enough -- i'm happy she has, but she can't believe she's lived long enough to see another tyrant's invasion of their peaceful, democratic, european neighbor. but she hasn't lived long enough to forget her generation's searing lesson. she knows the eternal truth, that the greatest enemy of fascism is man. even if president trump continues to ignore reality, my mother and millions of americans who make up the greatest generation, understand the united states has a special responsibility here. it has always been far too easy for some in high office to ignore their moral responsibility to speem sacrificing -- to people sacrificing their lives a continent away on behalf of our shared values and interests. history occasionally records their name like chamberlain in

blood. it is particularly easy today to play to self-defeating isolationist tendencies in the daily headlines, to make rash comments that are foolish and unpatriotic, and that russian troll spread like wildfire across social media platform. it's far too easy to do the wrong thing. it always has been, mr. president. it's a lot harder but necessary, for the living to stand for freedom and democracy and those willing to give the last measure of themselves for those eternal values. at this moment the united states is the only country who can lead the free world against these dictators, against these tyrants. the americans who serve in this chamber, mr. president, must fulfill our responsibility to the american people and demand the president fulfill his patriotic responsibility in the

days ahead. everything now, mr. president, is in our hand. the moment demands that the united states of america lead for the sake of the ukranian people, for our own national security, and for democracy around the world. our failure will not just be damaging, mr. president. it will be devastating. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: thank you. we live in difficult times, in

times where people throughout our country are experiencing a great deal of anxiety for a number of reasons. and in the midst of all of that, it is important that we not forget what is taking place not only in ukraine, but back home here in the united states. and back home right now tens of millions of americans are struggling economically to keep their heads above water. 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. 85 million are uninsured or underinsured. and we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major nation on earth. and as someone who has visited senior centers throughout the

state of vermont and have spoken to seniors throughout our country, i can tell you that there is a significant level of fear and anxiety among the older people in this country with regard to what's happening right here in d.c. when we have a president of the united states and republicans who are talking about massive cuts to medicaid, let's understand, and seniors do understand, that we are not just talking about throwing millions of kids off the health care that they have at a time when we are the only major country on earth not to provide health care to all people, not just kids off of health care. we are talking about massive cuts to community health centers which receive over 40% of their funding from medicaid and where

millions of seniors go to get the primary care they need. and at a time when we already have a major crisis in nursing home availability, let us understand that medicaid provides funding for two out of every three seniors who live in nursing homes. in other words, massive cuts to medicaid would be a disaster for senior citizens throughout this country. it is not just medicaid cuts that worry our seniors. today quite unbelievably -- and we don't talk about this anywhere near enough -- 25% of people in our country who are 65 years of age or older are trying to survive on incomes of $15,000 a year or less.

i myself do not know how anybody, let alone a senior with health care needs, can survive on $15,000 a year, but that is what 25% of our seniors are trying to do. mr. president, this issue of so many seniors struggling to get by, struggling to heat their homes, struggling to buy the food or the prescription drugs they need, this is an issue we must address. and it is a crisis that is unacceptable in the richest country in the history of the world. and that is why, mr. president, i am proud to tell you that within the next several weeks i along with a number of cosponsors will be introducing legislation that expands social security benefits and extends the solvency of social security

for decades. we're hearing a lot of talk about cutting social security. we should not be talking about cutting social security. we must be talking about expanding social security benefits. and the legislation that i will introduce will do just that. it will expand social security benefits by $2,400 a year, and it would not raise taxes by p one penny on the bottom 93% of americans, those who make less than $250,000 a year. how do we do that? by lifting the cap and applying the social security payroll tax on all income above $250,000. unbelievably, under current law a billionaire pays the same amount of money into social security as someone who makes $176,000 a year. elon musk worth $400 billion

