added confusion by claiming that the underlying funding freeze was still in place. and they're unable to answer basic questions about who and what will be affected. maybe it's just me and the hundreds of granite staters i've heard from, but if you're going to stom all the critical funding that helps seniors, children and families across this country, you need a better answer than we're hearing from this white house. instead what we heard during the white house briefing when asked one of the basic questions americans were told we'll check on that and we'll get back to you. so the granite staters who have called my office in distress, wondering what this far-reaching, unprecedented move means for their lives and their livelihoods, don't worry, the white house is going to get back to you. that's outrageous, and this despite not one, but two federal judges who have ordered the white house to stop holding these funds.

the administration has made it clear that they intend to move forward with vague, irresponsible executive orders that jeopardize billions in infrastructure, energy, health care, workforce, and educational investments. hardworking families, businesses, nonprofits have been calling my office asking for clarity. and this administration hasn't been p willing to provide any. common sense calls for all of us to work on a bipartisan basis ethos. to help our constituents and put an end to the chaos created by this administration in only its second week. i hope we can do that. mr. president, i yield the floor.

mr. schumer: i want to thank my democratic colleagues, senators shaheen and blumenthal, senators kim and padilla, and so many others, senator schatz, senator durbin, so many others who came on the floor tonight. and why did away all come on the floor? to sound the alarm of the reckless, lawless things donald trump is already doing to american families. americans need to know what's happening, they need to know what kind of damage people like russell vought will do to them. tonight we are holding the floor to sound the alarm, and to augment that, i just got off the phone with a whole bunch of democratic governors from across the country and we talked about

trump administrative executive orders and its policies and impacts on their states. in state after state people are on edge, people are so worried because of what these executive orders would do. head start, rural hospitals, police, firefighters, you name it, schools, local governments. in every one of these states people are angry and scared because of the damage that president trump's executive order would do. our group, the governors and i, scuffed pass -- discussed the best path forward to fight back. we will have a coordinated

approach. we talked about how these policies will hurt their states. the amount of federal money needed to support their states and not just state government so to speak, but feeding people, building roads, employing people, teaching kids, dealing with mental illness, helping us keep safe fire and police. these are real things and every one of these states could not provide the help that people need, provide the decent life that people seek if this executive order was fully implemented. and so we talked about how we could inform them as to what's going on. we talked about how we can coordinate, and i told them that thanks to the democrats' work here in the senate, donald trump and russell vought hit a speed bump today. but i told them, as you'll hear from my later remarks, we must

keep fighting and working together to make sure they don't suc succeed. because if they succeed, they're going to hurt millions and millions of average working families. so we are working together to do that. now, today we saw what happens when americans fight back against disastrous policies, with we saw what happens when americans make their voices heard. a few days ago, president trump launched his most reckless broadside yet against the american people here in his second term. in the blink of an eye, omb announced a nearly universal free on all federal grant funding. the blast radius of omb's announcement was seemingly limitless. states, cities, towns, schools, small businesses, law enforcement, nutrition services,

elderly care, hospitals, rural and surbur ban, communities, people helping feed people, people helping people with mental illness, people helping to house homeless veterans were all just so, so put on edge by the potential of these cuts. donald trump's freeze can be boiled down to three c's. he can talk about it in many ways, but the three c's, chaotic, creating chaos back home because there's chaos in trump's government, and not knowing how badly these cuts would affect people, and cruel -- outright economic sabotage against working families. make no mistake, omb's funding freeze was intended, it's

precisely what project 2025 looks like in action. project 2025 by another game -- when project 2025 was first announced it was during campaign season and it was amazing the reaction by the american people, democrats, republicans, conservatives, liberals, independents against it was much stronger than i ever imagined. and as a result, it got a very bad name. i think one poll showed 68% of persons opposed it. so what did donald trump do typical in his fashion? i never heard of project 2025. i don't even know what it is they were so afraid of it. you would think they learned a lesson during the campaign, but they didn't. and now within a few weeks of being inaugurated as president, president trump seeks to implement project 2025. well, americans were furious.

americans let donald trump know about it. they let the republican congressmen and senators know about it. they pushed back. and today, after 24 hours of outrage from one corner of the country to the other, donald trump backed off. he rescinded the omb memo for now. of course the danger is not over. rescinding one omb memo will not nullify all of the executive orders donald trump has issued which will continue to pose a threat to these funds and we know damn well that if they can't do it this way because they were caught red handed, they'll try to do it another way. but i can assure the american people we will be vigilant. but i want to say to my colleagues and to my constituents in new york and to my fellow citizens, american citizens, the roots of democracy are real. so many of us are worried that

trump will try to upend them, he and his cohorts, but they're real and this week was a good example. people heard how bad this was, they raised their voices be now trump has backed off. this won't be his last attempt to do this. we know that. but we also know that when we raise their voices, and we will again, he knows that he will lose ground with the american people in a very severe and bad way. and if we keep fighting, he will back off, and back off, and back off until once and for all he stops. and once and for all this evil scheme, this scheme that hurt so many american families will be gone. it's clear donald trump, with

this freeze, seeks to violate the law, seeks to help his billionaire buddies, and hurt the american people. violate the law, help his billionaire buddies, and hurt the american people. that's what he's trying to do. but we won't let him, america. we won't. now let's talk about mr. vought, the chief cook and bolt washer -- bottle washer of 2025. this episode, what happened today, that following russell vought and project 2025 is a loser, a loser of course for america, but a loser for him. now that donald trump has rescinded the omb order, he should rescind the nomination of

russell vought as well. if not, mr. vought will be the architect of more losses for president trump because the next time this happens, russell vought will be the one calling theshots at omb -- shots at omb. i sat down a few days ago with mr. vought in my office because he's seeking a nomination. he told me plain as day -- plain as day, if confirmed these are the kinds of things he wants to do at omb. the senate must not confirm mr. vought to lead omb. his views are way too fringe for the majority of this country and i'm sure if you asked in a secret ballot, from a majority of the republican senators who sit across the aisle from us. but tomorrow the senate budget committee is scheduled to hold a markup of mr. vought's nomination. i join ranking member merkley in calling on the chair to delay

this markup by at least two weeks. why? first, because of the devastation that these executive orders will do and that the funding freeze was prepared to do. but, second, because it's clear that mr. vought was not honest during his hearings, and we need more answers from him. when something this conventional is launched by an administration, the person behind it all deserves -- or america deserves to hear exactly his thoughts and exactly what he's going to do. during the testimony -- during his testimony, vought refused to answer direct questions related to the impoundment, for instance, of congressional funds of which this is a related issue. and we now know why. he didn't want to alert congress about the incoming decision from

omb to freeze all grant funding. mr. vought clearly withheld information that senators were entitled to know, that the american people were entitled to know, and he needs to give us answers. in the meantime, the american people also are learning just how fringe mr. vought truly is. his north star is very simple. he wants to eradicates indicate unless in services -- eradicate millions in services. the last time vought led omb, he pushed proposals that slashed social security and medicare and public health. he was a key advisor to hard-right republicans who pushed america to the brink of disaster to cut trillions in health care for for his and hungry kiz and others many he

wants -- kids and others. he wants to eliminate education funding in many ways. he has proposed to cut disability payments for veterans, he wants to cut snap and raise drug prices. and he's also one of the chief proponents of a truly sinister theory about the powers of the executive branch that calls for the impoundment of congressional funds. that means basically russell vought thinks the president can pick and choose what he wants to do. why have a congress? if a president says i will follow this law but not that, that is it so fundamentally against what the founding fathers believed and what americans believed through the centuries and he wants to just toss it away. again, so he can pay for the tax cuts his billionaire buddies

desperately want. if congress wants to pass legislation investing in infrastructure or tech innovation or national defense, mr. vought thinks the president can just say, nope. an explicit assault on our checks and our balances which served this republic so well for centuries. let me repeat so people understand. what's the end goal? to cut the living daylights out of middle-class families in order to line the pockets of the ultra, ultra wealthy. tax cuts for donald trump's wealthy families and cuts for seniors and health care. because the chairman of the budget committee has not granted the delay that is so desperately needed, will not go to vote on mr. vought because a vote without him coming clean to the

american people makes it worth -- makes it worse. it's not a process it should be. and then they will explain to the american people why that this man doesn't deserve a vote in such an unfair hearing practice and setting. and now let's about president trump's increasing lawlessness. it may be tempting to think everything donald trump has been doing, including halting federal funding is part of his chaotic unthinking approach to government, but we should not be so sure it is just that and nothing else. because beneath the surface a clear pattern is emerging for donald trump's second term in office. a pattern of sheer lawlessness. a pattern of sheer lawlessness. first he pardoned over 1500 insure rexists on his first day in office, including people

convicted of soughting capital police officers. these were hooligans. i was within 30 feet of them. they were not peaceful. i couldn't believe one congressman said they were tourists. give me a break. they had hatred in their eyes. and they sought to stop our government from funding -- functioning in its lawful way. some of them were violent. and trump pardoned them. over 1500 insure rexists -- insurrectionists on his first day in office. can you imagine anyone, let alone a president, being proud that he pardoned insurrectionist, some violent, all trying to overthrow this government on his first day in office. what does that say about this

president? then in the dead of night, he got rid of over 17 independent government watchdogs, people who report abuse and fraud and waste in government without any notice or justification. and yesterday he eliminated commissioners sitting on the nlrb and the equal opportunity employment commission. the nlrb, folk, you may not have heard those initials, but it is has been put in place, i believe, since roosevelt's time, to make sure workers are treated failly, to make sure that employers who don't want a union don't go beyond fairness in preventing a union from occurring. when donald trump gets rid of the democratic commissioner on the nlrb who has always represented working people, he is saying to working people, i don't care about you. i care about the people who ploy you, but not you. and if they want to take advantage of you, donald trump says when he gets rid of the

nlrb, member, i don't give a hoot. another example -- by the way, again, almost certainly against the law. the rule is there should be a certain number of democratic commissioners and a certain number of republican commissioners. whoever is president gets the chairman and then there are two democrats, two republicans. but donald trump, he didn't fire a republican member of the commission of the board. maybe that would be so less unfair. he fired the democrat who stands up for working people. and then after all this, he issues his sweeping omb memo virtually halting federal grant funding. these are actions of a lawless president, of a president who wants to erode, eat away at the rule of law, and our system of checks and balances. and why?

why is donald trump storming right out of the gate so lawlessly? why is he breaking one law after another? it might be because the supreme court said he can't be held accountable. might be. but it's simple. what is he trying to do? before our very eyes donald trump is rigging the system and breaking the law to help his billionaire friends at the expense, at the expense of working families. that's the goal. finally, let's talk about how awful yesterday was for so many people. i heard from people in every corner of my state frightened, worried, concern ed that they, average new yorkers, no different than average americans, are going to really suffer because of this funding freeze. when i talked to the governors, as i mentioned a little earlier,

on the phone, it is happening in every state. there could be a rural state. it could be an urban state, a state that's large, a state that's small. from one end of america to another, people are just fearful about what would be done. the american people did not deserve to endure this 24 hours of panic and confusion. and they won't deserve to have to sit through that again when donald trump seeks another way to do the same thing, even though we gave a speed bump. even though we thwarted him. not we. the democratic senators didn't thwart donald trump. the democratic senators by our advocacy, our strength and what we did alerted the american people and they thwarted donald trump. so america, congratulations. congratulations. let's keep doing it when he's trying to hurt us. and did donald trump consider

for a moment the damage he was unleashing? did he know he was kneecapping cops and firefighters, bulletproof vestses, breathing gear. did he know he was virtually shuttering health centers which so many people depend upon for their health, so many people bring their kids in when they have a fever and might get something more damaging like strep throat or influenza? did he know that he was hurting rural hospitals who had to turn people away because they didn't know if they'd get the funding? did he know that he was telling food pantries you're not going to get food next week to feed the hungry? yesterday was absolute hell for so many americans trying to understand how trump's order was going to hurt them. 24 hours of panic, confusion, deep visceral frustration, all unnecessary. all 50 states reported that the medicaid portal was frozen.

