because of it. thank you. i yield back. >> we will leave this here but you can continue watching on the c-span no video app. we had live now to use senate lawmakers are considering president trump's cabinet nominees, scott turner and russell vought. first vote is scheduled for 11:30 eastern. life now to the senate on c-span2. amen. prouflt prouflt every every ever fsh every the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. our chaplain, dr. barry black,

will open the senate with prayer. united states senate office of chaplain: let us pray, almighty god, creator, preserver, redeemer, and judge, strengthen our senators for their work today. provide them with the resiliency needed to handle challenges and pressures. as you illuminate their path with the light of your wisdom, infuse them with the patience to persevere with your efforts to do your will. in the storms and strains of leadership, may they not deplete their faith by majoring in minors and minoring in jurors. instead may they trust you in

the face of perplexities. empower them to practice the golden rule of treating others the way they themselves desire to be treated. and, lord, bless the national prayer breakfast program tomorrow. we pray in your holy name, amen. stal stal stal >> i pledge alonance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: under the previous order the provision, leadership time is reserved. under the previous order the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of housing and urban development, eric turner, of texas, to be secretary. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa is recognized. mr. grassley: sometime today we're confirming scott turner, a the new secretary of housing and urban development. as a former nfl cornerback, developer, state and local official, and executive director of the white house opportunity and revitalization council, mr. turner understands the

challenges facing american communities. while the vast majority of housing and development issues are solved at the local and state level, i certainly understand how the federal government and the programs utilized by many iowa individual families and communities assist with making our cities the best place to live, work, and play. i look forward to working with scott turner to advance iowa's priorities and sound policies for our nation. even though i did not meet with scott turner in my office, as i do most nominees for cabinet, i stressed to him today the importance of responding to congressional letters and inquiries, and i'll have an example on that in just a minute.

i want to explain that congress has the constitutional duty to perform oversight over the executive branch and -- and as we learned in our high school government classes, what we call checks and balances. congress not only passes laws and appropriates money, but we have a responsibility to make sure those laws are faithfully executed by whoever is president of the united states. oversight then allows us to hold bureaucrats accountable to the rule of law and it helps keep the faith with taxpayers. because you if -- because if we have transparency in government, we have greater accountability of the government product or lack thereof. let me give you an example for congressional over -- where

congressional oversight has been much needed in housing and urban development. congress passed legislation that became effective july 2013 that requires federal contracts to include anti-retaliation protections for contractor employees. this works to make sure that whistleblowers are protected. however, over the last decade, the hud inspector general found that thousands of hud contractors lacked these whistleblower protections because the agency failed to adequately update past contracts to include whistleblowers and whistleblower protections. last august, following up on my responsibility to investigate, i requested answers and records

about these findings but housing and urban development, under the biden administration, failed to fully respond and provide responsive records. i fully expect mr. turner, as the new secretary, to respond to all the congressional inquiries in a timely and responsible manner. i look forward to working with this new secretary to support long-term housing and revitalization policies to keep our communities, our states, and our nation strong. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

and so we have bill we have present today and donald trump wants to produce more energy but president from being able to crush our energy industry. hopefully we see a strong vote there. finally as a native born new orleans i would like to welcome all of you to new orleans this weekend for the super bowl. we're proud to be welcoming the world of course thank the nfl the relationship we've had with them and the commissioner to bring yet another super bowl that ties the record for the most super bowls held in one arena. we are proud to display what is i think the city has never looked better, the superdome is never looked better. we're welcoming president donald trump to the game and he will

hopefully see a very spirited contest between the two teams. i'm a saints fan, so i will just be ready for a competitive game but hopefully y'all can come down and you are the best food in the world, enjoy some of the best culture you will ever see with the best people. with that, bring up the speaker of the house. >> good morning. it's great to see everyone. an overflow crowd. as if there's a lot of news happening i don't know. i want to start by addressing a few things we've heard this week from our democrat colleagues. it's been pretty surprising khmers a few quotes come shut down the city. we are at war. we're going to fight it in the streets. this is what the beginning of a dictatorship looks like. this is the reaction to the flurry of activities out of the new administration, and the present as doing the fact he said on the campaign trail with what he's going to do, would do.

he's delivering on that and we are part of that and were going to do as well. the democratic party truly is seemingly lost. they have no writer, innovation, no leader. feeling message they have is anti-president trump. we've all seen that's a failed strategy time after time. it's not just rhetoric. this week democratic leadership sent a letter to the members that the media characterized as a war plan to take on president trump. the democrats laid out the foundation for a government shutdown. that's their plan. to stop president trump. the question were asking is why did he want to stop them? is it because he's working to bring more oversight to usaid forest mismanage spending? is a because he's using the threat of terrorists and negotiate to treat artists scoreboards? is a because doge doesn't get contracts in helping to carry out president trump's promises of making government more efficient? by laying the foundation for

shut down and away they are the democrats are changing their tune. they are the ones are apocalyptic all the sympathetic terrible harm but because trump is exactly said he would do they change their tune. you all should be asking them about that change of heart and hypocrisy. when trump said he would unleash an american energy dominance and reduce the size of the government and deport dangerous illegal aliens and make community specific and he meant what he said and us that we are seeing. he may campaign promises and now he's moving at a quick pace to deliver on them. what a concept. as i said in an interview yesterday morning i think was i think it's demonstrably true president trump is now done more for the american people in his first two weeks than his predecessor did in all four years. that's going to continue. in congress we're going to work and working up to codify that american first agenda through

legislative action. you heard examples of that what we will be doing this week is continue our efforts to protect american communities by voting on the halt fentanyl act which will probably schedule fentanyl and all fentanyl related substances as a schedule and narcotics are quite set up one? it empowers law enforcement to seize those deadly drugs and go after their producers and distributors and stop the flow. it's an unspeakable tragedy that is now gone on for over four years. we have more than 200 americans lose their lives every single day on average to fentanyl. it's a crisis that demands our immediate action and that's what the president is doing a vessel were doing doing. the halt fentanyl act built on trumped efforts to secure our border southern and northern borders to keep illicit drugs out. republicans are taking decisive strong and immediate action to rid american communities of this poison. elections have sometimes very positive consequences and that's what you're seeing. we're going to unleash american energy dominance and protect

american energy production act is important because president biden clearly waged a war on american main energy particularly oil and gas producers. we're going to make sure this doesn't happen again. house republicans are delivering on our promises and there is a lot more to come. i'm sure you have a few questions. i'll start in the front row. >> can you address the situation that president trump is suggesting moving into gaza? is that an american first policy to send american soldiers into one of the most volatile regions of the world and then suggest the u.s. take control of the region that it has no claim to? >> look, there will be more details forthcoming on that. the initial announcement was greeted with by surprise by many by cheer. people on the run world. that so dangerous.

he's taking pole decisive action to ensure the piece of that region. it's a bold move certainly, far bolder than what's been done before but i think we've got to stand unequivocally in an unwavering manner with israel, our closest ally and friend in the middle east. if we could bring control of the situation and a lasting peace it would do well for everybody not just in region but around the world. it's a volatile place. the strong and decisive is an important step in that regard. i mention netanyahu being the first international leaders to meet with the president in the white house is more than symbolism but it is a simple and shows the world we are not going to equivocate. the previous administration did that. they try to appease iran and its proxies. they frankly encumbered israel so may times. you were single reversal of that. our allies around the world appreciate that.

i know because i talked to lots of leaders around the world epipen very nervous about the instability there and this could be a bold step. let's withhold judgment and see more developers when they come. >> to your point on president trump on two on his promises. another promise was -- [inaudible] white house seek to codify? >> here's the thing on the federal department of it. it's been a discussion and a priority for our party for a long time. we believe in the core principle that education is best handled live the people closest to the kids do what does that mean? local school district, local school boards, at the state-level rather than than the federal level. you empower parents would you do that, give them more choice. that's why we're advocates for school choice, advocates for charter schools and innovative ideas. you can return american education to a place of prominence and success if you allow those things to happen.

teachers unions were viciously fight of course in the idea of this been the department of education. the principal one, the time has come. we seemed the ratings. the u.s. is falling far behind other countries. the system is not working. president trump ran for president and we ran to hold the majority. we pressured people e big bold decision to change things and that is an idea whose type is, and again like everything else got to wait for more details to be laid out. you are going to see a lot of support among house and i think senate republicans for the general idea of pushing the decisions down back down to the local level. that's something that would serve us all well. >> i want you to be clear. and he said what the president the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, tomorrow the senate will be voting on the nomination of russell vought to be director of the office of management and

budget. i could talk about the extensive experience, policy experience that has helped prepare him for this position, but mr. vought has an even bigger qualification for this position, and that is the fact that he's already held it. that's right, mr. vought already served as director of the office of management and budget in president trump's first administration. so there's no question that he will be able to hit the ground running. mr. president, as director of omb, mr. vought will have the chance to address two key economic issues -- cutting burdensome government regulations, and addressing excessive spending. government regulation has a direct effect, not only on our economy but americans' pocketbooks. regulations can drive up americans' energy bills, they can drive up the cost of housing, of a new car, of appliances, the list goes on and on. the history of the past four years under the biden administration is a history of

burdensome new regulations. republicans are determined to alleviate that regulatory burden for the sake of economic growth and to improve the lives of hardworking americans. and i know that mr. vought will make getting rid of burdensome regulations a priority. i know that mr. vought is already also committed, i should say, to addressing our spending problems. our country is currently on a dangerous spending track, with debt held by the public set to hit a staggering $52 trillion by 2035. that, mr. president, is not sustainable. and identifying ways to rein in our spending and to target government waste has to be a priority. i'm confident mr. vought will help lead that charge. mr. president, one of my top priorities for the senate the beginning of this year was processing president trump's nominees. i'm very pleased to say that mr. vought's confirmation will bring the total number of nominees confirmed since the inauguration to 13.

that's roughly twice as fast as nominees were confirmed at the start of the two previous administrations. the senate will take up additional nominees next week and will maintain an aggressive pace to get the president's full team in place as soon as possible. mr. president, while our falks in the senate -- while our focus has been on nominees, we've worked in votes on a few pieces of legislation. the laken riley act, which the president signed last wednesday, is congress' first installment in our work to combat illegal immigration. it is not, of course, a comprehensive bill, but it will ensure that illegal immigrants who steal, assault a law enforcement officer, or kill or seriously injury another person are detained by immigration and customs enforcement instead of being allowed back out on the street. had such a law been in place last year, it is possible that laken riley would still be alive

today. i'm thankful we were finally able to pass this important legislation. mr. president, the laken riley act joins the work the trump administration has been doing to keep dangerous illegal immigrants off our streets. since president trump's inauguration, his border czar, how homeland security team, led by secretary noem, have been working around the clock to take murderers, rapists, gang members, and other dangerous criminals into custody in preparation for being deported. reading list of crimes these individuals committed is horrifying, and it is incredible that they have been allowed to remain in our country. i'm grateful that we now have a president who is serious about protecting americans from criminal aliens. republicans in congress are working on legislation to support the president's efforts, and we will ensure that the president has the manpower and detention space needed to detain and deport individuals who threaten the safety of our

streets. mr. president, it's been a busy few weeks here in the senate. i'm looking forward to more as we continue to confirm the president's nominees and deliver on an agenda for the american people. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

you will recognize for five minutes for the opening statements. >> thank you, chairman latta. chairman kathy, vice chairman weber, ranking member pallone, ranking member castor, distinguished members of the subcommittee thank you for the invitation to appear before you today. i am brigham, a senior fellow at the hudson institute and director of the initiative on american energy security. i am also professor and executive in residence at miami university, oxford, ohio. one who did it in my personal capacity i've been blessed to add a portfolio career over the last four decades during which i've worked for cabinet members of both political parties. i served in a military, have run businesses as well as my current work in academic and nonprofit sectors. energy as has been testified to today is the glue that binds

everything together. it empowers our cities, our factories, our commercial buildings, our farms and our homes here energy is the lifeblood of this nation. it enables us to both reach for the stars and travel to 16 family and friends. life is not sustainable without energy and lots of it. at our core energy is hardest for the betterment of society and throughout human history global energy demands have only risen. this is especially true of advanced countries where energy usage is in many ways a reflection of the wealth and strength of a nation. keep vote of energy like innovation, technology, reliability, affordability are not static. this is especially true in our modern world where our energy demands continue to grow quite quickly. we are blessed to be an energy abundant nation and to draw on

many sources of energy. our energy mix is the envy of the world. it is an economic strength. it is a national security strength, and that can increase her safety and that of our allies. our national interest is best served to understand the benefits of merrick energy. even with remarkable improvements in technology and efficiency, economic growth, future prosperity require more energy. national security, that is the united states ability to project power globally, to protect americans and allied interests requires secure access to a diverse energy source and raw materials. market access to the quantities of types of energy when and where they are needed along with the security and resiliency of the energy system requires thoughtful and sustained long-term capital investment. at its core energy security is

simply the ability to ensure the uninterruptible access of reliable and affordable power, period. these investments are required across the entire value chain. investments in producing raw materials and in production, the infrastructure required for distribution, for storage, for research or development. the key to maximizing our energy advantage as has already been stated is to ensure a predictable and stable policy environment. the same is true for allies who depend on stable supplies of energy products. without our exports to europe in the aftermath of russia's invasion of ukraine in 2022, europe would have faced even more difficult circumstances that it already has endured. circumstances that were upfront the result of policy decisions.

similarly allies like it d require the importation of energy supplies. countries like japan simply lack the raw materials. energy abundance enhances economic security and our national security while energy poverty weakens us, weakens our economic security, weakens our national security. by working together we can continue to unleash one of our inherent strengths pics on my refer to this as energy dominance but regardless of the term we have a unique opportunity to restore balance to our energy policies, to our energy mix and to protect ourselves against geopolitical instability while supercharging the american economy. thank you. i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much. that concludes our opening statements from our witnesses. again we appreciate you all being here today.

