A Senate Budget Committee hearing took a sharp detour Tuesday when Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) decided to test whether a Democratic witness had any opinions at all about illegal immigration — and the answer, apparently, was no.
Multiple witnesses testified during the hearing, but sparks flew when Moreno questioned Brendan Duke, a former Biden administration advisor. Duke, despite being a Democrat expert witness, was either playing dumb or is just plain old dumb.
“Should it be a crime to enter the United States of America illegally—without permission?” Moreno asked.
“I don’t know anything about this,” Duke replied. Again, playing dumb or actually dumb, who knows? It’s an easy question, and it’s not like there aren’t Democrats willing to go on record saying it shouldn’t be a crime. Duke didn’t want to answer and tried hard not to. “I’m here to talk about budgets with the budget.”
Moreno, to his credit, didn’t let it go. He tried a different angle — a more personal one. He asked Duke whether he owned a home. Duke confirmed that yes, he did.
“Should it be a crime for people to enter your home without permission?” Moreno asked.
“Yes,” Duke said, without any ambiguity. I don’t know whether he realized he was walking into a trap, but he obviously knew there was no way out.
“You’re pretty certain on that one,” Moreno observed.
Duke said yes again, no hesitation.
That’s when Moreno landed the punch. “Okay, but you’re not sure if it’s okay to enter America without permission? Which is our home, by the way. You don’t know about America. Okay. Got you.”
He then turned his frustration directly toward Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “This is the best the Democrats can come up with,” Moreno said. “A guy who can’t distinguish whether it’s okay to have people enter our country illegally.” He didn’t stop there, adding that the Democratic witnesses included “a smug guy who obviously has an agenda.”
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That’s what triggered Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). He jumped in, urging Moreno to “stick to the facts instead of badgering the witnesses.” Moreno fired back that he was asking simple questions, and then told Merkley to wait his turn. “Why don’t you speak when it’s your turn?” Moreno said. “Oh, because we actually take turns.”
Merkley shot back that Moreno had been looking directly at him, so he was responding directly. The crosstalk devolved fast, both senators talking over each other before Moreno delivered what might be the sharpest line of the whole exchange.
“Here’s what I find ironic,” Moreno said, “is that you follow rules here about speaking order. People can’t speak out of turn. But it’s okay with you that people enter our country and skip the turn.”
Sen. @berniemoreno is stunned by Biden-Harris staffer who doesn’t know if it’s a crime to cross the border illegally. pic.twitter.com/4kd9YY0AoO
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 10, 2026
Eventually, Graham stepped in to restore some semblance of order. The whole episode lasted only a few minutes, but it was still really telling. A former Biden advisor couldn’t say whether it should be a crime to enter the United States illegally. Was he really that obtuse, or did he not want to give an honest answer?
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