pays the same amount into social security as somebody who makes $176,000. that is because under social security, there is an absurd cap on taxable income. if we lifted that cap and made sure that millionaires and billionaires paid the same percentage of their income into social security as the working class of this country, we could extend the life of social security for generations to come and lift millions of seniors out of poverty. further, mr. president, when we talk about the needs of senior citizens in this country, i want to mention that i will also be introducing legislation to expand medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing. it is unacceptable that millions of seniors are unable to read a newspaper because they cannot afford eyeglasses, can't have conversations with their grandchildren because they can't

afford hearing aids, and have trouble eating because they cannot afford dentures. that should not be happening in the united states of america in the year 2025. expanding medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing is an extremely popular concept. poll after poll shows that 80% of the american people, democrats, republicans, independents, support doing just that. mr. president, when we talk about the anxieties that the american people are now experiencing, it is not just to say the least senior citizens. all across this country there is a growing fear that the trump administration is undermining the constitution of our country, a constitution which has kept us a free nation and an example, a

model of the rest of the world for the last 250 years. during the last month alone, president trump has attempted to usurp the powers of congress illegally and unconstitutionally refusing to fund programs passed by congress. he has illegally destroyed agencies like usaid and the consumer financial protection bureau that were created by congress. and under the leadership of mr. musk, they have illegally and inappropriately gained access to tax data and social security data of millions of americans, et cetera, et cetera. every day they are acting in an l illegal and unconstitutional manner. and i would say this, and i don't know if people take it seriously or not -- i do -- just this week president trump tweeted, quote, he who saves his

country does not violate any law. end of quote. wow. in other words, mr. trump sees himself, the president of the united states, as above the law and immune from the basic rules of the constitution and the separation of powers that have governed this country since the founding. anything i want to do, i'm president, i can do it. it doesn't matter what congress says, it doesn't matter what the constitution says, it doesn't matter what the rule of law is about. i'm the president, i'm trying to save the country. i don't need to hear from anybody else. that's not what americans fought and died and deserve. in regard to the move to authoritarianism, let me say a few words about an area that i think has not gotten much attention at all and that is trump's attack on the free press

which is protected by the first amendment to the constitution. the founding fathers of this country considered freedom of speech and free press to be enormously important. that was the first amendment. mr. trump has sued cbs and its parent company paramount for $20 billion because he didn't like how they edited an interview with vice president kamala harris. the company is now reportedly considering settling the lawsuit, and i certainly hope they do not do that, out of fear of retaliation from trump's fcc. he did not like a television program on cbs. many of us don't like television programs on cbs or nbc or fox or abc. but you don't sue somebody for

$20 billion because you didn't like the program. and obviously the intention of that lawsuit is clear, and that is that cbs and every other network and media outlet will now have to look over their shoulder. oh, my goodness, we're saying something critical of donald trump. is he going to sue us for $5 billion or $10 billion? maybe we should not run that program. maybe we should not do that investigative report. not just cbs. in recent times he has sued abc. he has sued meta, which owns facebook and instagram. he has sued the "des moines register." what crime did a little newspaper in iowa make? what was their crime? they ran a poll which turned out in retrospect to be inaccurate.

so pollsters all over america, be careful. there was a poll coming out just today, i saw it, that trump's unfavorables are going up. you may be sued, pull that poll. how absurd is that? and what kind of threat is it to freedom of speech and expression in this country? mr. president, when we talk about the trump administration's movement toward authoritarianism, we should take note of another remarkable and troubling set of events that happened just this week, and my colleague from colorado spoke at length on that. we saw the president of the united states openly aligning himself with the dictator of ru russia, dictator of russia, vladimir putin, to undermine the independence of ukraine and

abandon our closest democratic allies in europe. trump made it clear that he sees one of the world's most brutal dictators as his pal. and our long time democratic allies as his enemies. it appears that mr. trump wants a world that is safe for l authoritarians and oligarchs, but dangerous and unstable for democracies. and when we talk about authoritarianism, we are have to mention the growing phenomenon in this country about the big lie -- the big lie. say something that is blatantly untrue, repeat it over and over again and then blast that lie out on social media until people