the chair recognizes himself for five minutes for questions. wonder the thinks effort effort from all our witnesses today is that we have to have more energy not less. the latest report to cannot in january talked about what to looking at and the need from the projection. they are talking about in the summer peak we're going to go from 70,000 megawatts, to 220,000 megawatts in the summer in less than 15 years. the things they talk about that is how we're going to get there. and what the problems are is our demand is growing faster, at a faster pace than ever before. it's what we've all heard, the proliferation of our data centers, electrification of buildings and vehicles and manufacturing. another problem is new

replacement resources with the need reliability are not being fast enough to get us there. one of things if i could share with you, you mentioned again what we heard from all is the need for more energy. that requirement for more energy especially when we look at our data centers that are going across our country and you talk about smr. how do you see smr and how can that help with this exponential growth were having in the need for power? >> thank you for the question, mr. chairman. i'd like to recognize the event act which you pass, and a porn first towards renewing our nuclear power. ..

no two reactors are designed the same it takes a long time to permit them, the streamline of licensing modernization of regulation and can help move us forward and with the smr the capable of being plugged in mind to tempt them to grow in scale as energy demand scale i think the reporting component of our energy mix and something far too long we've been reluctant to deploy nuclear energy hopefully something at the nrc will help with. >> thank you very much. hopefully in our scores the american energy expansion in the best way to incentivize can you

speak about the role of long-term regulatory and predictability have on the decisions produced to deliver more energy? >> the way the markets think about investment over long-term capital rising we invest over decades and 20 years in some cases we need to tell marcus randall bipartisan basic. what i would add it is extraordinarily not just for the markets but to produce not only to help us from an economic perspective. we have to change the reality

talking once again of a.i. to restoring your manufacturing and unleashing our energy in burgum anymore fuel and pipeline, what is your view with more investment capital through regulatory and predictability in the last 50 seconds. >> thank you for the question is critically important building the workforce and maintaining the workforce those are planned or what our contractors are going to do is try to make sure they have the capacity to execute properly we have the right of autoworkers to accomplice those projects. when those don't realize it's really compounded even more. now that contractor has a massive open part of their schedule that anticipated performing on work and that

could lead to layoffs of different things that can negatively affect our workers and members that certainly is critical to their success in the success of the apprenticeship program training the new workers as well. >> thank you i yield back the balance of my time that she recognizes the banking member of subcommittee for five minutes for questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman and the witnesses for being here today and mr. o'connor thank you for all of your work you were instrumental in helping us craft the portions on modernizing the grid a.i. one of the overriding aims with infrastructure law was to put money into the pockets of hard-working families and small business summers and a host of different ways by providing an

to weatherize their homes where the summers are longer and hotter they can weatherize home and save on their electric bill or tax credits for appliances or rebates and again, to be able to save money thankfully when they have to go out by the new appliance and independent researchers have resources for the future conduct of modeling on the ira and in the next decade hard-working families will save significant hours should he go overhead to $70 billion and hundreds of dollars into the pocketbooks of families that could use it right now. mr. o'connor there's a discussion underway mr. schumer: i ask unanimous

consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, yesterday leader jeffries and i announced legislation to stop unlawful meddling by doge or other entities in the treasury department's payment system. our bill will deny access to the payment system by anyone designated as a, quote, special government employee. in other words, people who aren't required to disclose conflicts of interest. our bill will deny access to anyone with conflicts of interest or lack of appropriate clearance. imagine, where all the federal funds are going out and someone has a conflict of interest and has access to those funds and can do something with them? that's a formula for waste. that's a formula that makes sure that money isn't spent wisely but is spent to accommodate the needs of a special few. and our bill will ensure that treasury payments can only be

accessed by those with proper clearance. everyone should agree that making the government more efficient and more effective is a good thing. but doge's scorched earth policies are dangerous and unlawful. that's their approach. history shows that when this kind of stuff is done in the dark of night with no guardrails by a limited group of people who don't really know the programs they're dealing with, it leads to bad results. if treasury payments were ever intentionally or even accidentally halted or manipulated, it could paralyze the economy. and doge has said they want to cut $it trillion -- $2 trillion, $2.5 trillion from the budget. well, that's going to be massive cuts done again by people who don't know the programs. don't know the whole extent of what the government is doing. some of it might be wasteful. get rid of it. but much of it is good and

needed. one mistake and people's social security benefits could freeze. one mistake and disability payments to veterans, loans to small businesses could all be in danger. if doge's meddling cause us to default, it could compromise the full faith and credit of the united states. and that would hurt everybody. because interest rates would go up on everything. cars, homes, you name it. the omb funding freeze last week was disastrous enough, but a doge funding freeze would be far worse if guardrails are totally thrown out the window. and that seems to be what's happening. we don't know any guardrails. sure haven't been made public. we should talk about reform here in the open, in the halls of congress, in the public forums of the people's government. that's how it's been done by democrat, republican, liberal, conservative for centuries. because we all know the founding

fathers know -- knew, historians know, democracy doesn't work in the shadows. autocracy does. not democracy. democracy does not skirt the rule of law. the american people deserve to have a seat at the table when these important decisions are made, but so far doge is operating entirely in the dark. our legislation would correct it. we're going to do anything and everything we can legislatively to try and get this done and maybe at some point we'll get some help from the other side of the aisle if they see how bad doge's actions are. omb and vought. if you want to understand the risk of letting doge take over the treasury department, all you have to do is look at what happened last week at omb. omb unilaterally froze trillions in potential spending and

unleashed chaos. that's why today i will join every single democrat in opposing the nomination of russell vought, all 47 democrats are opposed to vought's nomination. and we will take the floor early this afternoon and spend the whole night discussing how bad this nomination is, how badly it affects working families. his confirmation would be a disaster for working families. and a godsend to billionaires who don't pay their fair share in taxes. what they want, cut any program, we don't care what they are, what the consequences are, we don't care how it hurts people, as long as we, the ultrawealthy, can get a deeper tax break even though they're doing very well right now. so we will come to the floor and sound the alarm on russell vought through the night. we will expose his ultraright record as the chief architect of project 2025. we will expose how he's turning

project 2025 into the white house agenda. when donald trump was running for president and 2025 was made public, it was regarded so more arrively by the american people that donald trump had to say i don't know anything about it. but right now with vought who is one of the chief architects of project 2025, as head of omb, all of it, much of it damaging, dangerous for the american people will be implemented. and that's why americans do not want russell vought, the author of 2025, to head such an all powerful, all-encompassing agency as omb. we will hold firm in standing against russell vought because of all the ways he standses against the working people of america. now, on head start and the effect of the funding freeze. even after -- even a week after donald trump backed off his ill

desi designed funding freeze, the collateral damage still lingers for millions aloss the country. he was forced by public pressure, by senate democrats and by others to back off on the funding freeze. but that doesn't mean the harm all went away. it's still being done. and a painful example is the damage done to head start programs everywhere. every single head start program was halted last week despite white house claims that they were exempt. and that's a fact. just go ask your head start program in your state. does donald trump realize what head start does? it's child care for kids. it's dental care for kids. it's adult education. does he realize that most families in america are either single-parent families or families who have two parents but both are working? and if there is no head start, the families can get in a panic

almost. who is going to watch the kids? do i have to take off from work? will my boss dock me of pay? will my boss fire me? and how do i get good care for the kids if head start isn't working? it's a nightmare for people throughout the middle class in america. and that's why child care is so important. so why then with that kind of trauma that people would face, that daily worry about how you find child care if head start is gone, it's extremely -- it's supremely cruel and will make life more difficult, more expensive for working families. now, do you want to know where the idea to eliminate head start comes from? russell vought and project 2025. when we're talking about how bad 2025 is and they say oh, we just want to get rid of waste, oh, no. they want to eliminate the whole thing. they explicitly want to

eliminate the program altogether. who cares, they say, what it does to help kids and parents. that's another reason why democrats will never, never support someone like russell vought to lead the omb. we'll all oppose him on the floor and speak about it as i said through the night. even in a week after the funding freeze supposedly ended, i'm still getting calls from head start programs throughout new york. they're missing funds, suffering technical issues, or unable to operate at all. and they can't -- there's no one to answer the phone. you're a head start program. you get money every two weeks. you've got to pay the rent. you've got to pay the workers and you call up and say i haven't gotten my check. you say the freeze is over. there's no one at the other end of the line. no one to answer it. it's chaos. cruel chaos. in upstate new york, the head start program that serves wyoming county, very

conservative area, republican area, they haven't received funding in over a week. and have been forced to temporarily close. 200 kids have lost out on child care from this one incident. every single staffer has been laid off. this is the handiwork of my fellow americans, of russell vought and project 2025. put them at omb, you will see a lot more of this, a lot more damage to average working families. it is not just happening in new york. it's happening across the country in states like washington, michigan, connecticut, wisconsin. all of this chaos with head start is precisely what russell vought and project 2025 want. i am writing to hhs demanding they take immediate actions to fix problems with head start. first, we need hhs to fix the payment system and get the money -- get out the money that

is now overdue and we need them to do it now. second, the trump administration must stop the disruptions and fix every glitch preventing head start from an accessing funding. third, third weeks need hhs to stop leaving our child care providers in the dark. they need to explain what went wrong and how they will fix it and how quickly they will fix it and when people will get the dollars they were promised to pay the rent, the workers and take care of the kids. feenlly -- finally, the fbi. yesterday the fbi department handed over a list of thousands of employees involved in the january 6 investigation. these actions have political retribution written all over them and it will get worse if kash patel is named fbi

director. the staff should not have a partisan nominee like kash patel to lead the fbi. i'm demanding a second hearing of mr. patel. he clearly withheld information from senators about plans for political retribution of the fbi. these agents are now on the firing line but it wasn't noun when he first had the hearing that would happen. he clearly withheld that information from senators. either mr. patel serves the interest of the american people or the interests of donald trump, which, of course, all too often i did verge. de -- i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the majority whip.

mr. barrasso: the senate is soon going to vote on the confirmation of scott turner to be the secretary of housing and urban development. he grew up in texas and dreamed of a career in the nfl, he achieved that dream and much more. he helped others achieve their own dreams. this is fundamental to who scott is. they're going to serve him well as the secretary of housing and urban development. scott also has expensive experience in state government and the federal government. after playing in the ffl, he served his community in the texas legislature. in 2019, he oversaw investments in opportunity zones under president trump. in that role, he secured more than $50 billion in private investments for over 8700 economically distressed communities. these investments helped to

revitalize many forgotten communities. senator tim scott, of south carolina, who is now chairman of the banking comm committee, created these opportunity zones in the tax cuts and jobs act. scott turner was instrumental in their success, he's the right man to restore opportunity now. he's going to put his experience and his leadership skills to work for the american people, and i strongly support his nomination. on a separate matter, mr. speaker -- mr. chairman, president trump and republicans were elected to secure the border. that's exactly what we're doing. in his first few weeks in office, president trump declared an emergency at the southern border. he restored remain in mexico, he shut down the biden amnesty app. president trump defunded sanctuary cities, he began

deportation flights for illegal criminal immigrants. he and said the laken riley act into law. he listed drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. he pledged to send 30,000 of the worst illegal immigrant illegals to guam gauantanamo bay. in seattle, couples enforcement agent arrested an an alien who was convicted of raping a child and another was convicted of possessing child pornography, he is being deported. in los angeles, an ms-13 gang member was arrested wanted for murder in el salvador, he's being deported. in houston ice arrested another gang member wanted for assault.

he is being deported. in baltimore, ice arrested a cuban national for drug trafficking and weapons charges, he is being deported. in buffalo, new york, a national was suspected -- in san diego, an afghan national was arrested with terrorist ties, he is now being deported. in all, there were 7,330 arrest of illegal criminals by the end of president trump's first week in office. 97% of illegal immigrants who have been deported in the last 17 days were actually issued removal orders under president joe biden, but they were never removed. that's right. 97% of those deported had been given removal orders under

biden. these are people who should have been removed, who were ordered by a judge to be removed. but, yet, biden and the democrats defied the law of the land and allowed each one of these illegal immigrant criminals to stay. president trump's bold actions are also discouraging future border crossings. on monday we saw the number of illegal crossings drop significantly once again into our nation. this is a drastic reduction from the previous administration. the average number of illegal crossings in the final week of the biden administration was between 1200 and400 each and every can day. all in all, president trump is off to a strong start and there is more to come. congress still has important work to do. i spoke with tom homend

yesterday where we were there for the jair act. his job is to secure the border and deport illegal immigrants. he previously ran immigration and customs enforcement. he knows what it means to secure the border. he said simply to me, i need resources when it comes to securing the border. the best way to get these resources is for congress to pass a targeted bill, a bill that backs up the president's bold actions. the senate is moving quickly to get president trump cabinet in place, we confirmed kristi noem and pete hegseth, congress must be sure they have the resources they need to continue the job, a targeted reconciliation bill will give immigration officials the tools they need to secure

the border. that means funding to finish the law, it means more ice and border patrol agents, more detention beds, that includes guantanamo bay, more technology and not just at the ports but between the ports of entry to stop the flood of illegal immigration. if is essential that we have the man power, technology and the wall to prevent illegal immigrants from coming into our country. all three are needed to fully secure the border. president trump has already acted decisively. a targeted reconciliation bill will be the rocket fuel for safety and for security. this, mr. president, is the golden opportunities to make america safer. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to be able to complete my remarks before the

vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd like to continue along the theme that our majority whip has talked about, particularly their hand-wringing that we're hearing and fearmongering we're hearing from some of our democratic colleagues over president trump's promise to secure the border and the actions that he has taken already in his administration to do exactly that, including enforcing our existing laws by repatriating or deporting people who have no legal right to be here in the first place. so instead of the fearmongering of mass deportations, you might just call it enforcing the law. something that's long overdue and that the biden administration did not do. because the fearmongering is not

based on reality. our democratic colleagues would have the american people believe that an elderly grandmother down the street, a peaceful neighbor who would never hurt a fly and poses no threat to anyone will have ice banging on her door tomorrow morning. well, that's the picture that the left wants the american people to imagine when they hear the words mass deportation. last disease at a judiciary committee -- last december at a judiciary committee hearing, senator durbin went so far as to say that the president's repatriation program would, quote, weaken our armed forces, close quote and quote, devastate our economy, close quote. that's pretty -- a lot of hyperbole there. if that's what enforcing our law means, it certainly sounds disturbing. but the american people can see

