I have only objected to cuts if the reader suggesting them has not yet read enough of the work to realize that the episodes are not extraneous, but my carefully (perhaps even cleverly?) laid hints as to what will happen next or some background as to the character is reacting in a certain way.

As for killing outright? NEVER. Recycle!!

When I write I have two files open on the PC: the narrative, and a companion document called “Rejects”. Anything I cut gets stored there. Later, if it’s good, I move it into a new document and develop it into something else. In one case, I shoved the text into a new novel and let the event happen to a different character. In another, I realized that the 3,000 word episode neither advanced the action nor told us anything new about the hero. I was able to cut it down to about 350 words, and the original length (with a few small changes) became a stand-alone short story.

…..it’s choosing which ones I find impossible

Had I not learned to accept this process, I wouldn’t have come this far. My first MS started in first person and with CP feedback, I changed the whole thing to third person limited. Then I got other feedback that led to whole scenes being cut and 10,000 words being added (twice). I think it’s had three different opening scenes and two endings.
And the more nuance stuff came later: deleting adjectives and repetitions, replacing three words with one more precise, and ending scenes early to rev up pacing, etc…

The hardest part of writing is editing for me, not because I’m not willing to make changes, but because I can argue myself in and out of how to solve each problem. That’s where CPs have really helped me – they’re kind of my referees.