There is a new tradition emerging among the late night comedy shows: gushing over Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett and her attempts to be the liberal corner of the internet’s favorite congressperson. CBS’s Stephen Colbert was the latest to get in on the trend on Monday as he welcomed Crockett to The Late Show to gush over some of her recent antics.
What got Colbert so excited this time was a recent DOGE hearing on transgender sports. Crockett didn’t see what the big deal was and so asked the friendly witness a series of questions called “Trump or trans” to try to make the point that what President Trump is doing is more important than protecting the competitive integrity of women’s sports. That led Colbert to ask, “How did you, or when, or why, how did that idea come to you. The game Trump or Trans?”
Crockett tried to portray the move as a way to get unintelligent people like Trump to realize the unimportance of collegiate fencing:
Especially when I'm trying to send a message to him. Got to keep it very simple. So you know, this was a DOGE hearing, and so the DOGE subcommittee is also headed up by someone else who needs a simple message, Marjorie Taylor Greene, right? So, I wanted to be clear there was no reason we were having a hearing about who could play what sports and definitely fencing and subpoenaing someone to talk about fencing who doesn't take a government dollar in the Department of Government Efficiency hearing. I wanted to redirect and make sure that the American people knew this was nothing but a distraction, and sometimes coming up with something very plain, very simple is probably the best way to go. So, that’s why I did it.
If Crockett wants to remind voters that she is on the wrong side of an 80-20 issue, that is her prerogative, but as for DOGE, Colbert later asked, “You're a member of something called the Oversight Committee. Can you explain to people what the importance of the Oversight Committee is when things are this crazy?”
Crockett explained that, “We oversee everything, literally everything in the federal government. Most people think of us as overseeing the agencies, and it used to be the Oversight Committee on Government Accountability and so we look for waste, fraud, and abuse. We try to make things more efficient and we try to hear what the American people have to say. We get lots of complaints about the post office, y’all. We get, you know, I mean, the Social Security—”
Colbert interrupted, “So, there was already a DOGE, and it was you guys.” After Crockett affirmed that view, Colbert continued, “Okay, an elected DOGE.”
Clearly, they did not do a good enough job if DOGE was still necessary, but Crockett claimed to know the real reason for DOGE’s existence:
The difference was, like, DOGE is nothing but a cover-up. Like, it's a scam… They made it seem like they were here to do good, but this was really just a matter of a bad guy coming in and saying, ‘Hey, I want this contract, this contract, that contract and yes, I have a conflict of interest, but no worries, and oh, while I'm at it, let me fire this person who has this many investigations that they are looking into for Tesla, this person has this many investigations that they are looking into for SpaceX. Let me save myself some money while also enriching myself at the same time.’ It was a complete sham. This was never about government efficiency. Because if it was, we would have started with Defense where now he wants to take the budget up to a whopping $1 trillion, and they have not been able to pass an audit in the last seven audits.
Not appreciating that defending the country in the current threat environment costs money, Colbert could only quip, “So, not a lot of efficiency.”
Here is a transcript for the May 12-taped show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
5/13/2025
12:27 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: How did you, or when, or why, how did that idea come to you. The game Trump or Trans?
JASMINE CROCKETT: Well, first of all, I needed to keep it simple.
COLBERT: That helps with a message.
CROCKETT: Especially when I'm trying to send a message to him. Got to keep it very simple. So you know, this was a DOGE hearing, and so the DOGE subcommittee is also headed up by someone else who needs a simple message, Marjorie Taylor Greene, right? So, I wanted to be clear there was no reason we were having a hearing about who could play what sports and definitely fencing and subpoenaing someone to talk about fencing who doesn't take a government dollar in the Department of Government Efficiency hearing. I wanted to redirect and make sure that the American people knew this was nothing but a distraction, and sometimes coming up with something very plain, very simple is probably the best way to go. So, that’s why I did it.
…
COLBERT: You're a member of something called the Oversight Committee.
CROCKETT: Yes.
COLBERT: Can you explain to people what the importance of the Oversight Committee is when things are this crazy?
CROCKETT: Listen. Oversight usually, we oversee everything, literally everything in the federal government. Most people think of us as overseeing the agencies, and it used to be the Oversight Committee on Government Accountability and so we look for waste, fraud, and abuse. We try to make things more efficient and we try to hear what the American people have to say. We get lots of complaints about the post office, y’all. We get, you know, I mean, the Social Security—
COLBERT: So, there was already a DOGE, and it was you guys.
CROCKETT: Correct, correct, correct.
COLBERT: Okay, an elected DOGE.
CROCKETT: Correct. The difference was, like, DOGE is nothing but a cover-up. Like, it's a scam, kind of like—
COLBERT: For? What is the cover up for?
CROCKETT: For Elon Musk. I mean—
COLBERT: What’s the cover up for?
CROCKETT: Because, like, they made it seem like they were here to do good, but this was really just a matter of a bad guy coming in and saying, “Hey, I want this contract, this contract, that contract and yes, I have a conflict of interest, but no worries, and oh, while I'm at it, let me fire this person who has this many investigations that they are looking into for Tesla, this person was this many investigations that they are looking into for SpaceX. Let me save myself some money while also enriching myself at the same time.”
It was a complete sham. This was never about government efficiency. Because if it was, we would have started with Defense where now he wants to take the budget up to a whopping $1 trillion, and they have not been able to pass an audit in the last seven audits.
COLBERT: So, not a lot of efficiency.