right through what our democratic colleagues are trying to do here. they're trying to sow fear into the hearts of the american people that this president, who the majority of the voters elected is going to tear their communities and their families apart. but the image could not be farther from the truth. we know that the biden administration's own policies and failure tone force the -- failure to enforce the law has been doing just that, tearing families and communities apart. start with the fentanyl epidemic in our country that is among the leading causes of death -- the leading cause of death for young people between the age of 18 and 45, and which took the lives of more than 70,000 people last year alone in this country. and then there are the 400,000 or more unaccompanied children who have been trafficked across our own borders and tens of

thousands of these children have simply been lost because of the biden administration's carel carelessness. "the new york times" ran a couple of investigative stories saying they tried to contact the sponsors for 85,000 of these unaccompanied children placed in -- with sponsors during the biden administration and there was no answer and no followup because the biden administration took the responsibility it was no longer their job, it was t the -- the job of the child welfare agencies in the various states. these tragedies are the result of the policy of the biden administration, not the trump administration. and one reason why president trump was elected decisively on november 5. but there's more to the story. untold misery and heartache have been caused by criminals who have entered our country

illegally. by our best estimate roughly 1.7 million got-aways came across the open borders during the biden administration. these are people who, if they were here for let's say benign reasons, could have just turned themselves in to the border patrol and claimed asylum knowing they would be released or would have been paroled by the biden administration given a work permit. but at least 1.7 million got-aways were evading law enforcement frankly because they were up to no good and we've now learned what the toll of this invasion of criminality caused. last summer in houston, texas, named jolin, was found strangled

in a creek by two men from venezuela who entered the country illegally. both had been apprehended by border patrol but had been given a court date and released. last month an illegal migrant from mexico was caught with a blow torch near one of the los angeles fires. this man was on probation and violated that probation. if it is proven that he started the fire, this would be a slap in the face to everyone whose world has been rocked by the devastation we've seen from these terrible fires out in california. and if it turns out that he was the one, one of the ones, who started the fire, that would be another indictment of the policies of the biden administration for the last four years. then two weeks ago, boston ice

officials arrested multiple ms-13 gang members and criminals on a worldwide law enforcement wanted list for serious crimes. they arrested murder and rape suspects, including a member of a haitian gang who had 18 convictions. these were the type of people that the biden administration allowed loose in our country. we know that ice, immigration and customs enforcement, have now arrested criminals who committed sexual assault, domestic violence, and drug and weapon-related crimes. but these are just a few examples of the hundreds of criminal arrests made just in the few short weeks since president trump took office. to the democrats who would decry these arrests, would you want these criminals to be your neighbor?

i'm going to guess the answer's no. with criminal illegal migrants running rampant throughout the country, it's no surprise americans voted overwhelmingly for a president who pledged to reverse the course from this rec levers open-border policies of the biden administration. we know last week president trump signed the laken riley act. i was honored to be present at the white house with our friend and colleague, senator katie britt, to watch him sign this legislation into law. laken riley, for whom this law was named, was a 22-year-old woman who went missing after going on a run. she was killed by a venezuelan national who was also a gang member. he should have never been running loose in our country in the first place. it was president biden's open-border policies that led to this horrific murder of laken

riley. the laken riley act will now, having been signed into law, require the condition of homeland security to detain noncitizens charged with or convicted of theft-related crimes or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury. i introduced an amendment during the deliberations on the bill that would add assaulting a law enforcement officer to that list. as we know here in the senate, there's a 60-vote threshold to be able to close off debate and to actually move on to pass legis legislation, and it ensures that we have bipartisan consensus. and i'm glad to say that the laken riley act passed the senate with bipartisan support. and i appreciate the recognition that the status quo during the previous administration could no longer exist. the laken riley act is not an

example of some extremism, but it's an issue that affects day-to-day safety and the livelihoods of regular americans. i think it's perfectly fair to say that the deportations or repatriations that the trump administration has already begun are very much in the spirit of the laken riley act. department of homeland security secretary kristi noem made clear over the weekend that the trump administration's first priority will be to detain and deport what she called the worst of the worst. that is bad actors with warrants out for arrests, for murder, rape, assault, and drug trafficking. after the criminal aliens are deported, she said the next priority will be individuals under final orders of deportation. in other words, those who have exhausted all possible legal recourse to be able to stay in

the united states, having lost their claim for asylum. mr. president, there are more than 1.5 million, 1.5 million immigrants who've exhausted their legal remedies in a court of law and are under final orders of deportation, but the biden administration simply did nothing about it. so, removing these individuals who have no legal right to remain in the united states, and who've been given due process, and have lost their case, deporting them is a commonsense next step and one that is long overdue. so, when the mainstream media and our democratic colleagues engage in fearmongering about these so-called mass deportations, i hope people remember we're talking primarily about criminals and we're talking about people who have no legal right to remain in the

united states, having exhausted all of their legal remedies in order to do so. i hope we can all agree that these are not people who deserve to remain in america. america naturalizes about a million people a year. i personally believe, and i think americans generally agree, that legal immigration has been the secret sauce for america. it's what helped make us the great country we are today -- prosperous and strong. but it is illegal immigration that has been a scourge and has created much heartache and mi misery, and frankly makes a laughingstock when we talk about the rule of law. removing and deporting en masse the criminals and gangs that entered our country illegally over the last four years, and

face no consequences, means that americans will have less to fear, and they will be safer in their communities and in their homes. they will no longer have to fear that one of their children will accidentally take a fentanyl-laced pill, make it less likely, and we still have work to do there, obviously. and they no longer will have to fear their daughter will go on a run around her college campus or walk to the grocery store and never return home because they've been abducted and murdered by somebody who had no legal right to be here in the first place. by ending president biden's open-border policies and deporting criminals and gang members and people under final orders of deportation, president trump is making our nation safe again. and that's not something we should fear. it's something we should

welcome. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: all time has expired. the question occurs on the turner nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton.

under common motion on 55 - 45 while we wait a final confirmation vote to be called we will show you his confirmation hearing from last month. >> thank you mr. sherman ranking member and the committee i'm so happy and honored to be here with fuel to really think all the members of the committee thank you for your engagement and your ideas of rebuilding the american dream for our nation's forgotten communities it was a pleasure to visit with each and every one of you all but one said that was because of a scheduling conflict. i'm so great to have the time to meet with you, thank you for making the effort and i hope our

conversations will not be the end but only the beginning of a great and true partnership to meet the mission and serve the american people i would also like to take a moment to thank my wife robin who is here with us for her unwavering support over nearly three decades of us being together from college at the university of illinois to the nfl the texas house the white house, business, ministry and our family foundation robin has been a true partner in building god's kingdom and doing the work he's called us to do. i thank you for your support and all the friends and families that are here i want to thank president trump for his confidence and support and nominating me in a crucial position and more so purpose i want to thank president-elect trump. i set before you today as a nominee to lead the department of housing and urban development

but deep down committee members this opportunity is also personal to me i grew up as a kid as mentioned before in richardson texas and before that in texas with my parents i worked as a dishwasher at spring creek barbecue which is one of my claims to fame early on in my childhood my family was broken due to divorce and later moving into a blended family. i love my mother and father and all my brothers and sisters. but when you go through a divorce many would say the odds are now stacked against you. overcame extreme adversity going against the status quo and attended and graduated college in spite of being drafted in the seventh round of the nfl which is the last round for those that don't know i was blessed to have aki successful career in the national football league i went on to serve in the texas legislature which is a great

honor for me and work in the white house to advance opportunities initiative and a symbol for you today committee members humbled by the call to serve my country as a member president trump's cabinet and i know my upbringing and background is not totally unique to me there are many in this country even those that sit in this room today that are one point or another have had to overcome adversity in your own lives we've all been there at one time and i recognize this and i hope we can work together as you have said to better the american dream for the american people and i share my story because i think it's important to know my heart of who i am and because the challenges that are vital to our nation as well as personal to me these are not just things that i heard or read these are things that my family has experienced through the

years and i believe that perspective would be beneficial to hud as a become the leader and confirmed by this committee. hugs mission is to create strong and sustainable community and support quality serving the vulnerable of our nation as we sit here we have a housing crisis ina. our country we have the american people and families that are struggling every day we have a homelessness crisis in our country hud if you will is failing at the most basic mission and that has to come to an end the point in time report set out on december the 27th said there were 770,000 americans homeless on one night in january of 2024, 770,000 plus people many of which our families were homeless this cannot continue winning millions of homes manufacturing, you name

it we needed for individuals and families to have a roof over their head and i call home it says that hud when it comes to employees i been on many teams and i believe we need to bring the staff. i'm talking about policies that work for the making people to lead the opportunity zone initiative am so grateful for your leadership, i saw firsthand the impact of this initiative as it gave americans and underserved communities of opportunity of foundation to start businesses and live to be

self-sustaining and self-confident and and the potential the lord has given in our country and you can tell your coach one thing we do turn on the film and hold the stories the film showed us her weaknesses it showed a star mistakes. this is the same leadership is confirmed by this committee that i want to bring as a leader of hud because we will have an opportunity to get better every day will have the opportunity to take inventory and make had the best place to mr. chairman i'm ready and i thank god for this opportunity and thank you and the committee members. >> thank you for your testimony mr. carter all remind our new member tell them we have a

five-minute clock. thank you very much. i hope you realize this is a bipartisan community we represent around the country and i think government should never serve the party that is in power government should serve all americans no matter if we vote for you or not with the political lane and serve the american people, for me one of the most effective ways to serve people is to go where they are not asked them to come into the bubble of this building that we have to get out of her office and going to the community and one of my questions for you and my first question for you we commit to communities in north charleston is different as

detroit in your for several months on the job i think you need to see, anyways i will finish that i hope that you will go to detroit, michigan in the sense of hopelessness that can be turned into hope i want you to come to my north charleston and take a tour of the impoverished areas and mixed developer. in remind people that we care about everybody and an opportunity zone in job after i thank the president for the employment i said mr. president markley to be here because i'm going to the street where the people are and i went to 70 cities in our country visited places like pennsylvania and

birmingham, alabama, dallas, texas, liberty city miami, yesterday the is a commitment from you from me to you in this committee that i will go to the people of america, visit the neighborhoods and the leaders and serve the leaders of our country and how can we work together to have sustainable solution and make this very important and the housing needs of our citizens and over 7 million in my housing act for the definition of manufacturing needs to be updated in improving the definition of manufactured homes in the removing the per minute chasity requirement is incredibly important to the hud code to manufactured homes.

>> thank you mr. sherman i know how important manufactured homes are when it comes to housing availability and housing affordability look at those codes and all the codes and take inventory and how we can reduce the burden and make it less cumbersome including manufacturer housing is a commitment i do give to you. >> my opening statement the homelessness has increased by 30% since 2020 devastated. and how you would address the issue. >> homelessness i think we need to engage local communities and organizations faith-based organizations, institutions that have real results as combating homelessness. i think the federal government can be a great partner but we need to engage those on the

local level that have great results and pertains to homelessness and work with them. >> the laboratories of democracy give us an opportunity to see what's working and not working we should direct those that are working an opportunity to meet with my democrat mayors in south carolina one of the things they were celebrating the success of opportunities first time bringing affordable housing back into their communities and i've seen that south carolina and this is where my favorite mayor around the country and opportunity zones can you speak to those for creating everyday americans and if you look at the

reports for opportunities and counsel you'll see a million people lifted out of poverty housing whenever minority families salaries and to give people the opportunity that have not seen investment many decades is great for our nation as it pertains to affordable housing. >> senator warren, i would ask you why housing costs are so high you recently said there's an ever-growing need for high quality affordable housing internation winning 7 million housing units in america there is a lot of explanation in local zoning to make it harder to build homes in the cost of

capital which is been made worse by the interest-rate high makes it more difficult to build and by housing and there are places where the federal government can help take the home program, hud can grant the states locality to help build and preserve affordable housing and it works in its history home has supported the development of more than a million affordable units nationwide including for the hundred thousand homes in your home state of texas, mr. turner in 2023 you said it is more expensive and developers need access to capital. >> thank you said a word i appreciate your visit together, thank you for your time as you said there are many factors to

allow housing so expensive now i believe we have to get our fiscal house in order and interest-rate are the all-time high. >> they're not mr. turner but i would like to focus it's a big problem and i'm sorry to interrupt i just want to make sure i understand you support additional federal investment in programs so we can lower the cost of building affordable housing but i do support maximizing the budget that we do have in making sure. >> is not a noted additional investment. >> to maximize in the programs that we do have for serving those that are intended to serve. >> i have to say it gives me real pause we just established that we have a terrible gap of

affordable housing and we have a program that is helped close the gap state and local government i understand doing what they can in nationwide what i'm looking for in the state and local communities to build affordable housing. >> i been looking forward to looking at the home program and it was $70 billion and were not meeting the need that was supposed to be needing. >> let me if i can turn to another topic there is some people try to take advantage of her housing shortage private equity firms and corporate landlords in the housing market and they've driven up cost

higher for families in 2011 no single investor anywhere in america owned more than a thousand single-family homes by 2225 investors collectively owned 300,000 and in your home state of texas in 2021 they moved in and they brought a whopping 28% of all homes that went on the market the governor of texas recently said and make it harder for the texas to purchase a home. do you agree it's a problem with big corporate investors are beating out families to try to buy homes. >> thank you saturday i see that statement frome. governor abbott but i look forward to the issue

we have a affordability on lowering the cost of housing for families. >> thank you, mr. chairman congratulations on your new positions thank you for the opportunity to visit with you my office i appreciated that we had a same focus when the traditional market is a visible.

the entry way to getting the mortgage rate is simplified and brought down more people came to the traditional market have the homeownership and i personally believe the equity in the home should be with the homeowner and not the federal government, i like the idea of having the individual have the homeownership opportunity and i like your thoughts for a minute i don't mean to push it too far isn't that what this is about allowing individuals the ability to gain equity in their home and for them to have the value rather than simply painter federal program when it be much better to have a private sector loaning the money in individual

getting equity in the home. >> thank you, senator brown's it was good to visit with you, for most americans their home is the largest investment and that's how they build generational wealth that was for me and my family growing up should be available to the homeowner that's how they begin to grow wealth and achieve the american dream. >> that's one of the reasons why president trump was elected to bring down that cost of interest on a home so more people can get into that in the really important part once you get the equity in the home you've another opportunity, and the same time we have areas on the native american reservations in south dakota and the challenges across the land into people to

understand how you put a mortgage in your commitment to working with us to make that a simple as possible in those rural areas. >> absolutely pure care for your tribal lands and i commit to working with you visiting so we can visit those of the tribal lands' end see how we can make it efficient and affordable for them and their families. >> i really appreciate that and i will hold you to that if you really want to take poverty out start with providing an opportunity on on worship.

