Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., had some pointed comments for House Republican Conference Chairman Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) Friday afternoon after Scalise gave a speech in the House back chamber.
Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether Scalise’s remarks about communication in Congress was “the most focused thing I’ve heard all day,” Ocasio-Cortez replied: “Sure, I thought so.”
On Thursday, Scalise gave a speech to GOP lawmakers in the back chamber that he said was a post-election message to House Democrats. In it, Scalise said Democrats should take cues from President Ronald Reagan on how to govern following their election.
“Whatever goes on in Washington, we should stand on principle and hold a consistent path of reining in the spending, the red tape and the bureaucracy to ensure that we have real improvements in America, but we will also have real benefits for the American people,” Scalise said.
“The level of communication on a day-to-day basis, even in the House, is so minimal. I think the American people just don’t know what’s going on,” he added.
But Ocasio-Cortez said on the episode that was filmed Friday, she doesn’t know where Scalise gets his numbers from when he says Democrats are spending like drunken sailors.
“You know where the numbers are from? In the cloakroom, in the day-to-day budget, to pay for things that they are not going to be able to carry out because of the fact that they are not funded?” she asked.
Scalise and the GOP also agree that Democrats are spending like drunken sailors, Ocasio-Cortez said, noting, “We don’t have 22 bills submitted to the House floor at once.
The Hill first reported on Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks.