Steve Scalise blasts Dems' priorities amid Afghan crisis, border crisis

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Special Report w/ Bret Baier - Thursday, August 24

On today’s episode of ‘Special Report’, Bret details President Biden's claim that U.S. is on track for August 31 Afghanistan withdrawal deadline. Plus, possible 'Havana syndrome' cases delay VP Harris flight.

Rep. Steve Scalise took aim at Democrats for "ramming through" a massive $3.5 trillion budget framework while chaos was still unfolding for Americans on the ground in Afghanistan.

"President Biden should be the President of the United States, not bowing to terrorists. Not bowing to anybody except committing that he'll get all Americans out instead of living by some artificial deadline. Every ounce of his energy ought to be focused between now and next Tuesday, the date he set, and the date the Taliban set. Every minute he ought to be spending between now and next Tuesday to get all Americans out," Scalise said during an impassioned speech on the House floor Tuesday. 

BIDEN TORCHED FOR NOT TAKING QUESTIONS, TALKING UP ‘BUILD BACK BETTER’ BEFORE AFGHANISTAN CRISIS

"But if he fails to do it, people will look back and say, 'What was he doing instead? What were the President of the United States' priorities?'" Scalise continued. "He was pressuring members of Congress to vote for this garbage. Trillions of dollars in debt and spending rather than focus on getting Americans out of harm's way that he left behind. It's a national and international disgrace."

The "garbage" to which Scalise referred was the $3.5 trillion budget framework passed by the House Tuesday, an economic package Democrats hope to use to make good on President Biden's promise to expand the social safety net.

Despite the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, Biden spent some of his day making calls to holdout moderate lawmakers who were skeptical of the massive spending including in the package.

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Negotiations to get the votes needed to pass the package broke down last night, but by early Tuesday Democrats were optimistic they had the votes to pass the bill.

"With regard to the $3.5 trillion topline number for this package, the President has been clear: this is the number that will honor his vision to Build Back Better," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to House Democrats. "This is the number that has been agreed to in the Senate and is now before us in the House. Accordingly, we will write a reconciliation bill with the Senate that is consistent with that topline."