in our office we talked a number of things but one of those items was trying to cut the red tape . . . in the state legislator you undoubtably understand the challenges of the costs associated with excessive federal overreach in the time of the growing demand for additional housing there's no question about that federal regulation like davis-bacon including on tribal lands. breaking down some of the bureaucracy should be a part of the discussion . . . mrs. capito, aye. ms. blunt rochester, no.

is it helping to build a formal housing or not? is a combating homelessness crisis or is it not? i do make that commitment. >> thank you. one last question. during our meeting we also discussed the challenges with hud section 202 program in south dakota. this will be a problem nationwide. then need for greater flexibility to adapt to changes in the housing markets, service industries and tenant populations particularly in rural communities will make make modification to existing 202 programs. i would ask a commitment to work with us to resolve some of these issues which are front and center today. >> yes, sir. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. warner. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. turner, great to see you

again. thank you for meeting. i want to add quickly what senator warner said. in the bi-partisanly is about $5 trillion under both president trump and by uncollared. one area we did nothing for was housing. while i'm all in private i think there needs to be additional resources here if we're going to spur this issue and appreciate the conversation we had. i want it quickly to three items i hope we can work together on. as member of the committee's know i'm a big advocate for committee development financial institutions, cdfi's the serve the amateur community. there's an area where i work for a cozy in a trump administration. both my friend mike crapo me on the other side we got $12 million for cdfi's. we started the cdfi caucus which about a safe bipartisan way for members, 12 and 12. i appreciate when we had the meeting. you talk to cdfi in dallas that it helped work to acquire the

building working with the church. can you speak for a moment to about the valley of cdfi's and how we can further expand the vital role they play? the clerk: mr. paul, aye.

the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, no. mr. welch, aye.

the clerk: mr. coons, no. mr. curtis, aye. the clerk: mr. young, aye. the clerk: mr. husted, aye. ms. slotkin, no.

the clerk: mr. booker, no. mr. risch, aye.

the clerk: mr. cramer, aye. the clerk: mr. durbin, no. that trailer park i grew up in a national still stands. those people are hurting.

they don't have affordable housing. one of the reasons they don't is because government tries to keep on regulating themselves out at any path of ownership. we keep on talking about throwing more money at it and we repeatedly discount the money we're providing because we are rewarding state and local governments that are high tax and low value. can i get your commitment to do right by those people who are struggling to make ends meet and what an affordable home and do the hard work to do a program portfolio inventory in hud, find the ones that are working continue them stop the ones that are not and start ones that give more people more opportunities to afford a home like those people that are living in that trailer park today? >> yes, sir. >> thank you. what a target western north carolina. it was i think without question and experience something several been experienced in one store.

people talk about asheville. our most two dozen in western north carolina. an area that covers the landmass roughly the size of massachusetts. we have cdbgr disaster recovery funds have been allocated and quite honestly governor cooper has transition from office but his administration was abysmal and rebuilding funds in getting it out the door. i had complained about this for about as long as he was in office for nearly three different major storms that come to north carolina and we're about to hit the same speed bump in western north carolina. we can't afford to. can i get your commitment to come to north carolina so you can see firsthand what we need to make sure we help those people? >> yes, i yes, i commit to. thank you. >> thank you. with the time you spent, you made a reference to are some people in this committee you made a comment the three. we need to get, we need to flood the zone and get more capital in

if were going to address the affordable housing problem. do you think private investment is a bad thing to get capital in the market to fix this problem? >> thank you for your question. i believe the more capital the better. there are companies that are investing in the market and odyssey they have to be qualified, have to have a great track record. we do want the wrong people. >> do you agree they should be transparency, we should know what the doing and we should make sure that is being a part of the portfolio is producing more value for the people who need affordable housing? >> i think transparency and accountability is key. >> in the remaining time tell me why you believe your life experience has qualifies you for this role. >> because as i sit in my opening statement, senator, these are not just things afford about. these are things by sam and i have experienced through the years. i had an uncle who was found

homeless and he was a veteran. when they found in my family and i were able to come around him to love him to take him in to give them the wraparound services he needed. not only was he almost but he was beaten and battered and had a life debilitating disease which ultimately took his life. use with the lord now. the latter days of his life with the best days of his life but he was homeless but we able to come around him and to provide for him what he needed. i've had other members of my family had been on government assistance including my wife grew up on government assistance and did very well and god graced her to go to college, graduate been married to me -- >> i know you said that in your opening statement. we talked about in a meeting. bears repeating. having a life like him and you i'm convinced we can get good things done. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> i will say between senator

warner, senator tillis getting time back is a blessing. senator van hollen. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. scott, mr. turner, good as you enter and is great ton with you yesterday. i appreciate the opportunity. let me just say that to me it shows excellent judgment that the man from texas would come to play for what was then the washington redskins. now the washington commanders. i will point out to my colleagues, i know senator cornyn had to leave but in the last game we played the commanders played against the cowboys. the commanders want and there in the playoffs. all of us in maryland are hoping for a ravens -commanders super bowl. that's that's what we're all rooting for. let me just address some of the issues we discussed yesterday. i mentioned in our meeting senator todd young and i have introduced a bipartisan

legislation entitled the family's ability and opportunities act which would create housing vouchers targeted on families with young kids and enable them to move to areas of higher opportunity. there's lots of research that shows that helps break the cycle of poverty and create more generational wealth, income. the legislation we introduced is based on a pilot program we launched in legislation that was signed by trump the last time. he was in the oval office. the early signs of a pilot program have been encouraging we went ahead and introduced the full piece of legislation. i would really like to move forward that and ask if your confirm whether you will work with us to advance that legislation. >> yes. and it was great to visit with you and yes, yes, i do looo working with you.

>> let me address another area we talked about which is the cost of housing. all of us recognize we have an affordable housing crisis in the united states. do you agree with that? >> yes, sir. >> obviously some of the inputs to housing are the materials. we talked about how you have multi family housing business. when i asked you what was the primary drivers to increase costs, the first thing you said was the cost of actually building the home and the materials, right? >> yes, sir. >> i want to talk about the inputs because lumber is a huge cost for housing. the previous trump administration increased tariffs on bumper, the current biden administration kept them on embracing a little further. they're not about 10%. would you agree with make

housing more unaffordable if we further increased tariffs on lumber? >> that's the president's job and you know he's going to everything he can to bring costs down speeders this is sort of i just asking you, lots of factors but would you agree if you increase the tariffs on lumber which is a major input to the cost of housing that increases the cost of housing? >> i think there's a lot of increased to cost of housing. i don't want to get into the terrace conversation because obviously that is not my job. that's the president and your job as conquerors of what i want to do is combat anything that raises the cost of housing be at the cost of construction, be it sees, be it regularly burdens. that's what i'm focused on to bring those things down. >> , i appreciate that. if your confirm you're going to be secretary of housing and affordable housing will be part

of your portfolio, a major part of it and obviously you will be at cabinet beatings if confirmed and so i hope you will pass on to the president as he considers these things the impact that will have. look, i support targeted terrace to protect strategic u.s. industries. that's a very important thing but a broad-based set the terrace across all sorts of goods that were importing obvious he drives up costs to americans, just like for housing. there's another area of housing that includes gypsum. by the way we produce some gypsum in the treatment we also import a lot of gypsum including through the port of baltimore. that's another area. if president trump a is talk o increasing tariffs across the board for americans by ten to 20%, won't those terrace also raise the cost of housing and make it less supportive?

>> i did commit you to having these conversations if confirmed by this committee with the president because obviously affordable housing if on the sector of hud will be my responsible so i do commit to having these and more conversations at how we can bring costs down in a country so we can build build build affordable housing. i do commit that to you. >> i appreciate that and again this is a simple mathematical proposition and if wishes about affordable housing, we can't have across the board tariffs. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator hagerty you are next. [inaudible] >> let me get this on. again, welcome. glad to see you here. first i would like to talk about what's happening with our nation's housing for demand and

supply perspective on that. i think it's will document we have a serious supply shrinking of housing, about 4 million homes were as i understand it. at the same time the current administration is shaping these the fact of subsidies like tax credits, down payment assistance and looser lending policies which was to might demand but have they pursued various regulatory policies that have the effect of constraining supply. we all know what happens when you constraints applied stimulate demand, prices go up there we see mass inflation not only in the cost of homes but in rent and that's a big driver of the inflation with suffered. i want to understand how you were thinking about affordability of housing and supply in the context of the supply and demand dynamic. >> thank you. great to see you again. obviously we do have

affordability crisis, regulatory reform both from the federal government and the state government is much-needed. we want to make it more flexible and easier for developers to build affordable attainable housing across the country. if confirmed by this committee one thing you want to do whs top priority is look at all the regulatory burdens from the federal site and also to work with localities and states to see how we can ease those burdens so developers can build and so the supply goes up as the demand goes up because right now we're not meeting the demand. >> i want to come back to state and local interest meant but on the federal side if you think about the federal interventions that are taken place, i think the intention has been to stimulate affordable housing. has that have the desired effect, in your my? >> it doesn't seem as if they have because we have a crisis in a country. we've had record funding from

hud as a pertains to affordable housing but yet we're still not meeting the need of those. we're waiting lists. we need to take a deep dive and fresh look at the programs in hud and also working with a local governments to see it e can ease this burden because we families that are hurting that need affordable housing. >> we all share the same concern and look for to working with you on every card particularly of the federal level. to go to the state and local level i would like to share what in my experiences. before i went into the previous trump administration as ambassador to japan i serve as the commerce sector to see. i ran the department of economic and community development. one of the areas i was responsible for was administering community building block grants. is an example of an opportunity at hud because i went through streamlining process. tennessee had a budget deficit

of 1.6 billion. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the vote nomination be waived. mr. schumer: i object, mr. president. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of russell vought of virginia to be director of the office of management and budget signed by p 17 senators. the presiding officer: pursuant to rule 22, the clerk is directed to call the roll.

the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo.

mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego.

the clerk: mrs. fischer. mr. p gallego. mr. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. l the clerk: mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king.

ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. mrs. moody. mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune.

mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the presiding officer: a quorum is present. the ske is is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of russell vought of virginia to be director. office of management and budget shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet.

>> thank you, mr. chairman, ranking member, members of the esteemed committee for the opportunity to appear before you today. let me begin by thanking my girls who are now returning to the congressional confirmation. their love and enthusiasm for me serving again is a major reason why i feel going back to own be

as of right endeavor at the right moment. beyond my enthusiasm for being at president trump side. it is a profound honor to be nominated a second time by president trump to serve as the director of the office of management and budget. the president has promised the american people i federal government that works for all americans, not the interests of bureaucrats and entrenched establishment. making historic elephant that vital promise during my previous time at omb is both deputy director and director was among the most rewarding career experiences of my career. throughout that time i've been driven by a commitment to taxpayers and their families. growing up as a set of electrician and a schoolteacher i saw firsthand the sacrifices my parents made to balance their budget and save for the future. they are a reminder the of n government spending can place on everyday americans. my appearance and counsel others like them have always been the measure by which i evaluate

policies in spending decisions. today nearly 80% of americans do not feel confident that their children will lead better lives and they have. nearly double the 40% of americans who said the same two decades ago. when i i look at the governmet waste and our national debt i know i fear for my daughters future. almost half of our fellow citizens expect their standard of living to be worse than that of their parents. a critical part of understanding the presidential election ivey could to get back to fulfilling the promise of the federal government that works as hard as people like my parents. omb admission goes be on crafting the president's budget it encompasses the management of the federal government performing regulation and coordinating policy across agencies to ensure efficient and effective implementation of the american peoples will as expressed at the last election. a strong interagency process delivers the best results for

all americans and i believe omb's collaborate, collaborative ethos is key to achieving those outcomes. the civil service at omb are among the most resourceful and innovative individuals i've ever worked with. it is been my push to work alongside them and i look forward to leading and supporting them as director once again as we labor together to make government work. we have to use taxpayer dollars wisely because inflation driven by irresponsible spending taxes americans twice. the average american household has lost roughly $2000 the purchasing power since january 2021. the forgotten men and women of this country those who work hard every day in cities and towns across america deserve a government that empowers them to achieve their dreams. while office of management and budget may not be a household term, the agencies were profound

impacts their lives. if confirmed i will continue to serve with the best interest at heart striving to ensure every decision contributes to a more prosperous future for all americans. thank you for considering my nomination. i look for to answer your questions and the opportunity to discuss how omb can continue to deliver on that vital mission. >> thank you very much. and to your family, welcome. to start with, what would happen to the economy the 2017 tax cuts that were passed through reconciliation by the republicans expiring go away, what would happen? >> americans would have major tax increase on their hands that were leaked to of thought less innovation can a lot less productive, productivity we would have a worsening economy that i would not want to predict how bad it would be. >> so the treasury secretary nominee said it would be catastrophic. you agree? >> yes,nn sir. >> one of the things we want to

do on our side, what wade is at like $4.5 trillion in new taxes if all this goes way? >> that the static cost of it. >> we don't want it to go away. i guess they do. on regulations, did you have a say about regulations? >> omb runs the office of information and regulatory affairs. it's going to be charged to set up thems president deregulatory agenda. if confirmed that would be a major aspect of the job. >> when it comes to energy production will. you pledge to try to make it easier for america to soundly and safely extract the natural resources that we own so we don't have to buyms oil and gas from people wo hate our guts? >> yes, senator. >> g believe that would make us safer, more energy independent? >> it is vital for mesa could he

can put an standpoint of america's pocketbooks to rely on cheap american energy and not to squander that. >> is a part of the goal of this administration make sure in the ai space we dominate? >> yes, it is. >> will you have a role in that how to create a regulatory environment that allows us to compete with china? >> we will. we help as part of the process the guides the present would like with regard to the artificial intelligence. >> when it comes to spending is it your goal to reduce federal spending were you can responsibly? >> yes, sir. >> deeply there's room to eliminate programs that would most americans wouldn't feel the effect of? >> ideal. there's plenty of various in the federal government to be able to tackle our spending and debt. >> you promise me you would do the best you can to reduce federal spending in a responsible way? >> yes, senator. >> when it comes to the president executive order about suspending foreign assistance