actually believe it. let me mention one of a very -- of the very big lies that trump said recently regarding the war in ukraine earlier this week. the president said that ukraine started the war. trump said that ukraine started the war. really? that is, as i hope every member of the senate knows, an absolute lie. russia invaded ukraine twice, first in 2014 and then again on february 24, 2022. and on that date, february 24, 2022, putin's tanks and troops rolled into ukraine. and on that day russian aircraft

began bombing targets all over ukraine. russia started the war, period, end of discussion. trump is lying. since putin's invasion of a -- of one million people having been killed or injured, russia continues to rain down hundreds of missiles and drone on ukrainian cities, putin's forces have massacred millions and captured children bringing them back to russian camps. this -- there was an arrest warrant for vladimir putin in 2022 as a war criminal. further, trump called ukrainian president zelenskyy, not putin, but zelenskyy a dictator, and that obviously is not true

either. zelenskyy won 75% of the vote in free elections, and in the midst of a brutal war, ukraine's parliament continues to have an open and unfetterred political debates. they claim that little has -- he said that the u.s. has contributed three times more than europe, but that is another lie. in fact, europe has provided more aid is ukraine than the united states. but it's not just that trump is lying again. that is not new. it's what this all reveals about where we want to take our country and where we want the world to be moving -- what direction. trump is cozying up to vladimir putin. so who is putin? and what kind of world does

putin want to build? putin is a dictator who crushed russia's movement toward democracy after the end of the cold war. russia now holds sham elections where putin wins 90% of the vote and authorities there do not even try to hide their ballot stuffing. there it is no freedom of speech or freea in putin's russia, protests are violently suppressed, tens of thousands of people are in prison for protesting putin's invasion of ukraine. political dissidents are harassed or thrown into jail, the bravest like alexey know valdy are imprisoned. that, mr. president, is the

russian leader that donald trump admires. but, mr. president, my republican colleagues know all of this. and what is particularly disturbing to me, and i believe the american people, is my colleagues, my republican colleagues understand and know that trump is lying, they know that strushtd the war, not ukraine sdashtd the war -- started the ukraine, they know that putin is the dictator, not zelenskyy, but their silence has been overwhelming on this issue. i cannot tell you how many times i have sat here on the floor and i have listened to my republican colleagues come to the senate to condemn vladimir putin putin and his brutal invasion of ukraine.

and many of their remarks were right on the money. they were perceptive and they were right. and my simple question to my republican colleagues right now is, where are you now? last i heard, mr. president, this is still a democracy. last i heard we are still allowed to disagree with the president of the united states. even if he is a member of your own party. last i heard, we are allowed to call out the president when he lies -- blatantly lies, even if he is a member of our own party. and what really bothers me is i know that many of my republican colleagues understand all of

this. and i just want to give you an example of what is going on right now. let me just quote a few of my republican colleagues in statements they have made since putin's invasion of ukraine. these are republican members of the united states senate. i'm not going to mention names right now. i don't want to embarrass anybody, put anybody on the spot. but these are quotes. one leading republican senator said, quote, we must remember the instigator of this war was russia. it was president putin who launched an unprovoked attack on ukraine. end of quote. and that republican colleague was obviously right. another republican said, and i quote. i think vladimir putin started the war, i also believe, through bitter experience, that vladimir

putin is a gangster. that's a republican colleague. a third republican colleague said, quote, there is no equivalency between vladimir putin and president zelenskyy. president putin is evil and he has to be stopped. end quote. fourth republican -- and this is a few of the quotes. i could probably come up with dozens of quotes. the fourth republican said, when the war began, quote, today's invasion of ukraine by russia is a premeditated and flagrant act of war. putin has violated the border of a sovereign country. and that senator later said, anyone who is surprised by putin's deadly attack on a sovereign nation has not been paying attention. these are the actions of a mad man. end of quote. and just recently that very same senator said, quote, putin is