seven and a half million new yorkers were shut out of medicaid altogether. that's just in new york. nobody knew what would happen next. my office was smothered by an avalanche of new york from all over the state in panic and fury. i was getting calls from new yorkers of both partys who were furious the administration would have the gall to launch this sneak attack on them out of the blue. i got calls from republican town supervisors and mayors asking about flood prevention and sewer construction. i got calls from food banks fearful they wouldn't be able to make deliveries to hungry people. i got calls from rochester head start and other head start programs worried, worried sick that they weren't going to be able to pay the rent or pay their staff. and i got calls from the roswell cancer center that does groundbreaking research. they developed the psa test up there in buffalo and northwell health in long island, one of the biggest hospital providers,

churches united for fair housing, local leaders in places like syracuse, community health centers like cornerstone health care, from one end of the state to the other. so we won't know what the administration will try to do next of an hour from now we could get a new memo outlining a new round of freezes. they did the last one at night or in the evening. that's how this administration under donald trump has worked, governing by chaos, governing by confusion, and who pays the price? the american people, parent, kids, doctors, teachers, health care workers, police, firefighters, and so much more. so my friends, in conclusion -- i see my colleague is waiting. i'll cut short my remarks. i could go on for a while because i'm so aggravated and angry about what he has done and will attempt to do. even though the trump administration failed today, it's no secret they'll try to find another way to cut these

funds. and when they do, i want to assure the american people senate democrats will be there, not only to call it out but to fight back, to defend american families, and beat another evil proposal back with you, the american people, as our real sword and shield, making sure he doesn't do bad things to you. so thank you to my colleagues for being here. i see we have four colleagues waiting. thank you for sounding the alarm on a terrible -- on the terrible things this administration is preparing to do. and thank you for being true patriots who believe in our democracy. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. kim: mr. president, i rise today to try to make some sense of it all. why are we seeing nothing but

chaos coming from the white house? why are people feeling a sense of fear and confusion? why should americans be paying attention to any of this? i want to start by saying to the american people, you are not alone in feeling overwhelmed by what is going on right now. just yesterday my office received more than 700 calls asking questions about the trump administration's unconstitutional and brazen decision to take money away from them, to freeze programs that help people in every corner of our state and country. that translates to a call every two minutes. i'm going to share some of those stories of concern that i received yesterday, but before i do, i want to try to explain what exactly is going on. a monday the acting director of the office of management and budget sent a memo ordering federal agencies to, quote, temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or

disbursements of all federal financial assistance. i know that sounds complicated. so let me put it another way. the trump administration said that taxpayer money going to help people across the country was stopped. that's money that you've paid through your taxes that goes to do important things. it helps provide meals to seniors. it keeps roofs over people's heads. it helps combat the fentanyl crisis. it helps get veterans health care. it keeps child care programs open and schools funded. and it helps small businesses get back on to their feet after disasters. that's just a small example of what the trump administration attempted to take away from you. and let be clear. this is your money. and they tried to take it away. what happened next was they got caught. and the backlash was fast. the outrage was real.

their actions were stopped last night when a judge issued an injunction and questioned the constitutionality of the administration's actions. and then today in a span of an hour, the trump administration rescinded their directive only to contradict that with a tweet from the white house press secretary. quote, this is not a recision of the federal funding freeze. it's simply a recision of the omb memo. why? to end any confusion created by the court's injunction. it goes on to say the president's e.o., executive order on federal funding remains in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented. in short, the first time we tried to take away your money, it was probably unconstitutional. but we're going to keep trying in different ways until we get it right. mr. president, if this feels like your head spinning, i get it. we've seen nothing but mass

confusion and chaos for the past week. and and a half since donald trump reentered the white house. it's not governance. it's whiplash. if you're watching me on c-span or catching a clip on social media, there's one thing i want you to take away. the chaos is just a smoke screen for corruption. it's quite clear. they want to take away your money and give it right to the billionaire donors and corporate interests. the trump administration isn't taking this money away from you because they're serious about making government more effective or efficient. they're not doing this because they want to help more people and target our resources where they can do the most good. they're doing this because they're getting ready to gut programs you rely on every day and use that money for another round of tax cuts for those at the very top. they're doing this because the big corporate interests want to dismantle the public serve vaptss who work every day -- servants would work every day to make sure your water is clean,

your kids get a good education, and that your parents are able to safely get to their doctors' appointments. we should not lose sight of what's at stake here. we should get wrapped up into the noise -- we shouldn't get wrapped up into the noise and confusion and chaos that the white house throws at us. because behind that chaos there are real victims to this corruption. there are real lives on the line when people are left behind. let me share just a few stories. i heard a lot from seniors, people who support seniors about the fears about what this means. yesterday morning i got an e-mail from someone who helps operate senior living facilities in edison, new jersey. they said the freeze was, quote, obviously alarming. and it's for those who rely on federal funding to help people with disabilities become more independent. one of my staff received an e-mail from a leader of senior services organizations in hacken stack and jersey city. quote, those most in need of

services in new jersey would lose all support. another staffer received a message from frank in tom's river. frank said, quote, i'm paralyzed and use ocean ride to get to all my doctors appointments. i'm unable to travel in a regular vehicle and without the significant discount of rides of ocean ride, i could not afford to get to the doctor. ocean ride is essential to my daily life. now, you may never have heard of ocean ride but for people like frank, it is their lifeline. these actions by the trump administration could force ocean ride to close their doors. it is not just our seniors who lose out. i got a call from a nurse in parsippany. i work with children who need food, babies who need wic, children who are bullied in school, children with disabilities. she told me that the trump administration should, quote,

quit playing games with politics. i heard the same thing from manny from bergen, he said he had students who benefit directly from programs that are on the chopping block. he said that this moment makes it hard to look at his three and a half-year-old and think about the future. it is a feeling that so many of us have. i heard from susan from hudson county who works in a nonprofit that helps the homeless. she said in a call to our office yesterday, our funds have been frozen. we are not going to be able to serve our clients or our staff. this is going to have a significant impact, not only with my agency but the entire community of those we serve. now, i'm sharing these stories with you because it's important to remember that the impact of the decisions made at the white house go beyond the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. if the white house continues down this path, those at the very top, the we will-off and

the well-connected, they'll get their tax cuts and whatever else they want. they'll get it at the expense of the senior who will have to miss a doctor's appointment because their ride has been cut. they'll get it at the expense of a young kid whose free school lunch was eliminated and they'll get it at the expense of a person who needs a helping hand to put a roof over their head. this isn't just about ending this chaos. it is about protecting our neighbors and our communities and our families. we know this is not over. the white house was very clear about that today. we've seen these freezes for infrastructure funding that could impact big projects like the gateway tunnel. these freezes could make america less competitive on a global stage by cutting next-generation tech million tos. in a week we're seeing china

make gains, we can't take our own foot off the gas. these freezes could stop critical research into diseases that impact americans across the country. we should be supercharging our efforts to cure hairballs -- alzheimer's and cancer. we've seen nearly 20 inspectors general fired from government agencies, trying to hide what is happening african americans -- happening. the american people want more accountability, not less. when it comes to standing up against attempts to take away your health care, your child care, your elder care, the basic protections that your government provides because you pay into it, we will be with you every step of the way to fight back. this is just the beginning. we hear your concerns, your frustrations, your anger, your voice still matters. your stories still matter.

democrats in this chamber will lead the way, but together we'll push back and make sure that i.t. the people's priorities -- it's the people's priorities that win the day. so, mr. president, i ask the american people to see the chaos for what it is -- a smoke screen to benefit the ultra wealthy. and although i know this chaos is unnerving and frightening, the american people can rest assured that we will fight this chaos and focus on what matters most here -- protecting you from the blatant corruption that is the administration's attempt to take money from our working families and give handouts to those at the very top. now, let's get to work. thank you, and i yield back.

the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the senator from california. mr. padilla: thank you, mr. president. my colleagues, a little over a year ago during a fox news town hall, sean hannity gave donald trump -- then candidate for president of the united states -- the chance to assure the american people that he would not abuse power or become a dictator if he won a second term. but instead of committing to the

rule of law during that town hall, he answered defiantly, saying, quote, except for day one. well, mr. president, it's been nine days since he was sworn in to office, and as then-candidate trump promised, we're already seeing how hell-bent he is on pushing the limits of his power. we see a president unburdened by the rule of law after the supreme court handed him blanket immunity. and a president with a blatant disregard to the guardrails put in place by the authors of our constitution. over the last week and a half, here's what we've seen him do -- he's declared an end to birthright citizenship, in clear

violation of the 14th amendment too the constitution. he's illegally fired 18 inspectors general, individuals, professionals that we count on to hold departments and agencies accountable. he's issued,1. 500 pardon -- he's issued 1,500 pardons for the january 6 insurrectionists, many of who attacked law enforcement officers in an attempt to overthrow an election. and late monday night, almost 48 hours ago, he set off an actual constitutional crisis. the president ordered a sweeping freeze on, quote, all federal financial assistance, end quote, pending a review by his political appointees who have passed his loyalty tests. yes, those are documented.

donald trump has attempted to implement nothing less than a one-man presidential government shutdown. well, thankfully, the american people would not stand for it. communities in every corner of california, in every corner of the country have raised alarm bells and filed lawsuits. they have not backed down. president trump's administration has backed down, at least for now, because we're not naive enough to think that he's not going to try to do it again. the vague document released by donald trump's budget office threatened to withhold billions of dollars from social safety net programs, for example, all to lay the groundwork to pay for

his big tax cuts for large corporations and billionaires. yes, like the billionaires he surrounded himself with during his inauguration. now, working families -- again, not just across california but across the country -- knew immediately what the consequences and the impacts mean in real life. preschools closed. lifesaving cancer treatments halted. meal programs for seniors threatened. i can go on and on with specific real-world examples, but here's another dynamic i ask you to take -- you take to heart. the billionaires that sat next to him and the billionaires that stand to benefit from the tax breaks he's helping to achieve, of course they wouldn't have felt the impact of this at all.

as we stand here right now, we're told that he has rescinded the order in order to avoid a court battle because, of course, this is already challenged and tied up in court. but we know that the fight is the far from over. in fact, the white house press secretary threatened that his executive order blocking federal funding that he issued day one in office is still in effect. quote, remains in full force, end quote -- and, quote, will be rigorously implemented. now, let's be clear about what president trump has tried. he's tried to block hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to support families recovering from catastrophic fires in

california. he's attempted to block aid to law enforcement agencies that we rely on to keep our communities safe. he's trying to block aid to children and families who depend on federal child care and nutr nutrition programs. that's the reality of what's going on here. sadly, for the most part, my republican colleagues have obediently fallen in line. i got to believe that you're getting the same phone calls that i am, countless calls from constituents and community groups and individuals searching for answers, searching for guidance, asking for our help.