for 90 days, do you know how that works? doesn't stop money going to show? >> no. it is a 90 day review of the programs that are in place and it is to ensure all those programs are consistent with the which of course aid to israel continues to be one of them. >> what's the most important function of the federal government in your view? >> it's to keep the american people safe and secure so they can enjoy their liberties and to protect the rights. >> are you familiar with them on a money we spend gdp wise on defense? what is it right now? >> i am aware, i think like 3%. >> it's going down to the mid-2. mid-two. you realize that is only four times in american history we've had that small amount of money spent on our defense? will you be open-minded to make sure we can defend this nation by creating a bigger navy? >> absolutely. it's a priority of the present

and at omb the first term to make sure we establish maritime supremacy in this country and it will be if confirmed. >> what is the size -- do you know how much money the state and foreign operations subcommittee spends on state department and foreign assistance programs off the top of my head no, i don't know what delegation is. >> $69 billion. that's for the entire state department. embassies, everybody. va we provide distress places in the world. what percentage of the federal budget is that, dino? >> i believe if you get a small percentage it would be a a sml percentage -- >> 1%. having said that, trying to save money, let's don't wastess mone. but i believe i'm pretty hawkish guy come if you don't get involved in the world and you don't have programs in africa where china is trying to buy the

whole continent, we are making a mistake. it's 1% of the budget. if you eliminated all you will not balance the budget. soft power is a critical component of defending america and our values. i look forward to working with you to make that count better but the concept of soft power means a lot to me and that is coming from a pretty hawkish guy. senator merkley. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. on day one president trump issued an executive order that requires agencies to cause the disbursement of funds that were authorized, inflation reduction act and the infrastructure investment and jobs act. there is a legal mechanism for changing past law, it's called conversation. and there's an illegal way. it's called an impoundment. what you send a rescission message to congress or will you

use the illegal impoundment strategy? >> thanks for the question. those eos were again pauses to ensure that the funding that is in place is consistent and moves in a direction along the lines of what the present rent on, unleashing american energy away from the green new deal. the -- >> which strategy will you use? that's a simple question. >> there is a section in those eos this is the office of legislative affairs will work with the office of management and budget. i may put forward rescissions but again, the language of the eo says required by law and its meant to do a programmatic delay to figure out what are the best ways to make sure -- >> thank you. i'll just note you are not willing to say that you would use rescissions rather than the illegal method. that is a big concern for all of

us here because the constitution laid out the vision that congress makes the law. not the president. so the fact that you continue to advocate for this impoundment strategy, that is completely in violation of our constitution and i'm deeply disturbed that you will not renounce that today. let's turn to work requirements. you have been a big advocate of work requirements. to encourage states to adopt waivers that would allow them to do that from medicaid. once they try to come arkansas. it produced no increase in the hours worked, no increase in employment. it failed. why? because the way that people are able to work is when their healthy. when they can't access healthcare because you want to cut off their really trapped in poverty. trapping people in poverty is really not helpful. now that your idea failed so

miserably are you going to advocate for they can? >> senator, one of the major legislations that our side has been very proud of since the 1990s was the impact of welfare reform in the 1990s. it led to caseload reductions, people get off of welfare, going back into the workforce. we think that type of thinking should be applied to other federal programs and its informed not only medicaid but other programs to be able to encourage people to get back into the workforce, increase labor force participation and the people again -- >> cutting off health care encourages people to work when you need to get better health in order to work? it doesn't make any sense. you've answered the question and you are still an advocate of that failed approach that traps people in poverty and is quite disturbing. according to the treasury department analysis produced this month the trump tax

giveaways would give an average tax cut of 314,000 to the richest americans, the top .1%, and six dollars annually to the average member of the bottom 10%. a cup of coffee for those trying to get on their feet in the course of a year, and $300,000 in additional income for the richest americans. isn't this ass backwards? >> the president's tax cuts provided tax cuts for all americans and had a sizable increase in the child tax credit, expansion of the standard deduction. it was something that benefited all americans and has resulted to a strong economy we hope to replicate begin by having an extension of those important tax cuts. >> your comfortable with a cup of coffee per year for the bottom 10% while you get $300,000 to the richest americans? >> look there are people at the higher end you're in charge of small businesses that are taking great risk to innovate and hire

additional people that are not in their tax bracket. that's part of the way that you structure economic growth. >> my final question because i'm running out of time. at your think tank in 2023 you propose a $3.6 trillion in tax giveaways primarily going to the richest americans. and to make the numbers work you assume your giveaway would produce a magic asterix. you're probably semi-with a magic asterix asterix which is saying don't worry, the happy, the economy will improve because the giveaway. it's fail every single time it's been put forward. not a a single analysis has confirmed it. not in any serious analysis, , t from cbo, the congressional budget office, not from the joint committee on taxation. yet are you still a believer in the magic asterisk? >> i'm a believer in dynamic growth for sure that when you

cut taxes it has a dynamic impact on the economy, and we see that with revenues continued to go up after all of the tax cuts as we've seen in history, 1920s 20s, 1960s, 1980s, both of the bush tax cuts including the trump tax cuts. we seen a dynamic impact on the economy. >> your facts wrong are wl continue this discussion i'm sure. >> during the first trump term before covid, african-americans and hispanics tousled after i? >> yes. >> senator grassley. >> i got a figure in front of $610 billion of improper payments just in healthcare. i would bet a lot of this information comes from whistleblowers. i question is about whistleblowing. do you have any role in protective whistleblowers, encouraging whistleblowers,

maybe changing the culture in a lot of agencies that treat whistleblowers like skunks at a picnic? would you tell me about if there's anything you can do to help this process of whistleblowing that helps us explain not just a waste of money but also improper government action? >> thanks for the question. whistleblowers play an enormous role in helping as we doubt waste, fraud, and abuse. as a senate staffer and hill staffer i i benefited greatlym reading inspector general report in which they were a part of. from my standpoint at omb my view is omb should be an advocate for whistleblowers in every possible way and to make sure we value and as result the agency heads value the work they did do. we will always be looking for opportunities along those lines.

>> would like your view how you can play a role in making the recent supreme court decision overturning the chevron doctrine -- how they can help you stop our government from being overregulated, bureaucrats overreaching, using the statute that may be can be liberally interpreted, and all that there. >> it is one of those aspects of the regulatory process in terms of deregulating come in terms of making sure agencies are sticking to the law that we want to make sure it confirmed we get properly set up. that would be part of the review process not unlike cost-benefit analysis, making sure agencies are not come up with new interpretations of what the statute should say.

>> so you will beot watching tht regulatory process to make sure that it's followed? >> yes. >> another thing that irritates me about, by the way, these problems i'm talking about are not just democrat problems. they are republican and democrat problems that we've got to deal with. another one would be not answering our letters. i don't know whether i got a lot of letters to your department or not that haven't been answered but i can give you the justice department as an example. when pam bondi was a office i gave her a stack of 158 letters that the justice department just in the last four years have been answered. it was somewhat the same under obama and trump previously. we've got a constitutional responsibility to make sure the

executive branch faithfully executes our loss. so we want to make sure that these letters are answered. on on september 15, 2023, i sent president biden's omb director a letter asking a simple question, where is the implementation guides for the open government data act? just one example. at that point omb was five years late in issuing the guidance. the guidance wasn't intimate government information more open and available. in the final days of the biden administration they released the guidance but they never directly responded to my request. if confirmed we commit to ensuring omb provides timely and complete responses to congressional oversight? >> yes, senator i think it's very important. it's one of the things i asked my team to let me know immediately the day of when

senators and congressmen are writing insidious letters. i want to be aware and, quite frankly, and assistance to all of you in our individual meetings, i want to know before it gets time to have to send a letter, which that's an important part of the process. >> should you be confirmed, you will face tasks of reining in the bloated federal government. besides crafting your responsible budget what actions can you take as omb director to begin rightsizing the federal government? >> we are going to go if confirmed right into the process of finishing the fiscal year 25, helping the president come to a view on how that should proceed. we will be in the process of various discussions with regard to reconciliation of which are very important.

there's the normal management of different agencies for waste, fraud, and abuse. we will have to get started and get caught up based on normal process of an incoming administration. >> thank you. >> frb i would answer his lighter if he ever sent one. that would be pro-whistleblower. senator murray. >> thank you, mr. chairman. therefore i appreciate the opportunity to meet with you last week but i do continue to have very serious concerns regarding your nomination. starting with your position and record on impoundment. i do not believe what happened in the case of withholding security assistance to ukraine in 2019 while you are acting omb director was an accident or a misunderstanding. i fear it's actually a harbinger of what is to come these next four years. in fact, on this first day in office we saw the president

order, among other things, what appears to be an illegal deferral of inflation reduction act bipartisan infrastructure law, and for assistance funds as senator merkley referred to. mr. vought, your written response when pressed on this that you will follow the advice of the incoming omb general counsel, someone who was called the impoundment control act a stupid law, and recently tweeted at you to impound, they become impound is a bit rich. look, and blessed you at a meeting members of congress on both sides must know a deal is a deal. a deal is a deal when we reach a bipartisan agreement on major legislation. agreements cannot happen and congress cannot function without that level of trust. and impound, baby, impound is not the answer i am looking for. want to ask you today will you if confirmed as director

faithfully follow the law, the obama control act yes or no? >> senator, will faithfully uphold the law. the present rent on the notion that the obama control act is unconstitutional. i agree with that. in response to both questions i would say what the president has unveiled already are not impoundment, they are -- >> has the impoundment lot ever said to be constitutional by a court of law? >> not to my knowledge. >> id est not. so it is of the law of the line. i don't care what the president said when he was running. it is the law of the land. will you follow that law if you are confirmed to this office? >> the president and his team is going to go through a review with our lawyers. if confirmed conkling the department of justice to explore the parameters of the law with regard to the impoundment control act. he hasn't developed a strategy that he's announced as it pertains to he would approach you.

there are pieces of legislation that a been proposed wind rivers of this committee. >> we propose legislation all the time. if the rule of the law in the state is that it's a 50-mile an hour speed limit, you can't just say i think that's irresponsible and i'm going to challenge it so, therefore, i don't have to follow it. the impoundment lot is the law. will you follow it or not? you can say we might challenge in court but it is the law to be the one follow the law as directed? >> the reason why the president of business at 200 year of presidents speech you were telling the way don't agree with the law. the law is the law. will you follow the law? >> what he found in the first to ms. witt agencies that would push up spin at the end of the fiscal year. >> trench ongoing to take my time back for a minute until all of us. weth worked all the time on appropriations were i in ranking member to come to an agreement. senator graham you and i work on

agreements and we decide oki will both vote for this. we have an agreement. how can we ever have an agreement in the future if a president whoever he or her baby in the future has say over that same nevermind, i'm not going to pay for this part of it? we have to have agreements. it is a law of the land. i have to say that your answer to this should be disconcerting to every single member on this committee. i have a minute left and i want to ask you another important question because as director of the powerful office of management and budget, your job will not be merely to execute the president agenda. it's also to advise the president of policy issues made clear. i went want to ask about ws health policy. you were a a lead author of te antiabortion project 2025. you also caught if you want to go say when it comes to abortion you quote want to get to abolition. everyone should understand that abortion abolition means zero

abortions under any circumstance whatsoever. so you have said you don't believe in exceptions for rape, for incest, or life of the mother. is that your position? >> my views are not important or i'm here on behalf of the president to restore fiscal accountability. >> i'm asking your question under oath because you want to be director of an office that will advise the president, and we have a right to know your views. will you answer the question? >> i will because it consistent with the views of the president ran on repeatedly, made his use very clear on abortion with regard in the last election -- >> even in the case of rape, incest, life of the mother? >> that is his of you. i will strictly abide by the president you. that would be a general theme throughout this hearing. my view of the position is you come to an administration and you deal with the present viewpoints and you take that viewpoint and speedy eater needs anything else.

my time is up. it's clear which a stint on this is an people on his countrymen women alike should know that. >> senator crapo. nevermind. senator johnson. >> thanks of being here again. i hope this is one of many appearances before this committee. in your appearance before the homeland security pity we spent time on spending. i want to focus on the of the part which is revenue. i want to talk in general, macro terms. if you take a look at federal outlays averages over the decades, in the '60s we spent 8.2% on average, 70s was 19.6. \80{l1}s{l0}\'80{l1}s{l0}, 21.5 six. '80s, 21.5. the '90s, 19.9%. 2000s, 19.6%. 2010 through 19, 21%. this year we are right around

25% of gdp federal spending. what you think is an appropriate level of spending. what would be a goal for this administration? we talked for getting back to pre-pandemic level spending. >> last five years we averaged $6.5 trillion. what's an appropriate percentage gdp for federal spending? >> we haven't set a fiscal goyette but try to get back to historical levels of outlays is one of those important first steps to begin to find ways to be able to not set records as a percentage of gdp, whether that is spending, outlays or debt. we are now above levels of world war ii which we never thought we would get there outside of crises. we need to change the trajectory we're on as a country. >> i want to work closely with you to bring down that level of

spending to a reasonable pre-pandemic level. it's absurd we're basically spending at pandemic levels. in terms of the automatic tax increase that would go into effect if we don't take action i would think the first goal would be to return certainty that that will not happen. would you agree? >> yes, senator. >> one way of doing that i propose this, this morning at it politically that is people talk at one big beautiful bill. i would recommend three steps. first reconciliation. second would be just extend the tax cut and job ask as it is. that would take any tax increase off the table because what i want to do, the third step is simple fought and rationalize tax code and what they got that is there's nothing simple about doing that. i want to throw that out.