not going to stop with ukraine. if we abandon ukraine and throw in the towel as some would like us to do, that will drastically change how people view the united states and how people rely on the united states and there will be major consequences. end of quote. and a fifth republican colleague here in the senate called putin a quote-unquote, thug and compared him to hitler. he said, quote, vladimir putin is not a legitimate leader. he is a war criminal that needs to be dealt with. end of quote. that is what my republican colleagues have said time and time again. and the question is now do you have the courage to continue telling the truth when the president of the united states is lying? this is an extraordinarily pivotal moment in american history. and all of us must have the

courage to stand up to truth, to stand up for democracy, to oppose authoritarianism. this is the moment. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: families lose, billionaires win. that is the proposition at heart of the republican budget resolution. now, this plan is going to be explored tonight through a series of amendments, and as the american people watch how we vote on these amendments it had become clearer and clearer of what it's all about. families lose, billionaires win. we will see tonight the democrats vote against irreparable increases to the deficit and republicans vote to explode the deficit. we will see tonight democrats

vote against tax giveaways to the billionaires and republicans vote for tax giveaways to the billionaires. we will see tonight democrats vote again and again to protect programs that support families while republicans vote time and time again to slash those programs, those programs families depend on to be on their feet and to thrive and to move into the middle class, move beyond the middle class, to know with confidence that their children will have a strong foundation for growing up. that is what we will see tonight -- families lose and billionaires win. democrats will fight this terrible vision for america in every single way we can. now, our republican colleagues earlier on the floor said, oh, no, no. this bill is nothing except a

little bit about border security and national security. if that were true, then why isn't this a conversation in the spending committee, the appropriations committee? if that were true, why did our republican colleagues repeatedly block bipartisan border and defense bills? last year the appropriations committee passed a strong bipartisan defense bill. let's pass it. last year the senate negotiated a bipartisan bothered deal -- border deal, and donald trump exploited it while he was on the campaign trail. all of this makes it absolutely clear that this bill is not about border and defense. this bill is all about this -- families losing, billionaires

winning. this bill has a budget table that relays that they're going to slash $1 trillion in programs for families in just the last six months of this fiscal year, between now and september 30. and to do so to fund more tax giveaways to mega millionaires and billionaires. cut the programs for families to fund tax cuts for billionaires. that's what this is about. we saw that also last week, last wednesday in the budget committee. democrats offered amendment after amendment to protect programs, and what did we see? protect the -- against the rising cost of groceries? democrats voted for that protection, republicans rejected it. make sure that we don't lose the

tax credits that enable the middle class to buy health insurance on the exchange, democrats defended those credits, republicans voted against it. attack medicaid, health care for the poor. democrats voted to protect medicaid and republicans voted against it. lower the price of prescription drugs so we don't pay more than people in other countries, democrats voted for that protection, republicans rejected it. and on and on, renting or buying a home, controlling the costs, democrats voted to defend and lower housing costs, republicans rejected it. making college more expensive, democrats said no way, we voted against that. republicans rejected so they could raise costs of college loans. and on claire, that's what -- child care, that's what this bill is about, families lose and

billionaires win. republicans rejected every single amendment to help families stand on their feet and thrive and families are going to pay a much higher price. in fact this budget resolution opens the door to higher prices on groceries, that's trump inflation. trumpflation has arrived. it will make health care more expensive for low-income families and middle-class families. trumpflation, this budget opens the door to making college more expensive. i was the first in my family to go to college. 6 it was a really big deal to find a way to go. my family helped out and i worked my way all through college. trumpflation has arrived in the form of making college more expensive. all of this strategy to increase the costs for americans.

why? i'm not getting any calls to my office. are you getting any calls to your office, colleagues, saying we want to raise the cost -- didn't i hear trump on the campaign trail saying he was all about lowering costs but tonight this bill is about trumpflation increasing the cost of goods to ordinary americans. yes, it's about decreasing the cost of billionaires through massive tax cuts. this bill is all about helping the billionaire team. but those thousands of phone calls i've gotten some days, i've had over 2,000 phone calls, not one, not one single one said we want trumpflation. not one single one said we want tax cuts for billionaires. not one single call at 2,000 a day said we want you to cut the programs that enable families to be on their feet in health care

and housing and education and child care. candidate trump is a different person from president trump. candidate trump said i'm running to fight for families. but now who is he fighting for? he's fighting for the mega millionaires and the billionaires. this is the great betrayal. and this connection exists between cutting the programs for families and funding tax giveaways to those mega millionaires and billionaires. and we've seen this movie before. we saw it in the 2017 strategy during the last trump administration. they did a tax bill, and almost all the money went to the wealthiest americans. so this isn't some fiction about president trump.

