know what happened. And the other interesting part. about this is as Sean Duffy gets. up there and says, just give us $50 billion. and all the world's problems will be solved. Well, they got $12 billion last year, well, 18 months ago now in the, the HR1, the reconciliation bill. that the Republicans passed.

To date, they've only spent a billion of it. And Sean Duffy's got $11 billion. just sitting in a corner somewhere, you know, so go get after the And I. think. that points out something that really hasn't been. brought up. President Trump's government, every branch, whether you're talking. about the Justice Department, Homeland Security, whatever, there's a level of incompetence. and indifference to actually getting. the job done that is, you know, placing the American people at risk. You got $11 billion. I know we got a lot of upgrading to do,

but let's get started. Let's replace some of those analog systems. with new IP systems. So, you know, let's get rid of the copper. weather. Let's move forward. So, they've been moving very, very slowly. And yes, they do not communicate. with the American people or with Congress, which is supposed to have or does have oversight. about what's going on. Congressman, THE TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY. LISTEN TO HOW TRANSPORTATION. SECRETARY DUFFY TRIED TO. EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED TODAY. Our switches, our routers actually got.

overloaded with data. And they went down. And I shouldn't say they. went down. They started to give us inconsistency. in the data from THOSE ROUTERS, AND BECAUSE OF THAT WE SHUT THE SYSTEM DOWN. NOW YOU HINTED AT THE LACK OF CLARITY HERE, BUT WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN THAT WE JUST. THAT'S HARD TO TELL UNLESS HE GIVES A SPECIFIC. ANSWER AS TO WHAT HAPPENED TODAY THAT DIDN'T.

HAPPEN YESTERDAY OR TWO DAYS AGO, THREE WEEKS AGO. WHY WERE THEY OVERLOADED today. Was there some routers that went down. and then fewer had to accommodate more? Was there some routers that went down. Was there more information coming. into the system? Presumably, the FAA would know what. their system. can handle and they would make sure. that there was an adequate buffer. Because this, as I think someone has. already pointed out, was not the busiest air travel day. by any stretch of the imagination of the year. So understanding those details better,

I think would make a huge difference. Congressman Smith, listen to more of Secretary. Duffy. We can play politics, play politics all you want. on all kinds. of issues. That's great, and there's a lot of issues. to play politics on. This is not one of those issues. This is an American issue, an American build with an. American. president that knows how to do it. Congressman Smith, talk more about the lack. of leadership this shows, not just from the Republican.

of Republican presidential candidates. I think having a president who is so. disconnected from reality is a problem. It's also, and let's not forget the. Doge. process that went in there and gutted so many of our. federal agencies. of highly talented, very experienced bureaucrats. that undermine our ability in every single one. of the departments out there.

Now, I do want to make one other point. There's no question that we need more money. for our infrastructure system. And it's certainly not just their healthcare. system, a whole bunch of different systems. But meanwhile, the Republicans cut taxes. by $4 trillion, all right? You know, and the debt is $39 trillion. and counting to the point where. it is a real problem. If we are going to fix these things, and I'm going to say something. that most people don't want to hear, we're going to have to find. the revenue somewhere. Okay? We can't keep borrowing to fix all of. the problems that we face.

So when we, you know, restore the Medicaid cuts. and restore the ACA cuts as we should well do. I personally think we should get rid. of the whole bill, including the tax cuts that were put in there. We have to be willing to pay. for the improvements that we THAT WE NEED. AND CONGRESSMAN, WHAT WORRIES YOU MOST FROM. A NATIONAL. SECURITY STANDPOINT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TODAY? WELL, IT'S HARD TO say, you know, I don't know for sure if this makes it clear. that the system is more vulnerable.

to cyber attacks. But certainly from a national security. perspective, cyber taxes, you know, and they take on a whole bunch. of different forms. You've seen, I think it's in France. that some cyber system is coming. in and shutting down the freezers. and spoiling food all across the country. There was a lot of different ways to get. into systems and undermine them. in ways that place lives at risk. Just the overall vulnerability of the. systems and how old they are. What worries me the most is so much. of the infrastructure.

that we have was built in the, I don't know, 30, 40 year post World War II boom. And it's getting old. It needs to be replaced and upgraded. because there's been a lot of improvements. So I guess the infrastructure worries. me the most. And then again, you know, being intelligent about how. we use. our resources given how far in debt we are. So that we prioritize the things that are. going to keep the American people safe. and make our country prosperous. You know, Congressman Smith, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. What assurances?

Do you need before Americans can be confident. this won't happen again? Well, it's what we talked about at the top. Why did it happen this time? If you can come in and say, ah, here's what happened. Here's why. And we're going to fix it. That would be the number one most. important thing instead of saying, yeah, it kind of seems like the routers got. overloaded again. Why? Why today? What happened? So we need soon an explanation. as to why this happened. and what they're going to do.

in the next couple of days. or immediately to make sure that it doesn't happen. again. Congressman Adam Smith, thank you for joining us. tonight.