republicans all we want to return certainty. there's not going to be master tax increase. one way to do it. but quick in, extend, using current policy. makes a lot of sense. let's discuss that. in past badges we adhere to the rule that a spending policy expires. if you extend that there is no cost. but if it's tax cut that expired all of a sudden your dream dealing with trillions of dollars. i don't believe those scores. don't you think it makes sense to treat both spending and taxes the exact same way? if we passed a budget this committee it's one of the base current policy both for spending and taxes? >> i wanted to make any announcements strategically for the administration but i think it makes sense to be able to treat spending in the same way that you treat the tax baseline. that is something that should be

considered, as you navigate the reconciliation process and have conversations with the parliamentarians. that's a very important discussion that needs to continue to move forward to give options for the president, for this body. >> i'm always speaking in terms of goals of things. it's a goal to return that certainty. i don't like the term tax reform. i like suffocation. what we do it needs to be permanent. let's not make the mistake of having automatic tax increases and what we do next. that's going to be complex. there's nothing simple about tax simplification. one of these things where to look at his tax expenditures. i have my staff print map the list of tax expenditures. this is about 170 of them totaling almost $1.7 trillion, 6% dollars, 6% of our economy. i look at these and their

legitimate business reductions. is this something the administration is willing to take a look at trying to simplify our tax system? it cost $400 billion to comply with it. it's a something you and treasury department and the president will work with me in this committee are trying to simplify our taxes and? >> happy to look at that list. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> i don't know if this will be one step come to steps or three steps but let's take a step. senator sanders. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i look forward to working with you. >> yes, sir. >> thanks for being. >> thank you. >> were living in the moment in american history where at a time when 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. we have more income and wealth inequality than we've ever had, multimillionaires, more wealth than the bottom half of american

society. people are struggling to put food on the table, the very rich are getting much richer. we we've heard from our republn colleagues in the house that they think it's a good idea to go forward to provide massive tax breaks to the billionaire class. and at the same time help pay for that by cutting medicaid. i know you're more than aware that medicaid that only provides healthcare to tens of millions of low income people but two out of three people in nursing homes in america, elderly people, are on medicaid. paid for by medicaid. .. the clerk: mrs. blackburn, aye.

vote the yeas are 53, the nays are 47. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: executive office of the president, russell vought, of virginia, to be director of the office -- office of management and budget. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. mr. king: thank you, i yield 30 minutes of my postcloture debate time on the vought nomination to senator schumer. the presiding officer: duly noted. the senator from south carolina. mr. scott: the department of thank you mr. it is true. strong sustainable communities and support affordable homes yet, under president biden and

his administration, the department failed to serve our nation's most vulnerable. here's the truth. we are facing a homelessness crisis in america. the latest homelessness survey found an 18% increase in homelessness year over year, increasing the number of homelessness in our country to nearly 772,000 americans not able to find a place to lay their head. this is unacceptable. on top of that, we are facing an affordability crisis in our country as well. during president biden tenure, mortgage rates ballooned 150%

and rents 20%. over the last four years, far-left housing policies and burdensome regulations have put the american dream out of reach for millions and millions of hardworking, dedicated patriots throughout our nation. it's no secret that hud is in serious need of new leadership. fortunately, there is good news. help is right over there and it's on its way. my good friend scott turner has a remarkable life story -- tremendous life story. scott is a native texan who has had an exceptional journey from professional athlete to public servant. scott came from humble beginnings, but he never let those circumstances define who

he is. actually scott in high school, i believe it was worked in a ba mr. babar -- in a barbecue shop he conceded that the south carolina barbecue is better than texas. i'm glad he doesn't have a microphone right now. he went on to have a successful career in the nfl. nine seasons as a cornerback playing for the denver broncos and the san diego chargers and yes the washington redskins and i note he did not play for america's team, the dallas cowboys. everybody, nobody can be perfect. mr. scott: after hanging up his cleats scott served two terms in the texas legislature. as executive director of the white house opportunity and

revitalization council, he helped to create the initiative i created, directing over $50 billion in private sector capital into hard-hit typically majority-minority communities breathing hope and opportunity not only to the neighborhoods but into the people desperately, passionately preying for -- praying for hope. and with less than a 5% gentfication rate. that is what i called success. his story and perspective are essential tools that he will bring to the table to fight the increase of homelessness, to fight the 150% ballooning of our mortgages and to fight back against a 20% increase in rents.

as hud secretary, scott will make himself known. he will create access to quality, affordable housing as a top priority. he will work to reverse decades of failed housing policies and make targeted reforms across all segments of the u.s. housing market. it's time to make america's economy work for working-class americans. it is time for a blue-collar comeback, and i am so thankful that we have a man prepared to put in 24 hours a day, seven days a week if necessary so more people, not 772,000 americans, but more americans will have a place to lay their head because they're no longer homeless. more americans will be able to

afford a home, because the interest rates will come down, the housing supply will increase and we will thank god almighty that we live in a land where opportunity is more available because the right person at the right time in the right place says yes. mr. president, i'm very thankful that scott turner is the secretary of housing and urban development, but i'm more thankful that we have a president making good decisions to put america back on right track. i yield back the balance of my team. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: thank you, mr. president. i would like to say i look forward to texas and south carolina rubbing for -- running for number two to be the best barbecue in the country with alabama being the clear number one. mr. scott: will the senator

yield? mr. tuberville: i'll yield. mr. scott: you sound like you were suggesting there was a place on the planet where barbecue is better than south carolina. i know you're a fine coach, coach, but we both know you can't lie to the public. mr. tuberville: will the gentleman yield? your neighbor to the southwest has been recognized by the best barbecue, and i think we could leave it at that. mr. scott: can you yield? mr. tuberville: i will. mr. scott: i will say all those many people in alabama coming to that conclusion, it makes sense to me. you guys are a fine state, you produce national championships. but the beginning place of barbecue and sweet tea, south carolina. mr. tuberville: will the gentleman yield? mr. scott: yes. mr. tuberville: that sounds like a challenge.

thank you, mr. president. november 5, 2025, that is the day that the american people sent shock waves to the swamp in d.c. when they overwhelmingly reelected donald john trump as president. they did not just deliver a mandate for mr. trump, they also wanted his america first agenda. i come to the floor today to remind my senate republican colleagues that a critical part of the american first agenda includes prioritizing the safety of our women and girls in shorts and protecting their privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms. i'm here to call for a vote on my legislation s. 9, the protection of women and girls in sports act that would save title 9 and save women's sports.

today is national girls and women's in sports day. that's today. to celebrate, president trump will sign an executive order this afternoon in the white house ending democrats' intentional destruction of title 9 and saving women's sports. i'm very thankful for his leadership on this. president trump's executive order will make sure that women's sports are protected for at least the next four years. but, unfortunately, executive orders can be reversed. congress needs to act on this to make sure the next democrat administration, whatever it is, can't take the same steps to destroy title 9 that the biden administration took. for the past four years, the biden administration waged an all-out assault on gender. since the beginning of time people have agreed that sex is

assigned at birth and determined by god. but under the biden administration you had people claiming that men can get pregnant. here on this floor i heard that. pure insanity. but it didn't stop there. they weren't content to just erase gender norms that have been accepted for thousands and thousands of years. no, they wanted to allow transgender men to be able participate against women and girls in sports. this has been happening amount schools all across the country. young women have been forced to compete against men and even share locker rooms and showers. and on top of that, your taxpayer dollars are paying for this nonsense. over the past several years, under the joe biden administration, 900 women's medals have gone to men. 900. that is absolutely wrong.

this one is personal for me. my first coaching job was in women's basketball years ago. title 9 was just starting to be implemented when i took that first job. i saw first hand the immediate difference it made. before title 9, a lot of schools, college and woman's athletics didn't really exist. back then there were more than ten times as many male athletes in college as female athletes. after title 9, that quickly changed. for the first time the young women i coached had equal access to facilities, resources and competition. i saw these hardworking young women go on to earn college scholarships, start careers and become leaders of our country. i still keep in touch with many of these young women today and i'm deeply proud of them.

looking back on it now, i wonder if they would have had the same opportunities without title 9. would they have had the same suctions if they had had to compete against males 40 years ago? this really shouldn't be controversial, it's just common sense. a recent poll from "the new york times," of all publications, showed 79% of all americans believe men should not compete in women's sports. 79%. president trump campaigned largely on this issue. if you remember his campaign, spent nearly $20 million on tv ads about the importance of keeping men out of women's sports. so on november 5, 2024, the american people just didn't elect president trump, they also decisively rejected this

ridiculous notion that men can get pregnant and boys should compete in women's sports. and they didn't want their tax dollars so boys could share locker rooms with girls. my bill would not receive any federal funding if they let boys compete in women's sports. it defines gender, male and female, for this purpose. i was glad to see president trump sign an executive order defining underduring his first few days in office. the president also made it clear under an executive order that he wants congress to take action on this as well because he understands it can go away with a sign of an ink pen. that's why i have a bill to have men from competing in women's lp sports because men competing against women at any level is dangerous. we are all deeply disturbed --

all of us were deeply disturbed this past summer to see videos of boys and men boxing against women. you know, when i was growing up, we were taught to never hit a girl. i guess that's all over because of democrats. one study says men can punch 162% harder than females. somebody is going to get killed or seriously injured if we don't stop this absolute nonsense. it's unsafe, it's unfair, and it's just plain wrong. protection of women in olympic and amateur sports act will make sure men aren't allowed to compete against women in any sport, but especially not in a violent sport like boxing. this bill will restore fairness for the american women who train their whole lives to represent our country on the world stage. their entire lives they train. i know we're all looking forward

to the united states hosting the summer olympics in 2028 in los angeles. i hope our bill has been passed and signed into law long before that so we can all enjoy some healthy, safe women against women or men against men competition during those olympics. but this issue goes way beyond politics. i've heard from parents, student teachers, and coaches all over the country about this. these are people who have personally seen the benefits of title 9 and are very concerned about democrats' attempts to take these opportunities away from women and girls. there are countless stories of girls who have benefitted from title 9 in my state of alabama. this includes athletes like ra rachel argent. rachel's athletic abilities and good grades drew the attention

of college coaches across alabama. rachel's athletic ability and good grades drew the attention of people from everywhere, because of her talent and work ethic she received basketball scholarships to balkner state college in baymonette, alabama. then got a softball scholarship at sanford university. that scholarship meant to have put her on the right direction to be able to buy her own uniform and to pay for her own education. it was all done because of title 9, and it was all paid for, which years ago that would have not happened. she didn't have to worry about landing a full-time job while she went to school and participated in sports to pay her bills. after college, rachel returned to thorsby high school as a teacher and coach.

she wanted to give back to the school what she'd gotten from title 9. she taught health and physical education for grades kindergarten through 12. she coached girls softball, basketball, track, and volleyball and made an impact on hundreds of girls across alabama. it was all made possible again by title 9. rachel's deport, addy played softball, tennis, government at chilton county high school and got a scholarships to university of mobile where she graduated with a degree in nursing. her scholarship was part of her getting a degree and becoming a nurse. there are countless other young women across alabama and every other state across the country. more than 50,000 young women in alabama alone competed in high school sports this past year. 50,000. every one of them deserves the full benefit of fair

competition. i'm grateful that every member of the senate republican leadership is a cosponsor of my protection in women and girls sports act. they've been very supportive. leader thune is a proud cosponsor of my bill, and i'm glad to have his support. leader thune is committed to scheduling a vote on this bill and putting every democrat on the record on whether or not they support men competing in women's sports. we brought this bill to the floor for a vote during the last congress, really, we brought it twice, and every single democrat always voted against it. what does that tell you? leader thune is not has -- has not rescheduled it for a vote this congress. we've got a lot to do with president trump's cabinet. then we get started on the reconciliation process and get the american economy jump-started again. we have a lot to accomplish in the first 100 days of trump administration, and i hope this bill is part of that 100 days.

president trump will sign an executive order again today banning men from competing in women's sports. let's lock that commitment in. let's lock it in for young girls and women all across this country. let's bring this bill to the floor for a vote very soon so the senate can send it to the president's desk and make this permanent. to my senate colleagues who are on the fence about this, i would ask, do you have daughters? do you have granddaughters? do you have nieces? would you want them competing against men in sports? would you feel comfortable with them sharing a locker room with a biological male? i'm excited to welcome my first granddaughter in a couple weeks, rosy grace. i would raise hell if she was forced to compete, dress, or use the same showers as men. and american taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill

for any school that are allowing this to happen. the days of woke swamp politicians running our government are over. common sense has been restored to the white house, and congress needs to get back to work and let president trump work on this bill. this isn't about politics. this is about right and wrong. the american people had delivered a verdict. they want men out of women's sports and women's locker rooms. president trump is 100% with us on this. the time to act is now. it's time to restore title 9 protections and save women's sports. mr. president, i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

because of this town conquers is addicted to spending money for a long-term and that's what you're witnessing today a desperate cry of individuals but don't want to see fiscal responsibility but we've gotten to this point and were getting close to the point of no return a group called epic

which is the policy innovation center said were near a fiscal cliff we are nearing a point in which we will go down a death spiral they say that will occur under current policy if we don't cut any spending in the next 15 years. it gets worse if tenure seems a like a long ways out we have to slow the freight train of spending down to have any impact 15 years from now in addition social security will go bankrupt in years in medicare has another ticking time bomb in ten short years. look the spending spree is over. we've got to return to fiscal sanity or we will have a country this is not a republican problem or democratic problem this is a math problem. i would've expected democratic

colleagues to see and recognize a serious problem from us all get behind this and figure out a way to solve the problem in the way to do that is to figure, the easy way is to make government more efficient with the dollars that were bringing it and reduce the burden on the american people were at $36 trillion in debt our interest is a trillion dollars a year that eclipse to all of their spending grant 120% of debt to gdp is unsustainable we've never been at that level of debt we are beyond the level of debt just after world war ii and we just finished writing a report this puts us an incredible situation if we are faced with any kind of global conflict we have no money no rear to go when it was talked

about the opportunities for waste and bringing in outside consultants to identify and expose some things, this town is a little bit and fatuous. they generally don't think out-of-the-box is 16 why saying something can be done. it's good happy boss out-of-the-box common like elon musk. i would ask governor reynolds, thank you for being here today i understand and iowa you were doge before doge was cool. in iowa you rely on outside expertise to common, correct? >> yes we did. >> otherwise when you're in a you see it one way to get accustomed to what you're doing and it's beneficial to a summary from the outside come in and take a look at some of the practices and how were

operating. we hired a consultant to do the alignment to manage and how are you doing this with other states and iowa doge in the private sector again for the very reason so they can look at the process and how government operates and give us recommendations on what we could do different. >> would you embrace if elon musk offer to you to come in with no pay with a team of people of 200 level iq all with no pay would you embrace. >> i would welcome that we look at the legacy system that government is working under to have somebody from the private sector not risk their own capital on a idea to look at how we can make government better would be a huge benefit for the taxpayers of iowa. >> i think doge in the hiring raise the iq of federal workers, let me ask the last question i

understand the citizens against government waste publishes the annual report called prime cuts which makes recommendations can you tell us about the latest versions of this report and what kind of savings taxpayers might be able to find what doge might be able to find. >> we have cut succumb annually were working on a report 2024 by 2023 is 5.1 training dollars over five years and it addresses things that i discussed already, technology, communication, broadband, consolidation federal property which saves $15 billion over five years some of them make perfect sense and a lot of common sense that is something in short supply in washington, d.c. >> thinking my time is expired. >> the chair recognizes mr. presley from massachusetts. >> thank you, mr. chair donald trump and elon musk and his enablers advance extremists into

equity and american agenda dismantling decades of civil rights progress offending livelihood, income and lives in adversely affecting something that they claim to care about the gdp and all data supports equity and inclusion is good business governor reynolds my republican colleagues invited you here simply put republican vision of america is to be more like iowa. government reynolds let's learn more about the staging what percentage of iowans are white and what percentage of our. >> i don't know the exact percentages but by far a larger percentage of white population. >> that's correct i was 90% white and only four and half% black that's drastically

different than the national population. republican suggest iowa should be a national model they're advocating for a government that doesn't reflect our country. let's talk about with this model of governance actually means in practice. in iowa you signed 2385 to eliminate more than 80 state boards and commissions including those representing black islands people with disabilities asians communities are marginalized and vulnerable and for decades to have a seat at the table. republicans call this fiscal responsibility i just call it erasure, the iowa legislative services conducted in nine partisan analysis of that bill you know how much money was saved when you eliminated those commissions. >> it was not about saving money it was about putting more resources behind the department of human rights so we can provide the more resources for minority communities.