because the way these orders and memos are written, nobody knew which specific programs were affected or for how long. the executive agencies that were supposed to implement the order didn't even know how they were affected. and, most glaringly, the white house itself changed its story every few hours on what was supposed to be affected by the executive order that they themselves wrote. so the trump administration, through either their intent or their incompetence -- or maybe both -- and a disregard for the law sowed chaos, confusion, and fear amongst hardworking american families. now, state agencies and local governments -- not just throughout california but, again, throughout the country -- were blocked from accessing

medicaid and housing assistance grant portals in case you thought folks were exaggerating. yes, that really happened. and, colleagues, both sides of the aisle, i know you know about this. the director of a grant funding program with the district attorney's office in los angeles supporting victims of violent crime was concerned about the future of that every work -- of their work because of the uncertainty of federal assistance appear. funding for research on cures for childhood cancer was threatened. local commuter rail officials in san know ma raised -- sonoma raised concernings about their ability to continue service if outstanding federal funds are frozen, service that workers need to get to work. to do their jobs, keep our economy going.

the city of bakerville was worried about potential impact to their housing authority and vouchers. there is a housing affordability concern and a homeless crisis in many parts of the country. this is not helping. head start grantees were frozen out of their federal payment management systems. and if those kids can't go to head start, their parents have a tougher time going to work. what are you doing? health centers in san francisco met to assess their ability to provide services if grant funding and medicare reimbursements were frozen. the oakland fire department raised alarm bells about having to cut staff if an outstanding fema grant to support pay for 35 firefighters was paused. the impacts are real, colleagues.

and, mr. president, as you know, my home state of california has been devastated by historic fires these last few weeks. fueled by wind gusts of up to 100 miles an hour. the southern california fires burned more than 12,000 homes and businesses. more than 40,000 acres, nearly or approximately three times the size of manhattan, and over two dozen californians lost their lives. thanks to a swift major disaster declaration that president biden issued in his final days, federal agencies like fema and the epa have been instrumental in the not just response to the fires but early stages of recovery and rebuilding efforts.

but in his typical vindictive and reckless fashion, president trump didn't stop to think about the actual impacts of a decision like this. his omb order shamefully put our disaster relief at risk. the freeze would have delayed fema's public assistance programs, supporting debris removal, meaning, look, if you delay the debris removal, you're delaying the rebuilding efforts. it threatens funding for emergency shelters. as was the grant money that supports hiring firefighters and firefighting equipment purchases. you think these fires were

devastating? you've all seen the images on television. some of you may have an appreciation for the scale of it and the communities impacted. let me remind us, folks, we're in the middle of the winter. summer is just a few months away. the risk and the threat will continue to grow, and we're going to delay the hiring of firefighters and the purchase of firefighting equipment? after threatening to withhold federal aid for disaster victims in california and leverage to pass other elements of an unpopular agenda, this is just another slap in the face for the thousands of americans who lost everything and are now counting on our collective support. and mr. president, just yesterday, after federal firefighters returned home from

working 24-hour shifts to battle unprecedented fires and dangerous life-threatening conditions, after risking their own lives to protect our communities, federal firefighters received a message from president trump. you would think that maybe, just maybe, it was a message saying thank you for your service, thank you for your sacrifice, thank you for your time away from your family to help fellow americans in need. but it was not. the message federal firefighters received after being gone for weeks, 24-hour shifts, protecting lives, the message they received was a request for their resignation. that's right. president trump offered them a bu

buyout. not just them. he offered this to all career federal employees who are not beholden to his loyalty tests. without the clear authority or funding to do so. we've seen this before from president trump and his c co-president elon musk. i think it's important to share with everybody tonight, especially to federal employees who are watching, anybody who received this offer and thinks that maybe this is an offer that's too good to be true, maybe i should jump at it, let me assure you, this offer is too good to be true, because there is no federal funding to pay people who do not show up to work. and our federal firefighters saw this attempted buy-off for what it was. i want to read for you colleagues some of the messages, just a few of them, that i've

rec received. from one brave firefighter, quote, it's hard to put into words just how disrespectful this feels, to any civil servant, but especially to someone who's given so much, sacrificing precious time away from family, risking everything for the greater good. another message reads as follows, quote, today i returned home after a two-week fire assignment in california. a slew of executive orders over this last week have put myself and a lot of others on edge. i am worried for my livelihood and my future. a purge of federal wildland firefighters will have catastrophic outcomes. our fire seasons are only

getting longer. neighborhoods continue to expand well into the natural landscape. we cannot control when a fire will choose to wreak havoc on a community, but we will show up. we want to show up. colleagues, tomorrow, as some of the members of the budget committee have recognized, we have an opportunity to show these brave federal workers that we hear them, and that we're fighting for them, and that we will continue to fight for them. the senate budget committee will meet to vote on the nomination of russell vought to lead the office of management and budget. by the way, this is the very office that is the source of much of the chaos over the past 48 hours.

now, during his previous tenure with omb, vought tried on numerous occasions to withhold and slow the distribution of congressionally appropriated disaster relief and foreign aid based on political motives. and during his confirmation hearing last week, in the budget committee, he continued to hedge on answers that he would not politicize government assistance, and he refused at every opportunity to fully commit to following the law when it comes to the distribution of federal funding. to any of my colleagues, both sides of the aisle, who have worked hard to secure funding for your constituents back home, and who don't want to see that money that families in your state are counting on recklessly

withheld, we must vote no on this nominee. mr. president, here's where we stand at the moment, president trump may have backed down for now, thanks in part to so many of my democratic colleagues who have spoken out against these outrageous abuses of power that will hurt our constituents, but the chaos of the last 48 hours is only a sign of things to come throughout this administration that has just begun. i'd like to speak to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for just a moment. yes, y'all won the majority in

this november's election. i respect that. i'm not an election denier. but for those of you who just won your campaign, who just were elected and just joined the senate, actually, i think everybody, whether you were elected now, two years ago, four years ago, i'll ask you this, when you ran for senate, for the privilege to serve in this body, did you run on a platform of cutting veterans housing assi assistance? did you reach out to voters, your now constituents, and say, vote for me and i'll cut school lunch programs? did you suggest during the course of your campaigns that, if elected, you would cut disaster relief?

as a colleague, i ask you this, are you more loyal to your oath of office, to your constituents and the constitution, or are you more loyal to a wannabe dictator, trump? are you just going to stand down si silently, while he tramples all over your independent constitutional authorities? and then race to either mar-a-lago or to the white house for a picture and for him to thank you? your silence over the last 48 hours is deafening. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. ricketts: mr. president. the presiding officer: the chair

recognizes the senator from nebraska. mr. ricketts: i ask unanimous consent that the senate resume legislative session and be in a period of morning business for debate only with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. ricketts: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 46, -- to the consideration of s. res. 45, at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 45, supporting the contributions of catholic schools in the united states and celebrating the 51st annual national catholic schools week. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. ricketts: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. ricketts: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 46, which was submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 46, raising

awareness and encouraging the prevention of stalking by designating january 2025 as national stalking awareness month. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. ricketts: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. ricketts: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 12:00 noon on thursday, january 30. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, that the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of executive calendar number 9, and that all time during morning business, recess, adjournment and leader remarks count postcloture. finally, that if any nominations

are confirmed during thursday's session the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. ricketts: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of my colleagues. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. ricketts: thank you, mr. president. . i yield back. mr. kelly: mr. president. the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the senator from arizona. mr. kelly: mr. president, arizona is a couple thousand miles away from here, and as folks know, we're a bit unique in the sense that we do not observe daylight savings time. what that means is that we're either two or three hours behind d.c., depending on the time of year. right now, it's two hours. so, usually, when things start happening here in washington that affect my state, me and my staff will hear from concerned

arizonans a little later in the morning, usually closer to noon. that wasn't the case on tuesday. because that's the day that we all woke up to a vague, reckless memo from the trump administration that said that they would freeze all federal grant funding. the memo was short. it was just two pages. it said, and this is a quote, federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to the obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance, end of quote. there was no list of programs it would impact and programs it wouldn't, no details, just a broad, unconstitutional mandate that pretty clearly intended to just grind everything to a halt.

the calls and texts to me and my staff started immediately, as early as 6:30 a.m. arizona time, my southern arizona director was hearing from a nonprofit concerned about what this meant to them. ten minutes later, my northern arizona director got a text from a county supervisor asking what this meant for their county's federal grants that had already been awarded, and on and on this went, for the rest of the day. i'd like to read through some of the examples of the concern and the real-life issues this created in my state. when i spoke to governor hobbs early in the morning, the state's portals for medicaid and head start were both down. they ended up being down for the better part of the day.

she said that they were concerned immediately about how this would impact providers and families and parents and workers. she was also concerned about department of public safety programs. at that point the state had more questions than answers because of the recklessness of this order. the hopi veterans affairs housing program which provides housing vouchers and assistance for veterans faced uncertainty because its funding fell under federal rental assistance program. the flagstaff housing authority had similar concerns about how landlords would get paid next month under section 8 housing choice voucher program. one landlord told us that they

rent out a few units to low-income families and were worried that they wouldn't receive their payments, leaving them and their tenants nab horrible situation. just yesterday phoenix mayor joined the maricopa association of governments for the annual hud point in time count which is funded by continuum of care dollars. this data is vital to arizona's work to address homelessness and a federal freeze keeps homeless assistance grants from helping arizonans. we heard from colleges across the state where students were being told that their pell grants could be frozen. a member of my veterans advisory committee told me that it had created chaos bordering on

hysteria among veteran college students who had multiple programs that supported their education and that could be frozen. from the arizona food bank association we heard immediate fears that families relying on snap -- that's food stamps -- those benefits could face disruption, putting food security for thousands of arizonans at risk. what that means is that kids will not get to eat. in mohave county officials were concerned that federal support through the community development block grant program which funds housing and economic opportunities for low-income communities would no longer be available. several community health centers said a stop on federal funds would necessitate layoffs.

organizations were looking at having to shut down programs that treat miners, coal miners with black lung and suicide prevention programs and substance abuse services. what this means is layoffs for counselors who treat folks who are suicidal. lay layoffs. the arizona department of transportation told us that vital infrastructure projects are now in limbo. funding for the i-10 interchanges in window rock and lumdon that would serve tribal communities have been frozen. in wickenburg meant to modernize and expand a major highway are now stalled and safety improvements for high-risk railroad crossings in gilbert and yuma are no longer moving

forward, putting drivers at risk. the arizona water infrastructure finance authority has raised concerns about the future of clean drinking water state revolving funds which provide essential loans and grants to communities to ensure that their communities to ensure that their

battle the mexican drug cartels. this program that the administration tried to freeze helps fund the positions of over 700 law enforcement officers who are in the fight against drugs in arizona. multiply that times 50 across the country. at a time when we need to do as much as we can to combat the drug crisis, this administration

attempted to freeze critical funding for my state's the counter drug efforts. jennifer in tucson, a small business owner, provides training for tribal health programs. she told us that her invoices can't be paid due to the federal freeze. as an independent contractor, what that means is this isn't just an inconvenience. it would be devastating for her family and others like her. julie in sun city works at a senior center and has seen firsthand how federal funding supports arizona's elderly, helping them afford food and access to mental health services, helps them afford and get some one-on-one support. she watched seniors panic as uncertainty grows over whether those resources will still be

there next month. kathy in tucson, a mother of three daughters with disabilities, woke up to frantic messages from other parents who rely on medicaid-funded support programs for their children. she described a wave of fear as families tried to log in to the state portal only to find it down, leaving them unsure whether the critical care their children needed will continue. in apache junction, janice's husband is in a memory care unit, and medicaid covers most of his room and board. if these payments had stopped, she didn't know how she could afford his care. and michelle in glendale, a 69-year-old diabetic, is struggling to survive on only