>> reclaiming my time roughly $112,000 in your state budget was saved that is .001% barely a rounding error honestly given the current salary i would save more money by eliminating your salary i ask unanimous consent to enter the lsa fiscal note into the record. >> without objection in addition i will close government agency this is the same thing the elon musk and donald trump are doing at the national level let's be clear i have no problem with iowans but i do the leadership but let's look at the results, and iowa there is been skyrocketing maternal talk on

traumatology rates and into the record i was maternal death rates rise as brew the units). >> without objection to order. >> ted and latimer scores have been declining we ask unanimous consent to enter into the record this article with iowa scores and 50 rankings declined from years past. >> without objection. >> and i want more kids are going hungry this is a government efficiency that you are all a talking about. a unanimous consent to enter into the record this article i will food pantries hit record high numbers this summer. >> without objection to order. >> let's be clear what republicans are doing you are making people poor and hungrier and more vulnerable and getting their civil rights. these are tax on diversity equity and inclusion they were never about efficiency and certainly never about marriage this is a deliberate sense

communities from government while eliminating from workers families and the people that we are actually elected to protect mrs. blackburn: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes. mrs. blackburn: i ask that we dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. today is national girls and women's sports day. it's a holiday that celebrates women's many accomplishments in athletics. to be certain, we do have a lot for our athletic women and girls to celebrate. and soon after i leave the floor and these remarks, i'll be heading to the white house to join president trump as he signs an executive order to keep biological men out of women's sports. this move is a triumph for the more than three million high school and college female

athletes who deserve safety, fair play, and equal opportunity to succeed. in many ways, it is disturbing that this action is even necessary. since title 9's enactment in 1972, which required equal resources for women's sports, the lives of millions of young women and girls have been improved with the benefits of fitness, teamwork, and leadership experience. yet despite these advances for women, for four years the biden-harris administration waged a war on women's sports. instead of empowering young women, they denied biological reality and blurred the difference between men and women. in 2022, biden's education

department announced new rules that would allow biological males to participate in women's groups and activities, essentially forcing schools to accept men into their women's athletic programs. following up last year, the administration extended the rule making to private spaces such as locker rooms and bath rooms, further jeopardizing the safety of women. thankfully in november, the american people rejected this radical agenda. instead they gave president trump a mandate to protect women, restore fairness, and bring common sense back to government rule making. that's why on inauguration day, president trump issued an executive order that affirms the federal government's position that there are only two sexes,

male and female, that are grounded in biology, not gender ideology. in effect, this means no more forcing schools to allow biological men into women's spaces. for so many female athletes in tennessee and across the country, president trump's executive orders are welcome news. but to ensure that every single one of them receives the safety, opportunity, and fairness they deserve, there is much more that congress can and should do. at the top of the list, ensuring the national collegiate athletic association, the ncaa, prohibits biological men from competing in women's sports. the ncaa is the nation's largest governing body of college athletics, so it w wields

tremendous power over hundreds of thousands of student-at-lets across the country. that's why it's so troubling since 2010 the organization has allowed in into compete in female-only events. time and again, we have seen this policy endanger women's safety and deprive them of hard-earned records, medals, and accomplishments. just three years ago with the ncaa women's swimming and diving championships, tennessee's riley gaines competed against and shared a locker room with a biological male who ultimately took home the trophy that she had rightfully won. and in recent months, five ncaa women's volleyball teams were forced to forfeit their matches to avoid the danger of playing against a biological male on a

competing team. to bring this unfairness and inequity to an end, i recently introduced a resolution calling on the ncaa to protect women in sports, including by reveeking its -- revoking its policy that allows biological males to compete against women. this move would bring the organization in line with other leading athletic associations, including the national soe association of intercollegiate athletics, and more than 20 states that have taken action to preserve fair play in women's sports. to support young women and girls in sports, i also introduced the fair play for girls act. among its provisions, this crucial legislation would require the u.s. attorney general to submit a report to congress on the harms, lost

opportunities, and harassment women have faced in athletics as well as the effectiveness of state and federal laws to prevent this abuse. at the same time, it is imperative that we celebrate the accomplishments of the young women who practice, train, and compete every day to achieve athletic success. that's why i introduced a resolution to designate october 10, that would be roman numerals x and x like the female sex chro chromosome, as american girls in sports day. specifically, the resolution calls on sports gofrping bodies -- governing bodies to protect women and girls in sports. young women across the country have suffered injuries, faced sexual harassment, and lost accolades because they were forced to share spaces designed

for women with men. together president trump and republicans in congress are working together to put an end to this assault on women once and for all. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the next portion of my remarks be placed separately in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. for years we have known about financier jeffrey epstein's alleged sex trafficking ring, that the abuse spanned decades and harmed untold numbers of vulnerable young girls. and that a large network of high profile, high-dollar predators took part in this horrific abuse. that's why on the senate judiciary committee, i've rep repeatedly requested a subpoena for the complete unredacted epstein flight logs from the fbi. i'vele pushed for the release of

jalaine maxwell's unredacted little black book of contacts and addresses. the american people have the right to know who flew on his planes, who witnessed the crimes, and who potentially participated in his global sex trafficking ring. yet time and again in the last congress, democrat leadership and then fbi director wray stonewalled my request. make no mistake, by blocking my request, they were delaying justice for epstein's many victims. but now with republican control of congress and president trump back in the oval office, we're going to see some real change on this issue. just last week the president's excellent pick for fbi director kash patel vowed to work with me in releasing the epstein records

and breaking apart the trafficking rings that harm countless women and children across our country. to be clear, this is not a celebrity issue. this is about ending modern day slavery and finding out who is participating in the sex trafficking rippings and shedding some light on these crimes. that will bring an end to this widespread, pervasive abuse. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. a senator: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to talk about the impressive pace by which this body is confirming president trump's nominees to important cabinet positions to fill his

agenda and his promises to the american people. mr. schmitt: i think it's important to take a step back. november is a few months now in the rearview mirror. but president trump completed the greatest political comeback in american history. the democrats did everything they could, including trying to jail him and bankrupt his family to prevent him from stepping foot in the oval office. never again. well guess what? on november 20 as we stood in that rotunda, he completed that journey back. a journey that was highlighted by a reform agenda. so what we see happening right now, that the legacy media and my democrat friends are losing their minds every day was every single thing that he talked about. securing our border, being energy dominant, restoring accountability back in government, restoring our place

on the world stage after four years of humiliation. four years of lawlessness. and just to give a few examples that the supreme court weighed in on, the student loan debt forgiveness scam. president biden had no ability to do that. i do find it interesting that my democratic colleagues are all of a sudden talking about things presidents can and can't do. imperial biden with the stroke of his pen tried to wipe out half a trillion dollars worth of student loan debt. they were sued. i actually happened to file that lawsuit as attorney general of missouri and we won at the supreme court. because the supreme court said you can't do it. you know what joe biden's response was? yeah, i really don't care about it. he kept trying to do it and got struck down over and over again with each failed attempt. he tried to force vaccination, the covid shot on a hundred million americans through osha, an agency that was created to make sure forklifts beep when at the back up was now suddenly

forcing a medical procedure on a third of the country. the censorship enterprise forcing agencies to coerce with big tech companies to silence speech. this all happened in four years, and the american people sat in a jury box and watched all this, they saw it play out, they diplomats want to become -- they didn't want to become a banana republic, they didn't wasn't warfare to be weaponized to take out political opponents. president trump won the popular vote, including sweeping all the battleground states. so here we are with an opportunity for real reform. some of those people are already in place. pete hegseth is already in place. he promised to get rid of dei. he's doing that. he promised to really, really focus in on china. he's doing that. in our first -- he's talked about procurement reform.

our first hearing under chairman wicker was about procurement reform. dei has poisoned, it has hurt recruiting, divides the room, has to place in our military. it doesn't have any place in our government at all. get rid of all of this, writ large across the government. it is discriminatory, it is divisive and i think actually now the fever has broke. people see it, and there is an opportunity for reform. pam bonn -- who was confirmed yesterday and was just sworn in, was an excellent pick. i spoke on the senate floor last night -- i won't get into all that again. she is incredible, smart, respected and she will restore credibility to the department of justice. a couple more people i just with a want to mention to highlight i think why the american people are very excited about the reform that's happening. we had the hearing of kash patel

last week in the judiciary committee. i expect him to get confirmed as well. the fbi was weaponized begins its own citizens. to score political points and to settle debts. it went aftradditional catholics. i happen to be catholics. it set up a spy network because of the religious affiliation of another american, the fbi spied on them and viewed them as domestic terrorists. because they went to latin mass. they also went after parents who had the audacity to show up at a school board meeting because they didn't like critical race theory in their classrooms. they were home during covid. they saw what was happening, didn't like it, showed up at school board meetings. the teachers' union complained.

joe biden sent the guards out. merrick garland used the fbi to go after parents. and then, of course, the lawfare that we saw against president trump. kash patel is going to come in. he has a big job. the trust for the fbi is at an all-time low. it has plummeted. you can hardly argue with the reasons why. somebody that's going to come in and clean up. and then the last person i want to mention, because there's a lot of great nominees and to the credit of leader thune, we've gotten to i think it's maybe 13 by the end of this week, which is the pace we used to be on before the last eight years or so, back to the obama years where a president can actually get his team in place, is russ vought to be omb director. for those in the gallery and

those folks watching at home, the office of management and budget deals with a lot of sort of the tentacles inside of government where the wheels kind of turn. you also get a glimpse of the opportunities to save money that have been neglected for far, far too long. we are $36 trillion in equity did. -- in debt. and we're going to have an opportunity to vote on him i think tomorrow. we'll see. but the hair-on-fire histrionics we've heard in the last couple of days about whether it is doge or russ vought, i'm afraid my democratic colleagues, they haven't hit rock bottom yet. they don't really get what november was about. they continue to be the ones that defend the status quo, the guardians of permanent

washington, of the establishment that in an election cycle that was decided between the disrupters in the establishment, the people have weighed in. so let them defend it. i think it's a fight that we want because you can't really defend this kind of stuff -- $45 million for diversity and inexclusion scholarships in burma. $3 million for a girl-centered climate action in brazil. $125 million to racialize public health. $288,000 for diverse bird watch irgroups. usaid which is in the center of the storm right now -- and rightfully so -- spent $1.5 billion to, quote, advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in serbia's business communities. $70,000 for the production of a dei muse icle in ireland. $2.35 million for electric vehicles for vietnam.

$47,000 for a transgender opera in colombia. not columbia, missouri or columbia, south carolina. the country of colombia. $32,000 for a transgender comic book in peru. $2 million for sex changes in lgbt activism in guatemala. this is what they're mad about. that the veil is coming down. russ vought is going to be part of this reform movement. and it is amazing to me the response i often hear on this floor. well, what's $2.5 million? what's $6 million? what $1.5 million? tell that to the truck driver work being his tail off? tell that to the waitress who is working an extra shift to afford to send her kid to a school that she wants to go to or for a

family saving up to go to washington, d.c., to show their kids our nation's capital. it is insulting. it is insulting to taxpayers. so a reckoning indeed is coming. it's coming. and we've been waiting for far too long to have accountability in our government. business as usual just isn't working for working families anymore. so this team that president trump has assembled and put together, i'm seeksed for them -- i'm excited for them to get to work. i'm excited for a golden age of america. and i am excited for accountability final lay to make its way to our nation's capital. its way to our nation's capital.

qualify you for understanding how the u.s. government works in operate answer via making people. one of my republican colleagues went after the iq of federal workers they want us to think that federal workers are

faceless, nameless roaming the halls of the washington, d.c. when the reality is that over 85% of federal employees live outside of washington, d.c. neighbors, friends and families and 7000 live in my district. and your grandpa's get their social security checks so they can afford food, we have multiple va health centers to make sure our veterans get access to basic healthcare, maricopa county one of the largest counties in the united states has over 245,000 veterans who do not know if they're going to keep getting their benefits that's absurd and disrespectful to somebody arizonans who put their lives on the line and

constituents calling my office panicking whether they could get urgent surgeries. renters on subsidies are distressed about whether even after trump realized how disastrous the misguided freezes were in reverse some of them there healthcare clinics in my district laying off staff and cutting critical programs like std prevention and substance abuse because they were labeled as dea and they want to take a vote on fentanyl leaders in the cutting care to get people off of fentanyl. i served as a vice mayor in phoenix, arizona the fifth largest city in the country how much federal funding agencies managed to faint intensity like phoenix to keep your grandparents in your grandparents bed in your public safety and police and fire

running to make sure public transportation is operating in air conditioning is running during our extremely hot summers, while trump and elon musk are concerned about making our government more efficient they want to lay off and dismantle the very people and departments who are keeping the country running loyal dedicated employees are doing more and more with less and have been for decades it shows a federal workforce it has remained the same level for 50 years of the u.s. population has grown e curr in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no. mr. lankford: thank you. mr. president, for the last several weeks we have worked at record pace here in the senate on nominations. this is one of those tasks that happened literal lit every time there is a -- literally every time there is a new president. but the pace we have moved on nominations has been epic based on the last two terms of

different presidents. we have confirmed more people now in the senate than were confirmed in the first three weeks of the biden administration, in the first three weeks of the first trump administration combined. that's because we've been willing to be able to run the clock and to be able to reserve this. -- to press this. the nominations process does take a long time. every single one of the cabinet officials requires 30 hours of debate here in the senate. each one of the other individuals requires two hours of debate here in the senate, and we have 1200 people total that we've got to get through. but the beginning of this time period we focus on the cabinet-level officials. moving, for instance, rubio rubio, the very first day of the president being inaugurated. we started hearings before the president was sworn in to make sure they were ready. and we're literally doing hearings in committees queuing

up the next people even as we're dealing with them on the floor to move as rapidly as possible. this isn't just about president trump. it's about the united states and about us having a good operation for our government. let me give you a for instance. mr. president, you know extremely well because you were part of this group to be able to move him, but sean duffy was actually sworn in. his nominations were done, hearings done, we confirmed him on the floor of the senate, and within 24 hours we've got the worst airline disaster that we've had in 15 years. and that secretary of transportation was literally on the front line within 24 hours dealing with a terrible accident. it is important that we have people in these roles. we moved douglas collins yesterday. doug collins who himself is air force reserve chaplain, a veteran himself, will now be leading v.a.

he's able to step in that role today taking care of all those issues because we were l able to get him reserved. pam bondy can actually get started on issues now because she has been confirmed. she is the new attorney general of the united states. all these different roles as we move through them and through the committees are vital for us to be able to get done. so we are fulfilling the task that we need to do, whether that be for secretary of state in international policy and the chaos happening right now in the middle east, or whether that is scott turner and his experience h he's going to bring in housing and urban development and people desperately in need of getting access to housing. we're moving on those folks to make sure we can fulfill the promise that needs to be fulfilled. mr. president, i just want to be able to remind everyone we have

more to go and we're going to continue to be here this week to be able to nish out office of -- nish out office of management and budget because if we're going to make the government more efficient we've got to have leadership in the office of management and budget. that will be done this week to make sure we can be able to implement the policies that need to get done to be able to help the nation continue to move forward. with that, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mrs. britt: on april 1, 2020, united states marine corps veteran hymay prota lost his 16-year-old son daniel. that dark day hymay found daniel laying on his bed nonresponsive. ultimately seeing what looked like to be a half tablet of oxycodone on his dresser. daniel's brain had gone too long without oxygen. five days later daniel's parents had to make an unimagineably difficult decision to take him off of life support. soon after hymay got a call from the los angeles county sheriff's office, he ultimately learned that that pill was not an

oxycodone pill. it was actually fentanyl made to exactly like a pharmaceutical grade oxycodone. that is what killed p daniel. my colleagues on the senate judiciary committee and i heard yesterday hymay's story. we heard the passion in his voice. you could still feel the hurt. the name of this hearing was the poisoning of america. we not only heard his story, we also heard bridgette norring's whose son lost his life to fentanyl poisoning this same week that daniel died at the age of 19. devon suffered from blackout migraines and dental pain to the point that he sought black market prescription drugs -- opioids on snapchat. this was the same platform where

daniel found the counterfeit pill that killed him. on april 4, 2020, devan norring took what he thought was a percocet. his younger brother caden, just 14 at the time, found him in his bedroom the next morning. that percocet was actually a counterfeit pill containing a lethal dose of fentanyl. daniel and devan's stories and what their families have been through are nothing less than heartbreaking. and it exemplifies what we're going through as a nation -- a national nightmare. i'd like to thank them for sharing their stories and for the courage they have shown in the face of gut-wrenching tragedy. as a mom of two kids, what happened to daniel and devan is beyond a mother's worst

nightmare. it's a nightmare that unfortunately is playing out every day across the united states of america, and it is long past time for america to wake up. it's long past time for congress to act and ensure that no other family has to experience loss like the ones that i have just discussed. the cdc has over the past few years consistently shown that drug overdoses and poisonings are the number-one cause of death for americans between the ages of 18 and 45. nearly 70% of those overdose deaths in 2022 were from sin they particulars and opioids. -- .

more than one billion lethal doses. it could kill everyone residing in this country three times over. it's more than five to ten percent, is what they say, of what is actually coming into our country. so you heard me right. they think there is 90% to 95% of fentanyl that is entering our nation every year, and we have no idea. for reference, it may be hard to picture, but fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. that means two milligrams of fentanyl, the size of five grains of sand, can be fatal. meanwhile, it takes 250 milligrams of morphine or 200 milligrams of p heroin for a

fatal dose. fentanyl is 100 times deadlier than heroin. that is the scope of what we are dealing with. so why are we not doing something about it in this chamber? according to the department of homeland security's office of inp specter general, our government has failed to prevent the flow of fentanyl into our country in far too many ways. according to the homeland security oig, screening of participants and the free and secure trade program which is expedites processing for carriers and commercial drivers thought to be low risk is far too lacks. in 2021 the oig reported just over a quarter of the surfaye lance solutions president trump ordered four years prior.

and in 2023 a vast majority of cpb employees said their kneeled locations, which means the points of entry into the u.s., were not adequately prepared or staffed. now president trump has worked to target the mexican cartels and transnational narcotic trafficking. he directed defense secretary pete hegseth to present a plan, assigning our armed forces to the mission of sealing our border and repelling the drug trade. i heard pete the other day discuss it. secretary hegseth said, my generation fought diligently to secure other countries' borders. this generation has the opportunity to secure ours. ultimately president trump reached an agreement with the mexican president, 10,000

mexican soldiers placed at the u.s.-mexico border to stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants into our nation. and president trump pushed the canadian prime minister to take significant action to stop the flow of fentanyl across our northern border. these are all steps in the right direction. and as chair of the homeland security appropriations subcommittee, i will work to make sure the people tasked with protecting the public from this poison have the resources they need to help. but what yesterday's hearings made clear is that we have more to do. last congress i is cosponsored senator kennedy's fairness act and i am proud to be a cosponsor once again this congress. that bill would change the quantity thresholds triggering mandatory prison sentences for fentanyl sdrigs.

it would direct the u.s. postal service to increase chemical screening and dedicate more personnel to the task of interdicting fentanyl and other illegal substances imported into our country. our children's lives are worth it. we must do more now. additionally, last congress the house passed the halt fentanyl act. it passed in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion. i am proud to support it here in the senate. leading it is senator chuck grassley, bill cassidy, and martin heinrich. and while i cosponsored it last time, i'm prude to cosponsor it -- i'm proud to cosponsor it again this congress. this bill takes the steps of placing fentanyl related substances under schedule 1 classification and ensuring that law enforcement has the tools necessary to actually end this

epidemic. on january 20, it was a new day in america when president trump was sworn in. it was a new day in the senate when we passed the laken riley act which president trump signed into law last week. congress can get this done. republican majorities in both chambers have proven keek and will lead the way and are willing to work diligently with our colleagues across the aisle to ensure that that happens. no doubt we have shown that we mean business. we made promises to the american people that we would work to protect them, and we will keep that promise. we delivered on our promise that we would not tolerate criminal illegal aliens roaming free in our country. now we need to deliver for the american people once again. mr. president, the era of open

borders is over. the end of allowing deadly -- the era of allowing deadly fentanyl to flow into our country is over. the american people need us to act now, and that's exactly what we're doing. we're going to clean up our streets. we're going to protect our families. we're going to secure our borders. and we're going to ensure that our children actually have the opportunity to live their american dream. let's make america safe again and let's continue to talk about this issue. our kids be their safety should come first. thank you, mr. president.

mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon.

mr. merkley: our constituents, our country, and our constitution are under attack by donald trump and russell vought. democrats are fighting back. russell vought is the mastermind of project 2025 and all of the chaos and lawlessness that trump has unleashed across our country. today my republican colleagues are trying to jam through the confirmation of this man, russell vought, and it is our job to say stop because this man is incredibly dangerous to the foundations of our republic, the system of laws and the checks and balances of our constitution. and when you put into office of management and budget an

individual who willfully avoids and rolls over the laws of the country and says he will not abide by the separation of powers, that is a fundamental danger that all of us, having taken an oath to the constitution, must stop. he is donald trump's most dangerous nominee. you may not have heard about him as much as you have heard of the nominee for the secretary of defense, mr. hegseth. you may not have heard about him the say way you heard about tulsi gabbard who went to syria without the permission of the state department to consult the dictator. but this man is the chief engineer of the trump train, a train that plans to disregard the law and the constitution, that is a bigger danger to our

republic. and that is why democrats are taking the floor now and will continue to hold the floor over the -- every minute allowed under our rules to say this is a mistake. colleagues across the aisle, you too took an oath to the constitution. you have a responsibility to defend it. and the only way to defend it at the end of this 30 hours is to vote no on russell vought. the american people are watching us today. and i know that they are feeling rage about what trump and vought are doing. i know this because this last weekend i had five town halls in oregon, and we had three to eight times the number of people who turned out who turned out a year ago which was an election that had a bigger turnout than a

normal year. and they wondered about how is it possible to break the law in firing inspectors general? how is it possible to break the law in firing a member of the national relations board in the middle of an eight-year term when the law doesn't allow you to do that. how is it possible to break the law and dismantle usaid, when the law doesn't allow you to dismantle. yes, the president can ask congress to write a new law, but to do it through executive fiat, no, the constitution does not allow that. the and -- and the impoundment of funds that people asked about, it's like the time when nixon impounded funds and congress stood together and said hell no, you cannot do that, and the court said, hell no, you

cannot do that. and then nixon followed the issue that the court resided. but vought doesn't care. he said that the president doesn't agree that this should be the interpretation of the constitution and i don't agree so we are just going to impound funds as we want. that is a dangerous man to our republic. so i encourage citizens across this country, it is your opportunity to be heard as you were this weekend at my town halls. take to the streets, take to the phones. let your message amplify and ring from the eastern coast to the western coast and the southern to the northern border with canada, let your message ring that true patriots will stand with the constitution of

the united states of america. true patriots will defend the separation of powers. true patriots will defend the checks and balances inherent in our constitution. well, just know we stand with you, america, and we are fighting back. from the outside and the inside, patriots together, patriots united defending our constitution against this sweeping authoritarian coup. that's what we are doing. now, i know you hear the word coup and you think, isn't a coup when a military comes in and takes over in violation of the constitution. there's also a quiter kind of coup, one that the president refuses -- when the president refuses to follow the laws and the constitution. and that's what we're facing now and that's why every member of this body should stand up and

say no the architect of this coup, russell vought. what we have now in president trump is government by billionaires for billionaires. our fight is to say that is not the vision of our constitution. our vision of the constitution, our we the people constitution is to have, as abraham lincoln said, government by the people and for the people. that is a different vision, a vision embedded in our constitution and a vision pursued by the president at this moment. so you will hear from many members of the democratic caucus over the next 30 hours, and we ask to our colleagues, listen to what is said. don't mindlessly follow the

dictates of an authoritarian president trying to violate the constitution because that's not your responsibility. and recognize that what he is doing is trying to take away the legislative power of the house and senate and replace it with executive fiats. wasn't it strange to listen to an inaugural speech in which president trump didn't talk about legislative initiatives, just one executive order after the other? the message was clear, he was telling america, i'm not going to be a president who executes the laws, i'm going to be a president who overrides the laws with executive orders. just within hours, mere hours of taking the oath to the constitution, he put forward an executive order that violated the 19th amendment on birthright

citizenship. just days after taking the oath to the constitution, he put forward a strategy of impoundment that violates the core of the constitution where the power of the purse is given to congress, not to the president. so here we are going forward. we are in dangerous times for our nation. we are in the myth of this unfolding authoritarian coup, and we have the responsibility to stop it. now, it's hard to focus on any one thing. the expression i've heard almost hourly is the president is, quote, flooding the zone, unquote. meaning he's doing so many things at once, so many executive orders that it just creates, well, confusion and

chaos, and it makes it hard to focus on any one action that it's so die -- diabolical that all of us would be focused on it and would be saying no. so this strategy is an effective one, but that is why we are taking the next 30 hours to not focus on 100 things but one thing, the danger russell vought presents to our constitution and our responsibility -- our responsibility in advice and consent under the constitution to vet that candidate, realize who he is and say he is not fit to be the director of omb, the office of management and budget, in fact he's not fit to serve in any governmental capacity. it was quite troubling to

experience donald trump's dead of night directive a week ago monday night to cut off funding for programs that families depend on, programs to feed children, programs to pay rent, programs to see the doctor, cutoffs that are cruel and indiscriminate and illegal because the president has the responsibility to execute the laws, not ignore them or violate them. we saw so much happen in terms of disrespecting or breaking the law. the inspectors general, these are the executives who say to the president, you must obey the law. so if you want to see what an authoritarian president seeking an imperial presidency seeking the laws through fiats does is

tear down the watchdogs, the watchdog for the department of labor, the watchdog for interior, the watchdog for the defense department, the watchdog for the state department, the watchdog for agriculture, the watchdog for health and human services, the watchdog for the department of education all fired in violation of the law. the law does give the president the ability to dismiss an inspector general under two conditions. first condition, 30-day notice. second condition, is that it -- is that it be for cause. both were broken. why is no member of the president's party standing up on the floor of the senate and saying respect the law, mr. president? that's an obligation we all share. it isn't the responsibility of the minority party to say,

defend the constitution alone. it's the responsibility of the majority party as well of every individual member here in the senate. and then we had the president fire a member of the national labor relations board. but the law says you can't do that. they have a term, you get to put and nominate a new person at the end of the term. but he was fired anyway. why? because it's part of the attack on families and the ability to enforce labor protection s, this president opposes. he wants to give free reign to corporations to run over labor provisions embedded in the law. if there's no one to appeal to, then there's no constraint on the abuses vetted onto, put onto working