$1,259 a month. if medicaid was disrupted, she will be forced to choose between food and lifesaving medication. christine in flagstaff wrote to me about her brother-in-law who is currently fighting for his life in the hospital as part of a clinical trial funded by nih. if that funding is pulled, so is his treatment, and he may die. christine in flagstaff, another christine, also from flagstaff, a disabled veteran, told us she simply can't afford increased v.a. copays if her benefits are impacted. colin in tempe runs a science start-up was notified his nsf

grant payments are paused meaning he can't pay his employees. what that means is he'll have to lay them off. these are real jobs that affect real people, and these jobs are in groundbreaking research projects that are now needlessly put into jeopardy. mr. president, that's not an exhaustive list of the outreach that only my office received and the consequences in arizona. i could go on for hours, on top of this. i understand most counties, cities and major organizations in arizona held emergency meetings to try to understand how their operations would be impacted, and what could they do about it. this administration tossed them into chaos. these aren't folks who think about things as republicans or

democrats. these are folks who provide real services to real people in arizona. they wake up every day to serve people, to solve problems, and it's not easy, not even on the best of days, but tuesday? tuesday wasn't the best of days. it was the worst. and for most of them, today hasn't been great either. i had the leaders of a couple arizona head start programs in my office here just today, earlier today. they were already scheduled to be there. one of these head start program managers runs head start. she said she had a payment that they were owed, and they weren't able to access it, and it's been delayed. now they received these payments every three days, and they cannot hold major cash reserves.

this program serves 500 arizona families. they were not going to be able to make payroll. she made a plan to lay people off. -- on tuesday. they told me that -- she told me that they, it was based on their cash flow, that they probably should have laid these people off already, but they were able to call on some mnl reserves with the help of their board. but if the payment are delayed much further, these people that work for her will not have jobs. and that means, it doesn't only affect them. they're out of a job. but there are 500 arizona families who suddenly don't have child care. or the additional services that head start provides to parents and families. mr. president, we hope it doesn't come to that. thankfully, their attempts to

freeze funding have been blocked by a court, but this had real consequences in arizona to a lot of people. and that's multiplied across the country. our head start leaders are in d.c. for a national conference right now, and they said every person here is dealing with the same issue. they're in a panic mode, trying to keep their employees on the payroll and their doors open so they can continue to serve families. head start is probably one of the best investments that our country makes. it helps kids get ahead. it provides parenting training. it helps working parents with child care so they can earn a paycheck. the recklessness and the incompetence of the trump administration threw that program into utter chaos in just a day.

and i don't believe this is over. we need clear guidance and we need strong leadership. this administration hasn't provided that, and it's hurting arizonans. now, mr. president, i thought last week when the president pardoned criminals who beat up cops would be the worst thing that he would do this month. now i'm not so sure. mr. president, this needs to be fixed, and the president, the president on pennsylvania avenue should take steps to ensure that he doesn't make mistakes like this again. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: mr. president, i think it's fair to say that none

of us expected a week ago to be here on the floor at this moment talking about a massive across-the-board freeze on federal funding. i don't think either of us on either side of the aisle expected to be here on this topic. we are in no ordinary time. the chaos and confusion are extraordinary. and it's the result of one man, donald trump, it's part of a calculated strategy, confusion and chaos, a blizzard of illegal actions. a hiring freeze that violates the law, a firing of inspectors general

that abridges the statute, a freeze on funding that crosses the line because it violates the impoundment control act, which has been upheld by the united states supreme court despite donald trump's contention that it is unconstitutional, and it also violates the constitution. it is a seizure of power, mainly the power of the purse, that congress intended never to surrender. it was given by the founders as a check on presidential power, the checks and balances of our system were created to have a

system that prevents tyranny, and unfortunately this country is veering and careening toward tyranny. so we are here to say we will not obey in advance. one of the lessons of totalitarianism in the 20th century, one of the 20 lessons from the 20th century that dr. tim snyder has instructed us to take from that awful period in world history is do not obey in advance. do not yield what will the tyrant wants in advance of his demanding it. stand up, speak out, stop it. that's why we're here. and the american people rose up in the last 24 hours because the chaos and confusion of this funding freeze, they saw in

their every day lives. they saw it in the domestic shelters that were in peril, in the homeless places that would go without funding, at the food banks, at the community health centers, at day care places, in schools, in hospitals, in everyplace where every day americans depend on vital services for their ordinary lives. they were seeing their worlds upended. and the trump administration responded to that outcry. they pulled back from the precipice of a total breakdown in order. they came back from the cliff.

they walked back the illegal order to freeze that funding, but make no mistake, they did it once and they can do it again. in fact, after the one-line order that walked back that funding freeze the president's press secretary said, well, the funding freeze is still in effect. if these whiplash reversals are themselves damaging the country. organizations can't meet perils, they can't plan budgets, they can't assign their staff, they can't pay for the machines that do the road reconstruction and bridge repair. they can't run railroads when they don't know that amtrak is going to be funded.

and so the doubt, uncertainty breeding anxiety and fear and anger are also damaging the country. they did it once and they can do it again and it looks like they already have because the purpose here is theft. let's call it what it is. donald trump is stealing from the community's health centers and domestic violence shelters to finance tax cuts for billionaires. he is looting those kinds of public services so that there is money to pay for those tax cuts benefiting his bill air in friends -- billionaire friends

and family. and americans have to see that fact for what it is, the plain truth, unpleasant as it may be, unpalatable morally and illegal under our constitution. he doesn't have the power to just stop spending under an appropriation bill passed by congress and signed by the president. it may not have been signed by this president but that fact makes no difference. it is a law that spending appropriation is the law of the land. the president has no right to seize the power of the purse under the constitution and violate that law. now, if the order had remained in effect as it was originally intended, it almost certainly would have been enjoined by the

courts. i certainly hope so. the initial administrative stay indicates the court was certainly concerned about it and the combination of irreparable harm and unlikely prevailing on the merits would have let that court in the district of columbia that a temporary -- that there would be a temporary stay. but the fact is we may have a president who disobeys a court order. we are in unchartered territory. it is truly a crisis for our democracy. and i want to thank the american people for that outcry that led to the reversal, but also to alert the american people that we are far from done.

and i want to appeal to my republican colleagues. in fact, i want to appeal to republicans in connecticut, people who think of themselves as a member or supporter of the republican party and republican candidates. this fight is yours too because these domestic shelters and community health centers and all the facilities all the groups, all the the individuals affected by this massive funding freeze, they're in red states as well as blue states. the block grants that are suspended, they're in red states and blue states. the firefighter equipment that will be held back, red states as well as blue states.

the subsidies for housing and the benefits and care for veterans, red states and blue states. this fight is yours, not just ours on this side of the aisle. and my republican colleagues, i am absolutely sure hearing from their constituents about how difficult and daunting these last 24 hours have been after the announcement of this freeze. because i know i have fielded calls from all across the state of connecticut, from those food bank programs, health and food assistance programs, housing programs, veterans programs, energy assistance programs, and many more. and it has impacts beyond what

you would think are obvious. just monday i met with farmers who suffered from flooding and hail storms earlier this year -- last year. and under the end of session continuing resolution that we passed, disaster relief was provided across the country for farmers and for others, and those farmers celebrated, along with us, members of the congressional delegation, the fact that they were receiving millions of dollars to help them recover from the flood. well, now that money is uncertain when it will arrive and even whether it will be available. connecticut head start was

unable to access payments. president trump's order jeop jeopardized child care and early childhood education for 5,000 families. domestic violence shelters, survivors with nowhere else to go where forced to return to their homes where there were abusers. these funding freeze has terrifying and likely implications not just for connecticut but all over the country. and in the midst of winter, the liheap program, low-income energy assistance program, a critical program that provides energy assistance to low-income households.

100,000 rely on liheap, uncertainty about this federal funding leaves them more vulnerable than ever. like my colleagues, i could go on but my colleagues are joining us on the floor and i just want to end on this note. i mentioned that this funding freeze is part of a calculated strategy to steal from the domestic violence shelters and child care and head start and all the other services funded under these programs and make that money available for tax cuts to the billionaire friends and family of donald trump. but what's also part of the strategy is a blizzard of orders, a deluge of

illegalities, and one being the firing of the inspectors general, and if there is one thing we need in our federal government is transparency. it is the watchdogs who demand accountability and stop waste and fraud and abuse. firing inspectors general, the independent watchdogs and bulwarks against corruption is a profoundly important sign of where this president wants to take the country. the veterans inspector general, mike missile, has recovered billions of dollars for the v.a. firing him and eliminating his independent oversight is a betrayal of trust to our veterans as well as a violation of law because none of these

veterans, none of these inspectors general was fired with the requisite 30-day notice to congress and with a statement of reasons and rationale that's required under the law. if the president is really committed to finding waste in government, why is he firing the watchdogs who are the ones who rooted out and today's -- or earlier this week's firing makes clear that the president is lacking in that commitment. we're here because we're determined to fight and we're determined also to continue to support the american people in this outcan cry against -- outcry against lawlessness and recklessness that to imperils

hardworking everyday americans. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. a senator: mr. president, in an overnight maneuver on monday, president trump unlawfully and unilaterally blockaded much of the federal budget. mr. heinrich: hitting send on a two-page memo, the trump administration triggered a chaotic 24 hours that has thrown every county, tribe, nonprofit, nursing home, school, and preschool in my state into disarray. from human's round house, our capitol, to the classroom to the emergency room, there were a thousand questions and zero

answers. now the trump administration has both withdrawn and not withdrawn this blockade. in so-called clarifications, president trump has made things about as clear as mud. but here are three things that are crystal clear. first, president trump's funding blockade was blatantly unconstitutional and illegal. secondly, it has caused real harm. and third, this was a test run where chaos was actually the point. if you're trying to follow the news and getting confused, it's not you. if you heard that president trump blocked all federal medicaid reimbursements, you heard correctly. if you heard that the white house claimed federal medicaid reimbursements were exempt from the blockade, you also heard correctly. if you heard that despite being

allegedly exempt, medicaid reimbursement was still blocked, you heard correctly. same story for head start. same goes for food assistance or snap. and for school lunches. and that list goes on and on and on. even today after a federal court ruled that the trump administration had to pause the pause, i'm still getting reports of organizations that cannot access federal funding portals. and in the midst of all of that, there are very real consequences. let's just take medicaid just for a start. almost a quarter of my state's budget moves through the medicaid portal, the one that was shut down yesterday. $8 billion in federal medicaid funding comes to new mexico every sipping gal year. -- single year. millions and millions of dollars of medicaid reimbursement happen

on that portal in any given day. seven out of ten nursing home residents, more than 700,000 people in total in my state depend on medicaid for their health care. and because of the medicaid blockade would impact over a third of new mexico's population, it really impacts all of our health care providers from small, rural clinics to our largest hospitals. shutting that down is a big deal, but it wasn't just that. i heard from child care and head start providers, rental assistance programs, tribal governments, local law enforcement, fire departments, and nonprofit organizations who provide everything from support to our veterans to healthy meals for seniors and families. we need to call out trump's brazen action for what it truly

is. it's a power grab. and the test to see just how much he can get away with. president trump and his cronies are testing how far they can go to dismantle and dismember our democracy in service of his strongman impulses and his ideological agenda. our message to him, the stove is hot, mr. president. you should remember that. the constitution and federal law are clear on who controls the spending of our taxpayer dollars. the president cannot simply override or delay or rescind congress' appropriations bills once they are signed into law. full stop. this has been upheld time and again by the supreme court, by the justice department, the government accountability office, and it was codified into law in the impoundment control

act of 1974. and that law -- under that law the president cannot unilaterally stop the disbursement of federal funds that congress has appropriated and the president has signed into law. sound familiar? a president unilaterally stopping the disbursement of federal funds that congress has appropriated. yes, this is exactly what president trump just tried. as a member of the senate appropriations committee, i know how much work goes into writing and passing our bipartisan funding laws. i am here now talking on the senate floor because i will fight like hell to stop this or any of trump's brazen, illegal funding blockades, and i am not alone. i am joined by my colleagues here in the senate on the senate floor tonight, my colleagues in the new mexico federal delegation, my state's attorney

general, and countless of my constituents. now, let me read just a few letters that i've received from new mexicans over these last two days. tamra who depends on social security disability benefits and medicaid. scared she will not be able to keep up with rent or basic necessities during the pause. tamra wrote to me, i will not be able to pay full price rent. my heart is filled with uncertainty. i'm afraid for my neighbors with children. it has saddened my heart to see so many people, including myself become unsure of the future. kaitlin from tahose wrote to my

office expressing concern for her safety and security should dream tree, a federally funded youth shelter in northern new mexico shutter its services due to trump's pause. she wrote, without dream tree, i wouldn't have a roof over my head which would cause a lot of worry and fear being vulnerable to sexual assault which happened to me in the past. dream tree is not just a program. it's home. it's my safe space. delores from albuquerque fearful that she won't be able to make ends meet if she loses her job because of the freeze. she wrote to me, please help. i am a senior citizen trying to make ends meet. i am alone paying my own bills. i work in the senior community service employment program and president trump's administration is going to cut the funding. i won't be able to pay my bills. i am so afraid.

shelly from albuquerque, a dietician and nutritionist, scared for the very lives of her patients who depend on medicaid to survive. she wrote to me, those i serve on the developmental disabilities waiver are medicaid recipients and some rely a hundred percent on the specialized formula for tube feeding. to reiterate, they get a hundred percent of their nutrition from that formula primarily through a tube in their stomach. if they don't have it, they will starve. louis from las cruces who is concerned take his grandson won't be able to support his family if president trump's order eliminates nih funding. and consequently his grandson's job. louis wrote to me, my grandson graduated with honors from new mexico state university. he's the recipient of an nih

grant which has been suspended. he has a wife and child. i don't think that the president understands his actions affect real people. jone from sante fe who has already lost money due to trump's funding freeze. joan wrote, i just lost $5,000 contract and this order is going to have a negative ripple effect throughout the economy. please protect federal workers from the trump administration's purge and harassment. marah from albuquerque who is a biomedical student at the university of new mexico doing cancer research, fearful of what this freeze means for her job and ability to do this important work wrote, i am personally affected by this pause because of the nih grants that sustain my lab, pay the salaries of my staff and students. these grants were applied for and awarded in good faith and they pay for extremely important

cancer research. elissa from albuquerque who is a head start child care provider and has a son at head start. melissa wrote to me, i'm employed by head start. my son is a student at head start. i believe in what we do. i believe in the men and women i work with. these teachers change children's lives. i am so saddened and stressed. can you please help? andrew from albuquerque, researcher at the university of new mexico whose work is funded by the national science foundation. andrew wrote to me. i work at the university of new mexico as part of a team entirely funded from the national science foundation. we have been notified that we may lose our funding. this will likely result in the loss of my job and those of my colleagues. a forest guild member in new

mexico worried about how a federal funding freeze could lead to more deadly and destructive wildfires across our state. aiden wrote to me, this disruption puts new mexico at significant risk for catastrophic wildfire as we head into another high-risk fire season. sienna from tahose, a behavior health care provider worried the loss of federal funding could prevent her from meeting the needs of toddlers and their families. sienna wrote to me this is a stolt assault on new mexico's most vulnerable populations. our programs assist families every day and this funding is at risk. halting federal grants will impact the early childhood programs serving low-income kids. these letters paint a painful picture of the chaos and uncertainty that president trump's actions have created in my state alone.

what do you say to those americans, president trump? how could you possibly defend taking their taxpayer dollars, the work of their elected leaders, the constitution you swore to defend just a few days ago and pushing that all aside? and what funding exactly was thrown aside with it? let me read you a list of funding impacted in just new mexico. even as we still do not know which programs are or are not on the chopping block. i'll start with the new mexico high intensity drug trafficking area program. if you have one in your state, you probably know it as a hidta program. this program includes 17 counties who are coordinating on drug intelligence, interdiction, investigation, and prosecution

efforts to reduce the impact of illicit drugs. these are the folks coordinating to go after the cartels, who are going after the fentanyl trafficking. how woke is that? stopping fentanyl trafficking? they received over a million dollars last year for this work. new mexico's program to prevent and prosecute violence against women. this program works to reduce domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by strengthening services to victims and holding offenders accountable. new mexico received over a million dollars for this program. last year. the new mexico crisis intervention program created through our bipartisan safer communities act, a bill that i helped to negotiate. this program funds the enforcement of red flagman dates to combat and prevent gun

violence. last year federal funding for new mexico's crisis intervention program totaled over $4 million. new mexico's crime victims fund. these programs help new mexican community organizations and public agencies provide services directly to the victims of crime. last year the crime victims reparation commission of new mexico received $1.2 million in federal funds. justice assistance grants for police departments. last year new mexico local law enforcement entities received about a million dollars in federal justice assistance grant funding, and that funding is used for personnel, equipment, training, and technical assistance for new mexico's police departments. you heard from my colleague from connecticut about fire grants, assistance to firefighter grants, and staffing for

adequate fire and emergency response. these programs fund equipment and resources for our fire departments, including volunteer firefighters in rural areas and emergency first responders. just last year many of us in this body worked hard to get this program reorganized -- reauthorized. and i can't tell you of another program that's more popular at home than the fire grants. and since 2015, fire departments across my state have received over $22 million through these programs. new mexico homeless support services, last year new mexico nonprofits received $17 million through the housing and urban development department's continuing of care program to help put a roof over the heads of people who've been living on the streets. road improvements to prevent traffic deaths. you heard me, those woke road

improvements. in 2024, new mexico local governments received almost $2 million to make our roads safer. local governments thruruth or consequences through the pueblo rely on this funding to make their streets safer. road construction for railroad crossings. recently new mexico was awarded $44 million for road construction in gallup to build a safer rail crossing. new mexico's community schools -- new mexico community schools rely on the community schools program for social support services, for their students and families. last year's schools in burlington county received $4.2 billion to support the work of their educators and students. comprehensive literacy programs -- $60 million to help

kids read better. community health centers -- each year 16 federally funded community health center organizations in our state leverage, on average, $76 million to serve over 300,000 patients to provide them with health care. 17% of those patients are completely uninsured. 40% are covered by medicaid. how about essential air service for our rural airports? that's something that gets incredible bipartisan support in this body because there are -- it makes sure that rural communities have access to air service. carlsbad air terminal, clovis regional airport, grant county airport. all rely on this program to maintain their commercial air operations. these three rural airports receive $15 million a year more

or less through this program. new mexico's housing trust fund -- the housing trust fund money is sued for affordable housing for extremely low and very low-income households. it's not like any of us have a housing problem in our states right now, do we? small business loans -- the small business administration loan program has supported 112 new mexico small businesses with almost $50 million in loans. and those loans help those businesses grow. they allow them to purchase new facilities, equipment, supplies. let's not forget new mexico's farmers. last year new mexico received funding to support our specialty crop farmers. those are the farmers who grow crops essential to the economy as well as to the history, the identity of our state, crops

like chili, onion, pecans, stone fruit, just a few examples. these programs that i've just read through are a fraction of the list. they aren't even quarter of it. so let's go a little deeper now into more concrete examples of the disruptions and harm caused by president trump's blockade. and each of these were shared directly with me or with one of my staff just in the last day and a half. this one really pisses me off -- sexual assault services is of northwest new mexico. they provide lifesaving services to sexual assault survivors in

our state. and the freeze meant that this organization may not make payroll because they were locked out of the federal reimbursement portal. they don't even know if their grant is still coming through. they said, quote, as a victims' service provider, this memo directly threatens our ability to serve survivors of sexual assault. women's economic self-sufficiency team -- we call them west in the central part of the state. west serves around a thousand new mammogram small businesses d. new mexico small businesses, 2,000 people with consulting and training, incubation, microlending programs. they told me, federal funds directly and indirectly provide the majority of their operating budget. they planned to open a seventh women's business center in hobbes, new mexico, to focus on

growing child care businesses. that expansion was put on hold by the freeze. they employ 34 staff and operate six women's business centers throughout new mexico. they're incredibly concerned about the continuing survival of the sba office of women's business ownership and the minority business development agency. here's another really woke one -- cannon air force base and the oglala water and land conservancy. they told me the readiness and environmental protection integration program that's at risk is more than a funding mechanism. it is a lifeline. this project addresses the incredibly severe water scarcity challenge faced by the entire region where groundwater from the ogallala water aquifer is now the sole source of water for

municipal, industrial, and agricultural needs. but without this program, the ogallala water aquifer is projected to lose its functional capacity as early as 2038. that would leave them without the water need to surviechlt but it also cripples those local communities and would it jeopardize the very viability of cannon air force base and the melrose air force range. albuquerque public schools. this is the largest public school district in new mexico. it's actually the 31st largest in the entire nation. it serves almost 80,000 students across 143 schools, and one offa offal but -- and one of albuquerque's largest staff. they were forced to halt all

nonstaff-related funding for grants from the department of education, centers for disease control and protection of -- and prevention. aps paused funding on the centers for disease control grant and transportation funding for upcoming college field trips. their community school grant provides essential support including counseling, tutoring, food assistance and housings programs for almost 2,000 stu students across the schools in albuquerque. we learned that these community schools are vital to better outcomes in our public schools. the magnet school grant serves over 2,000 students across four more schools, funding programs that keep students engaged and prepare them for the 21st century workforce. the cdc prevention grant support students in all of our 141 aps

schools, providing critical health and wellness resources. finally, students at 13 schools who were looking forward to a college field trip to new mexico tech next month just had their trip canceled because of the -- because the district could not access federal grants to pay for their transportation. silver consoli somedayed schools which serves over 2,500 students and their families in southwest new mexico. they told me the silver consolidated school district is two years into their five-year nearly $6 million school-based mental health services grant, and this grant created once again in the bipartisan safer communities act has allowed the school district to put mental health services in each school in the district. these services -- these are services that the students, especially those in crisis, have come to rely on in a four-county

region that lacks basic mental health services. these programs i've just read through, they're not the whole list. they aren't even a quarter of it. so let's go now and some of you watching are wondering, why come to the senate floor? why decry an action that the president has already supposedly reversed? first, i think we have to ask, has he veered it? -- has he reversed it? according to his press secretary, the funding is still blocked. again, these are larks not guidance. they're laws passed by congress signed by the president of the united states. let me tell you about a few of the projects under some of these laws that president trump is unilaterally blocking funding

for. promises for the inflation reduction act. which is now law. over $9 million for the eastern new mexico rural water project, which would continue field work and design on a project that will eventually bring drinking water to more than 75,000 people in clovis, cannon air force base and other communities in eastern new mexico. another $5 million for the hikaria water project, which will contribute to final design and construction serving the hikaria apache nation. money to complete the san juan return flow pipeline that will return treated, unconsumed wasn't swann chamo water back to

the rio grande. this project was santa fey fay's primary strategy to mitigate the water supply shortages that we struggle with and create a sustainable water source. i could go on and on and on, mr. president. it is really remarkable how many people in my state have just been thrown into chaos by all of this. before i finish, i want to be clear that this type of chaos and uncertainty is not what americans elected president trump to deliver. it's illegal. it's the type of action that puts our democracy, really the whole structure of our government in jeopardy. but if your focus is just on money, if the fate of our democracy feels a little too abstract, then understand

this -- president trump has also blocked funding from going out under the infrastructure law and the inflation reduction act. it's not what new mexicans -- again, these laws are laws passed by congress, and it's certainly not what new mexicans sent me to washington to deliver. they want certainty. americans are calling on us -- really, all of us -- to work together on policies that will bring down the cost of their groceries, their rent, their internet, their health care. they want us to help get fentanyl off of our streets or make our communities safer and support survivors of sexual assault. they want us to put our veterans in safe housing. and according to a number of new mexicans, they still can't access federal funding.

they want us to help the small businesses and support the public lands that are the beating heart of local rural economies. they want us to create jobs that they can build a family around, jobs they can be proud of, jobs that are in their own communities. they don't want all this chaos. i would hope that my republican and my democratic colleagues alike, especially the appropriators -- we work together every single year to try to produce bipartisan bills. by nature, those bills have to be written in a bipartisan way. i've written many of those bills since i joined the appropriations committee with my republican colleagues, some of which got reported out of committee unanimously. i hope we can all join together in calling on the president to just get back to following the law that we all passed doth. let's get back to creating

certainty for our communities, for our small businesses, for our democracy itself. benjamin franklin put it years ago like this, we have a republic, if we can keep it. i will fight like hell to keep it, and i know that i am not alone. thank you, mr. president. ms. baldwin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. ms. baldwin: mr. president, i'd like to just step back a minute and reflect on the last ten days. that's right, it's just been ten days since donald trump was sworn in as our president. i know, like myself, many

americans feel like it's been much longer, given the onslaught of news and chaos that we've experienced in that time. first there was the inauguration speech. instead of talking about uniting our country and mapping out a real plan to address wisconsinites' needs, he used his first moments as president to suggest we rename the gulf of mexico to the gulf of america, all while his billionaire friends looked on from front-row seats. then there was the flood of day one executive orders, among other things attempting to end birthright citizenship and removing the united states from

the world health organization and removing the united states from the paris climate agreement and of course, i would be remiss if i did not highlight that the president also pardoned over 1500 criminals who had participated in a violent insur insurrection. people who beat police officers with metal batons and fire exting extinguishers, people who taused cops -- tasted cops, all in the -- tased cops, all in the name of undermining the will of the american people and overturning a free and fair ele election. so much for tough on crime. and this was just day one. ch chaos, chaos, chaos. now, i will fast forward to monday night of this week, when

the trump administration directed virtually all federal agencies to cut grants and loans that millions of americans rely on. there were barely any details on what programs were impacted. almost immediately, my office began receiving calls from constituents. in fact, the phones rang off the ho hooks. child care and head start programs reached out concerned that they would have to shutter their doors or lay off staff if federal funding was paused. one head start program told me that their portal to access the funds that they need to stay open was down, inaccessible. and i heard from another head start program in western wisconsin that serves hundreds of children. they told me that they'd have to

start laying off employees as soon as thursday, if their funding was cut. let's just think about what that means in practice. maybe a parent is getting home from work after a long day and gets a phone call that the place that they use for day care will be closed for an indefinite amount of time. will they be able to go to work the next day? who is going to come forth to care for their kid now? a deputy fire chief in a rural central wisconsin community reached out to me. without federal funding, he'd have to lay off as many as nine firef firefighters. would this mean longer waits for residents for a firefighter to respond to an emergency if their house was on fire? another fire chief in northern

wisconsin called me to ask whether his volunteer department could go ahead with needed upgrades for their equipment. without their federal grant, which was more than half of their operating budget, they would not be able to purchase the new chassis needed for their department's purposes. and from western wisconsin, a local mayor reached out to me to share that a pause in federal funding would be catastrophic for their ability to make timely payments on a loan they took out to make necessary renovations to their fire department. i heard from an administrator of a women's shelter for survivors of domestic abuse based in southwestern wisconsin. without federal funding, they

would have to turn away women looking for safety from their abusers, for themselves and their children. as communities across wisconsin continue to battle the opioid and fentanyl crisis, a community organization specializing in drug prevention told me that they would not be able to pay their staff or continue their vital work if funding was cut. i also heard from a community dental center in southeastern wisconsin that serves thousands of patients every single year. the vast majority of whom are children. they told me that without their federal funding they would be at significant risk of closing within a matter of a few short months. and as a result, thousands of children would have nowhere to go to receive dental care. and 45 individuals would be out

of employment. another family shelter in milwaukee that serves husband of families a year and dozens of pregnant and post part emwomen shared that a freeze on federal funding would likely result in them having to cut wages for their 100 employees and consider staffing reductions. without their services, more than 100 kids would remain in foster care, instead of with their families. while the white house seems to be contradicting itself and putting out mixed signals on these drastic cuts, the level of panic and chaos that has created should be upsetting to every american. we're talking about the most vulnerable people in our society. republicans who say these cuts

are necessary are essentially saying it's fine if americans don't get lifesaving treatment for open dread addiction -- for opioid addiction. they're saying it's fine if kids miss a meal or can't access the medication they need to stay healthy. it's okay, in their books, if fire departments and law enforcement go without the resources they need to keep our communities safe. look, i agree that we need to go after fraud and waste in our government where it exists. where i adamantly disagree with my republican colleagues is what that waste and fraud actually is. programs that wisconsin families rely on every day is not waste in my book. president trump's egregious overreach of his presidential

power is plainly unconstitutional. it is illegal to withhold this funding from the american people, period. this funding came through bipartisan bills, and i hope that my republican colleagues are just as angry at president trump for the confusion his administration has created as i am. but based on what i've witnessed so far, i fear they're not. this directive has put real people in real distress. something, it appears, president trump and his allies don't really care about. we're going to do everything that we can to challenge this and make sure that kids can get a hot lunch at school, that cops get the funding that they need to be on the beat, and that families have what they need. i'll close with this, the trump administration has said this is

all to stop the, quote, woke ag agenda. well, if the woke agenda is ensuring that seniors can access health care, kids can have food on the table, parents can find affordable child care in their neighborhoods, and police officers and first responders have the resources they need to keep our communities safe, i think this administration is about to learn a real lesson in just how out of step they are with the vast majority of americans who rely on these services every day. if this is any indication of the next four years, i want my constituents to know that i, for one, intend to do right by them and stand up for their best

interests. ms. alsobrooks: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. alsobrooks: while this may not be my maiden floor speech, i think it of vital importance that marylanders hear from their elected leaders in this moment of chaos. one of my greatest inspirations growing up was my grandmother, sarah daisy alsobrooks. she was my father's mother. she raised my father and his since siblings in an apartment in washington, d.c. my grandmother wanted for her family what all americans want for their families, an affordable home, a job that allowed her to support her family, and a safe community to raise her kids in. my grandmother dreamed of civil service. she dreamed of working in the federal government. and she was determined to do so. many in this chamber will recall

that you had to pass the civil servants exam to be hired, and to pass you had to take a typing test. at the time, my grandmother was a housekeeper. she worked day and night to provide for my father and his siblings. every dollar she made went to her family. so she couldn't afford a typewriter to practice typing on. but that didn't stop her from pursuing her dream. she took a white piece of paper and hand drew a keyboard on it. she taped that white piece of paper up on the refrigerator, and every night after my tad and his siblings -- my dad and his siblings went to bed she stood in front of that refrigerator and practiced on that write piece of paper. she taught herself to type every keys keystroke. it was with fierce determination, the same determination i've seen in so many mothers and fathers who wanted their kids to have more

opportunities than they did, that she learned to type. she took the test and she passed. she got the job she dreamed of working in the federal government, and she was so proud of herself. she worked for the pentagon, and i can still remember she would come home, she'd tell me, you know, i saw general this person and general that person in the hallway that day. she knew the work she did mattered. for her, working in the federal government wasn't just a job. working on behalf of the people of the united states was her american dream. it's that kind of pride that makes our federal workforce so special, the thousands of men and women who show up every day to work on behalf of the people of this great nation. they are public servants in the truest sense of the word. at the national institutes of health in bethesda, maryland,

they're researching cures for cancer, trying to make sure that when a family gets that devastating news of a loved one who's been diagnosed with cancer, they have options. at the food and drug administration in silver spring, maryland, they're working tirelessly to make sure our food is safe to eat. at the social security administration in woodlawn, maryland, they're working to make sure our seniors have access to their hard-earned benefits. these civil servants are patriots, just like my grandmother. they love their country. they work for democratic presidents and for republican presidents. their focus isn't on the politics of the day. it's on the mission of the federal government, to serve the people of the united states of ame america. so, you can imagine my deep frustration with this current administration that has decided

to target these hardworking americans in what i can only describe as a witch-hunt. when i of this the -- when i think of the people being pushed out, i think of people like my grandmother, hardworking folks who wanted to make a difference in this country. the calls i'm getting are equally heartbreaking as they are infuriating. i spoke with a woman just this morning who worked at the department of health and human services for over 35 years. she's been put on leave as one of the president's -- as a part of the president's executive orders. i spoke to another woman who spent over 37 years at the department of agriculture and believe it or not, she was placed in a position under this current president's first administration, but now she's been let go. these are people who have worked under president george hfrments

w. bush, a republican, president bill clinton, a democrat, president george w. bush, a republican, president barack obama, a democrat, president donald trump, a republican, and president joe biden, a democrat. because for these women and countless other marylanders, it's not about which party is in power, which president won the election. it's about the work. it's about doing their part to make sure that our government functions. i represent the highest number of federal workers per capita in the country. no state has more federal workers per capita than the great state of maryland. these are our friends, our neighbors, our mothers, our fathers, and, yes, our grandmothers. the fact that this administration has decided to disparage and demean these civil servants is infuriating. the bullying, the scare tactics, and the smoking mirrors is

unacceptable. these hardworking marylanders deserve better. i want every federal worker in maryland who sees this to know that when they see me in these halls, they must also see you. and what we know now is that this administration isn't stopping at our civil servants, which brings us to the last 48 hours. let's recap. the administration issued a cruel and callous directive. no longer was the target just federal workers. suddenly it was the entirety of the american people. because what this directive did was freeze federal funds, a move intended to sow chaos and confusion, to instill fear. you don't have to take my word for it. talk to the countless marylanders who called my office. veterans who were scared that their benefits wouldn't go through. seniors who didn't know if they would still have medicare. families who relied on snap benefits who didn't know if

they'd be able to feed their kids. these were the calls my office was getting yesterday, all because the president decided to freeze federal funds. and i don't know how to make this more plain. this impacted so many people, people who voted for this president, people who did not vote for this president and people who didn't vote at all. we're talking about law enforcement officers who rely on federal funds to protect victims of domestic violence, women, and children. i was a full time domestic violence prosecutor, the first in my county. so i -- so when i hear that the president of the united states is making it harder for these victims, you can imagine my deep frustration and know this. we are not going to accept this. so i'd like to take a few moments to paint a picture of exactly the kinds of americans that this administration is targeting.

seniors and people with disabilities. maryland is home to one million seniors and nearly 670,000 people living with disabilities. at the department of health and human services, the administration for community living covers all the programs and services that help older adults and people with disabilities. their work is essential. and it connects seniors with employment opportunities, provide support for caregivers like my father, supports states in providing nutrition services for seniors, just to name a few. services for seniors on the chopping block. the nutrition services incentive program and the division of administration for community living is responsible for delivering nutritious meals to older adults. they work to make sure that older adults who can't leave their homes have an opportunity to access food. helping hungry seniors on the chopping block.

but alzheimer's disease demonstration grants, to expand the availability of diagnostic and support services for those with alzheimer's disease and related dementia. anyone who has watched a loved one suffer with alzheimer's knows exactly how painful this is. so we should be doing everything in our power to find a cure for this disease and support those suffering from it, a disease that is the seventh leading cause of death among older residents in maryland. supporting those with alzheimer's on the chopping block. the national family care giving support program provides grants to caregivers, and i am a member of the sandwich generation. i'm raising my 19-year-old daughter who's just amazing. her name is alex, caring for two wonderful ageing parents. the work of caregivers across our country is so selfless, valuable and necessary to ensure those who raised us get the care

and support they deserve and have earned. i know i wouldn't be here today without my incredible parents. more than 700,000 caregivers receive services through this program. supporting our caregivers, on the chopping block. the office of family violence, protection and prevention services supports emergency shelters and related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their children. i've sat with these women and their children in the courtroom prosecuting the case against their abuser. and i know how hard it is for them to get out of an abusive relationship and seek help at an emergency shelter. these shelters literally save lives, providing emergency shelter to victims of domestic violence, you guessed it, it's on the chopping block. now, i could go on and on, but i think what has been made clear is that these political stunts are going to have a devastating

and long lasting impact on marylanders. and, yes, it bears repeating. marylanders who have voted for this president, marylanders who didn't vote for the president, and marylanders who did not vote at all. my job in the senate is to advocate for my people and my people are marylanders. they're the federal workers who spent their lives working on behalf of the american people no matter who the president is. they're the parents who rely on snap benefits to make sure their children don't go hungry. they're the teachers who prepare our kids to be leaders. they're the watermen who harvest blue crab from the chesapeake bay. they're the caregivers who make life easier for our loved ones. they're the scientists researching a cure for cancer. they're the veterans who serve our country honorably. they're the police officers who keep our communities safe. they're the democrat, they're the republicans, they're the independents, and each and every one of them deserve better than

this administration. i am willing to work with anyone, democrat, republican, independent, whoever to deliver for marylanders. my door is always open. what i've come to learn from my time in public service is that the people of this great country all want the same things. a roof over their head, a good-paying job so they can provide for their families, great schools, good health care, safe communities, lower cost of goods. these are the things each and every one of us should be fighting for. this is what the administration should be focused on. and so when they return to that mission, i'll be here. but if this president continues to threaten marylanders, i'll be here, too, fighting back. now, as i end, many of my constituents know that i am a woman of faith. and in the midst of chaos, i turn to the word.

so i'd like to close by sharing scriptures of encouragement, words that speak to us in tumultuous times and remind us to love one another. second timothy, one in seven says for god had not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. romans 12 and 12 says rejoice and hope. be patient in tribulation. be constant in prayer. joshua 1 and 9 says be strong and courageous. do not be afraid. do not be discouraged for the lord your god will be with you wherever you go. james 1, 2 through 4 says count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. psalm 34 and 17 says the righteous cry and the lord hears and delivers them out of all of their troubles.

first corinthians 14 cln 33, for god is not the author of confusion but of peace as in all churches of the saints. john 16 and 33 says, these things i've spoken on to you. that in one -- that in me ye might have peace. in the world you shall have tribulation. but be of good cheer. i have overcome the world. romans 8 and 28, for we know all things work together for them that love god, to them who are called according to his purpose. second corinthians 4 and 17, for our light affliction which is but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. proverbs 25 and 28, he that have no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls. proverbs 11 and 14 where no

counsel is, the people fall but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. second these lonians 3 and 16, now the lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. the lord be with you all. i yield my time. ms. hassan: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire ms. hassan: thank you, mr. president. before i start my remarks, i do want to note that we have had news just now of a terrible tragedy at dca. there has been a plane crash. we do not know all the details

yet. but it is fair to say that here in d.c., all around the country, we should all be praying for the loved ones of those involved in this crash, hoping for some positive news but knowing that this was a very, very serious crash and the news is not likely to be good as we learn more. our hearts and our prayers go out to all of those affected. i rise at this late hour to join my colleagues in expressing my grave concern, my alarm at the new administration's attempt to discard the rule of law, expand executive power, and in so doing, threaten the well-being of communities across the country, including in new

hampshire. typically when presidents are inaugurated, especially after a divisive election, they try to bring the country together. they focus on what unites americans. president trump campaigned on a platform promising to bring down costs for families. this is a priority of mine and a priority of granite staters, and i would welcome commonsense good-faith efforts to work together to bring down costs. despite my deep and meaningful differences with the president, i am and remain willing to work together to help lower costs for families. but in the opening days of the trump administration, it has been overwhelmingly clear that lowering costs is not one of president trump's priorities. this administration's priorities have ranged from the ridiculous to the reckless.

unconcerned with delivering relief and results, more concerned with exacting retribution and revenge, pardoning violent criminals who attack police officers, firing inspector generals would are the government's watchdogs, and freezing federal grants, an illegal act that should they go through with it would be devastating for the lives of everyday americans in every corner of our country and would signal a break with our principles of self-government. the president isn't going after high prices. he's going after the rule of law. he's going after our system of self-government. he's going after our government's ability to support communities and families across the country. and he needs to reverse course now. in new hampshire our love of freedom runs deep.

new hampshire was the first colony to sign the declaration of independence. patriots from new hampshire under colonel john stark fought in one of the first major battles of the revolutionary war, the battle of bunker hill. years later, the colonel wrote the words that would become our state's motto, a motto recognized by people in faraway corners of the world, including ukraine. the words live free or die. for us granite staters, these words represent an unwavering belief in the idea of self-government, that the government's powers derive from the consent of the governed. we secured our freedom through the rule of law and our constitution. we believe as americans across this country believe that this great country of ours has no use for a king. nor do we have any use for

anyone who confuses themselves with a king. we secured these freedoms through the rule of law and our constitution. we did all this not only because we believed in our values of freedom, the rule of law, and democracy are noble principles, though indeed they are, but because freedom, the rule of law, and democratic small government are still the best means to improve people's lives. presidents from both parties have been committed to this principle, but the actions of the trump administration have demonstrated a break with the rule of law and self-government that ten years ago would have been impossible to imagine being tolerated by either political party. let me run through some of the most egregious priorities that this administration is advancing instead of doing what the american people expect them to do, which is working to lower costs for families. as the first day of the new

trump administration drew to a close, the president chose to pardon the violent criminals who assaulted police officers, stormed these halls, and tried to overthrow our free and fair election. he has referred to these criminals as patriots. the patriots on january 6 were the capitol police who saved lives, including the vice president's, and saved our democracy. the violent criminals who assaulted police officers, who beat them with fists appeared flag poles within an inch of their lives do not deserve our praise nor our pardon. to pardon them, as the president did, is to venerate lawlessness, reward violence and betray police officers. police officers have some of the hardest jobs around. they deserve a president who has their backs.

instead is the president sent the message that violence against s&ls is per -- have ens police officers is permissible, even laudable if it is in his name or to advance his political cause. i'd suggest that the president meet with the families of those officers and explain to them why these criminals deserved a pardon, why he thinks people who attack police officers are patriots. the pardons have been issued. these violent criminals are now free. january 6 is now a part of our history and time marches on. but the shamefulness of the president's decision will not fade away. of course, the pardons were only the beginning. by the end of the week, late on friday night, the president attempted to fire at least 17 federal inspectors general. inspectors general offices are

indispensable watchdogs who identify tens of billions of dollars in savings per year, and they crack down on fraud, abuse, and corruption. they hold big corporations to account, preventing those corporations from ripping off the american taxpayer, such as through overpayments on federal contracts or medicare reimbursement. but in order to do their jobs effectively, inspectors general are supposed to be apolitical and independent. they need to be able to operate without fear or favor. their job is not to serve the president's agenda. their job is to serve the american people. but president trump, in a reckless, illegal and politically motivated act tried to reduce what is a pillar of government accountability to a rubber stamp for his agenda. even if one is not concerned with the illegality of this act,

though you certainly would hope that the president would be concerned with following the law, this action to expand and consolidate executive power does nothing to bring down costs and, in fact, will make government less efficient, open the door to rampant corruption, and waste more taxpayer money. so why is an inspector general important? to begin with, an inspector general tasked with finding ways to save taxpayer money would not do so by releasing a memo freezing federal grant funding across the board for every community in every corner of the country. in a truly unprecedented act, president trump ordered the freeze of nearly all federal grant funding. this includes grant funding for firefighters, for police departments, for care and shelter for veterans, for disaster relief, for resources

to fight the spread of fentanyl, for law enforcement fighting drug trafficking, for school lunches, for special education for students with disabilities, for small business grants, for community health centers; in short, for virtually every part of american life. then the administration released a memo doubling down on these efforts and offering more chaos and more questions than answers. communities across the country began to scramble to find out if they were losing their funding and for how long. my office and the office of every senator and governor in the country have been deluged with frantic calls from our constituents desperate for answers. the administration announced that the moment mow had been -- memo had been rhea sun suh -- rescinded.

the white house continues to send out confused and chaotic messages. the administration has suggested that those of us who are speaking out about the devastating consequences of their actions are being alarmist. they have given glib's assurances that the funding from particular programs will not be cut. this is, of course, ridiculous. this is the white house's mess. this is the president's chaos. it's not on the american people to do the white house office of budget and management's job for them. i.t. not on the american people -- it's not on the american people to determine how this order is being implemented and what funds are being impacted. it's on this white house. it's on this president to take ownership of a mess that started with the president's orders. this self-inflicted disaster.

the alarm that i hear from my constituents is real because the devastating consequences to our communities and our families, if these grants remain frozen, are very, very real. these grants are not toys to be played with. they're not a political football to toss around. behind every one of these grants are people whose lives depend on this funding. it is not okay, it is no, sir permissible for the people who rely on these grants to be left waiting for clarity from the administration, hoping that the president can sum up enough mag anytime to restore this funding. let me talk about why these grants matter, the people whose lives are being played with. in new hampshire, granite stairs have been devastated by the fentanyl crisis. everyone in our state knows someone or knows someone who

knows someone who's been personally affected by this crisis. last year a woman who i was talking with about the mental health of our young people in our schools approached me after an event, told me that she had lost three brothers to the fentanyl crisis. three brothers from one family. far too many young people have been lost to addiction. far too many promising futures have been lost. young people with a lifetime's worth of hopes and aspirations cruelly dashed by an overdose. in new hampshire, it's been a struggle just keeping our heads above water when fighting this crisis. every time we begin to get a handle on it, a new threat emerges. it is tough work that has required the dedication of

public servants from across our community -- law enforcement officers, addiction specialists, teachers, and school administrators, veterans organizations, hospitals, parents. it has required the uncommon devotion of everyone, and while we've made progress, the challenge is still as daunting as anything our state has ever faced. the progress that we have made, though, has been possible in part through federal grant programs, including the state opioid response grant, grants to community health centers, funding for law enforcement, and recovery services block grants. this funding across a range of sectors has allowed us to get more resources behind successful programs and strategies that have proven records of working. for rural communities in particular, these federal

dollars make an extraordinary difference. lives have been saved because of this funding, but president trump would end these grants. another grant which would be frozen by this order are grants for firefighters. the firefighter grant program has been invaluable in helping fire departments in big cities and small towns alike to modernize their equipment, hire more firefighters and provide more training so that our first responders can do their jobs safely and effectively. being a firefighter, mr. president, is an unimaginably tough job. every day they know that they can be called to rush into danger to save lives. i've had the privilege of visiting fire departments across our state that have benefitted from this program, including in burling where thanks to federal grant funding they were able to secure a new engine which will

replace one that the fire department has had to rely on for 43 years. our firefighters need to remain on the cutting edge so that they can do their jobs and get home safe. but president trump would end those grants. federal grants are also indispensable for keeping police departments fully funded. for instance, cops grants are vital for giving departments the resources to remain fully staffed. new hampshire received a $1 million cops grant in 2023 to help develop an anti-heroin task force, at a time when police departments are often stretched to the limit, freezing these funds is reckless and dangerous. let me be clear on this point. i have proudly stood up to members of both political parties when they've attempted to defund our police departments. the most important job of government is keeping people

safe. defunding police departments is always wrong, and president trump's order to defund police departments is wrong now. then perhaps we shouldn't surprised. after all, a president who would pardon violent criminals who assaulted police officers can't be trusted to put police officers first. and his political ambitions second. this is just a small sampling of the grants and people -- people -- who would object affected by an across-the-board funding freeze. president trump seems to spend most of his time with the multimillionaires and billionaires who want even more tax cuts for those already at the top. the president perhaps would know the dangers of his actions if he knew the granite staters that i know. who i have the privilege of representing. the president has been to new hampshire in the past and seen

our state from the stage of his rallies. he has seen new hampshire under the glow of television lights, under the gaze of cameras, surrounded by campaign signs emblazoned by his name. but perhaps the granite staters who have been calling in alarm to my office, he would learn about the people whose lives would be hurt by this grant freeze. because if he talked with new hampshire police officers, he'd know that they need every dollar they can get as they work to get fentanyl off our streets, as they try to keep our children safe from addiction, danger, and despair. if he had listened to the granite staters who volunteer at our homeless shelters, he would hear about how federal funding is used to help homeless veterans, to ensure that our heroes have a place to rest their heads on a snowy, cold new hampshire night.

earlier this month i had the privilege of visiting sunset heights elementary school. i talked with students. they told me about what they were learning and why they loved their school. i saw firsthand how federal funds helped pay for their special education programs, programs that help ensure that every child counts, that every child has a chance to learn, to dream, to reach their full potential. it was a wonderful day. these were cuffle kids. and -- these were wonderful kids. no one is made better off by having the funding for their special education programs jeopardized, frozen or taken away. or perhaps, mr. president, if you knew the granite staters who live in berlin, in new hampshire's north country, you need not look further than the new breathing apparatus that they now have, that's ready for our bravest to grab as they run towards danger, to know why

these grants matter. and should not be frozen. because this act, freezing these grants, would prevent other stations from getting the help that the berlin fire department received. mr. president, do you think it was a mistake that the berlin fire department received this grant? these are the people, the faces behind these grants, this federal funding, our fellow americans who live, breathe, and provide for their families within the margins of these budget lines, whose dignity and safety, whose hopes and aspirations should be regarded as more than just the stitching of a political football. perhaps the administration will restore some or even all of this funding, but it shouldn't have to come to this. even now, the american people

don't know what funding is affected and what funding is not. the american people, the people who the president serves, would like to know. would this administration be inclined to make up their mind on precisely what funding they would like to freeze, what funding they would like to take a away? the american people want to know what part of the american life is the president will to devastate. people's safety, their jobs, their health, their fire and police departments, their lives should not wait in the dock subject to the confused wordings and impulsive whims of the next tweet or ill-advised memo to be issued again and then again. we work for the american people, and they deserve so much better.

president trump's order will not only hurt the lives of americans all across the country. the order's also illegal and at odds with our american belief in self-government. the president does not have the authority to freeze or take away funds that have already been allocated by congress. it's congress, not the president, who makes laws. that's not a technicality. that's what separates democracies from authoritarian states, presidents from kings. so, even if the administration announces they will restore every dollar of funding, even if they do not threaten any grant in the future, let's be clear -- the money is not the president's to restore, freeze, or take away it does not belong to him. it belongs to the american people. if the president can

unilaterally take away funds from any program he disagrees with, why should we pass laws at all? why even have a legislature? when a president seizes legislative power for himself, it makes one wonder whether or not this president, a president who tried to overturn a free and fair election, truly believes in self-government. now, some of my republican colleagues are inclined to give the president the benefit of the doubt, to voice their concerns but to dismiss the president's actions as perhaps confusing but not wrong. i think that, in a sense, sells the president short. he didn't order this issue by mistake. he is the president of the most powerful country on earth, and his choices are his own. the president's actions to grab power were not an elaborate accident. the president didn't pardon the

january 6 rioters by accident. the president did not try to fire 17 inspectors general by accident. the president did not order the freeze of all federal grants by accident. the president deserves the respect to be treated as a leader who is responsible for his own actions. if the white house didn't want confusion regarding the freezing of these funds, they wouldn't have issued the order. if the white house didn't believe that the president has the unilateral power to take away funds allocated by congress, then they wouldn't insist that he has the authority to do so. and let me be clear -- leaders who respect the values that define us as americans, freedom, democracy, the rule of law, they don't confuse violent criminals with patriots, and leaders who intend to govern above reproach do not fire the

people's watchdogs in the cover of night. the president is using his opening days in office to test our society's capacity of outrage, to test the loyalty of the republican caucus, and to push the limits of the rule of law and self-government to, in short, see how far he can go. perhaps even hoping that in this relentless tumult we have become accustomed to the bending and breaking of the law. i understand that my republican colleagues support the president. i understand that they support much of his agenda. but this is a pivotal moment. my republican colleagues need to decide just how far they are willing to go. if they're not concerned by the president's actions, i urge them

to consider the precedent that president trump is setting up. would they be comfortable with a future democratic president purging the government of all of its watchdogs? would they bestow on a democratic president the power to unilaterally defund programs that congress passed into law? because this will not be the last time that president trump will test the limits of what my republican colleagues are willing to swallow. that is, of course, the problem with appeasement -- once the bully is appeased, the bully simply demands more and more. and even if the president restores all of these grants, even if this entire episode is mere sound and fury, that restoration offers no promises for tomorrow when a leader gains

a power. history tells us that they are inclined to use it. and they are certainly not inclined to give it away. the decision to give the president the power of the legislature to control the purse will live on beyond this night. my republican colleagues have to decide if abdicating their authority as the people's trusted representatives to make laws is a bridge too far or is merely a lamentable and acceptable burden to appease this president. so, it's unfortunate, to say the least, that we are mired in this chaos. we live in such a great country. america is positioned to outcompete our rivals. we have the best scientists, entrepreneurs, workers and fighting for in the world.

what more could we do? what great things could we accomplish if we were not devoting our energies to overcoming chaos of our own making? a president -- of president trump's own making, of devoting all of our hours to binding self-inflicted wounds? i know that both parties and the president can find ways to work together. we've done it before during the president's first term. for instance, to end surprise medical billing, get more resources to tackle the fentanyl crisis, and to deliver for veterans. i'm always willing to put in the work to do what's best for new hampshire in the country. there this moment, perhaps -- in this moment, perhaps above all else, the people want us to work together to bring down high costs, and it is remarkable to me that the president and his

party have declined so far to introduce a single piece of legislation to lower costs. make no mistake -- pardoning violent criminals who attacked police officers doesn't lower costs for families. nor does removing the portraits of decorated generals from the pentagon. nor does removing security details from the president's political foes. nor does firing the people's watchdogs or freezing funding for veterans, for police departments, for firefighters. no one's rent will be easier to pay. no one's grocery bill will be any lighter. the president's actions will not bring down any cost for families! but that doesn't mean that they come without a price. the price is the millions an inspector general might have saved. the price is paid by the

families who will be hurt. the price is paid by our police officers who may lose funding. the price is paid by the families of capitol police officers who the president of the united states has let down! the price we, the people, are asked to pay is our commitment to self-government, our commitment to the notion that inspired delegates in a hall in philadelphia, that in america we do not seek to be ruled, that we are capable of solving problems and making decisions, and that no one is above the law, because here we believe in government of, by, and for the people. the price is, in short, all of the beliefs that inspired us, who serve in this chamber to

enter public service. the price is nothing less than the very ideals that make us proud to call ourselves americans. as we near midnight, we will mark the birthday of another president, franklin delano roosevelt. it was roosevelt who, when speaking of the freedoms enshrined in our constitution, said, quote, those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them, closed quote. we've come too far and sacrificed far too much for freedom and for the miracle of self-government for us to discard these ideals for political expediency, to dispense with the rule of law as the latest casualty of the president's self-described quest

for, quote, retribution, closed quote. i hope my republican colleagues tell the president that he went too far and they reverse course. but for now, the president should know that, no matter what he does, we're not going to grow accustomed to illegality. we will not resign ourselves to the lives of our fellow americans being imperiled for his political gain. if he wishes to fire the people's watchdogs in the black of night, then he can expect us to stand here on the floor and speak out as the clock strikes midnight. the president will do whatever he does, but he will not do so to a silent chamber. we still believe in se self-government. it's been nearly 250 years since we declared our independence,

but we have yet to gain an appetite for a king. in the live free or die state, we remain a freedom-loving people. we know that problems get solved for real people, for real families, that prices get low lowered, that people have a chance to build a future, to own a home, to save for retirement, to send their kids to college. to have a vacation, to live a life that they build in the way that is best for them. we know that the way to do that is to ensure that our democracy serves the people, that our democracy preserves their power,

that public servants are accountable to their const constituents. that's how we make sure that the american dream continues. i urge the president to reverse course, to get to work on a bipartisan basis, to stop the uncertainty and unpredictability that so many people are faced with right now as they try to make decisions about keeping a day care center open, hiring new police to keep our streets safe, hiring nurses to keep our rural hospitals open. that's the decisions, the day-to-day decisions, being impacted by the president's recklessness

. i urge the president again to refer -- reverse course, to get to work on a bipartisan basis, to do what he needs to do, to listen to people, bring down co costs, and deliver for the american people. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: thank you, mr. president. it's a somber night as we pray for safety and recovery and thank the first responders, and we wrap up for the evening. we'll be back tomorrow, and as long as it takes to reverse this federal funding freeze. today was a good day. it was a small victory for the

reversal of this illegal act. i think the most important thing for everybody to remember on both sides of the aisle is that nobody is unconstrained by the law. we have three separate and coequal branchs of government. and i think people on both sides of the aisle consider this president sort of unusually not constrained by political outcry or legal constraints. and i think the most important thing for all of us to remember is that the laws of gravity apply to all of us. and the laws of the land apply to all of us. and so if you're on the left and you're worried about what's going to happen, it's important to know public outcry works. the law still stands. the constitution still stapdz -- still stands. if you're on the right, you should also remember that the door swings both ways in washington, d.c. and elsewhere.

you probably want to be careful about how much power you delegate away from the congress to the chief executive of the united states. so we'll be continuing to talk about this. this is not a one-day thing. this is not a one-week thing. this is not a one-month thing. we're in this for the long haul. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 12:00 stands adjourned until 12:00

federal judge sydney stein address the former senator telling them somewhere along the way you became, i'm sorry to say , a corrupt politician. she continues now 71 years old tearlly pleaded for leniency. the judge told him, again, i do not know what led you to this. greed was certainly part of it. i do not know. you'll have to try to figure that out for yoursf over time. mr. menendez was first elected to the u.s. house in 1992 before becoming a u.s. senator in 26. ♪♪

>> c-span "washington journal" a live forum for politics, public policy. washington, d.c. and across the country. coming up thursday morning, bobby cogan for the center for american progress will discuss the trump administration rescinding a federal aid freeze. a paragon health institute will review the top healthcare priorities for the trump administration. c-span's "washington journal," joined in the conversation live at 7:00 p.m. eastern -- 7:00 a.m. thursday morning on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. on thursday, president trump stick to lead the fbi cash patel will be on capitol hill to speak with senators about his nomination. hes a former justice department prosecutorho previously worked as senior counsel to house intelligence committee and as an