this is a clear replay of the republican plan. they did it before and they're doing it again. you probably heard the expression during your life, fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me. well, america, you're getting fooled a second time. this is the great betrayal. let us not let that happen. we will fight it here, but it's going to take american citizens rising up to their feet, getting off of the couch, joining organizations, making their voice heard. that's what's going to make the difference in the course of what happens here in congress. it's the voice of the people on the streets as well as the battle we lead inside this chamber that is going to save us from trumpflation, that's going to save us from the plan that attacks families and feathers the nest of billionaires.

this connection between cutting programs for families and increasing tax giveaways for billionaires, it's actually in the republican bill on the house side. they made it explicit. this house language says for every additional dollar they cut from the safety net, they can give away an additional dollar to billionaires and tax -- in tax cuts. it's in the republican bill in the house just down the hall. that's pretty remarkable and a bold thing to lay out for all of america to read. there's an additional factor here in the republican plan. and that is to run the nation deeper into debt. we have seen this play again before. each of these bars represents an administration. the first president bush administration, the clinton administration, george w. bush, his eight years.

obama's eight years, trump's four years, biden's four years. now, what you see is the difference between the deficit their first year in office and their last year in office. so what happened over the course of h. w. bush's four years is the deficit went up. what you see in clinton's eight years is the annual deficit went down. his last deficit was not even a deficit. it was a surplus. george w. bush came along and said, let's run that deficit right back up. and he did it, eight years. a lot more deficit his eighth year than his first year. obama came along and said fiscal discipline. let's lower that deficit, and he lowered it year after year from his first year to his eighth year. and then we come to the first trump administration, and he just blue the top off -- blew the top off it all. talk about the biggest contributor, the biggest deficits, biggest contributor to

the national debt. it's the first trump administration. and along comes the biden administration and says we've got to lower those deficits, and his four years, his fourth deficit was much lower than his first. now we're seeing trump two. and this budget plan tonight, that's this bar. this is going back up, maybe not as large to be planned as trump won in terms of debt, but absolutely going in the wrong direction. so it's a mystery. my republican colleagues, they campaigned as fiscally conservative. they say they're going to lower the deficit at every single time -- and every single time they fool us. they come in here. they cut the taxes for the richest americans, revenues proceed to fail to compensate, and they run up the deficit. and now they're going to do it again if we let this budget resolution pass.

so let's not let it pass. let's oppose it. republican colleagues, come and join us in fiscal responsibility and take this budget resolution, it's laying out a vision of more and more deficits and more and more debt and put it in the wood chipper. we're -- we've been hearing a lot about the wood chipper. take this plan that cuts programs for families and put it in the wood chipper. take this plan that gives tax giveaways to the richest americans, the millionaires and the billionaires and put it in the wood chipper because it is wrong for america to attack the programs for families in order to fund tax giveaways to billionaires. president trump has said he wants a big, beautiful, beautiful bill. but you know what? there's nothing beautiful about the bill that is on the floor tonight. there's nothing beautiful about

destroying the programs families depend on. there's nothing beautiful about using those cuts to fund tax cuts for billionaires. there's nothing beautiful about running up the deficits and debt republicans' style that they do every single time. what we have right now is not government by and for the people. what we have right now is by and for the billionaires. president trump made that very clear at his inaugural address. who do we have standing right behind him? mark zuckerberg, the billionaire of facebook. at this end, the scowl on his face, elon musk. you see so many companies including tesla. who do we have? jeff bezos of amazon, one of the richest men in the world along with elon musk.

and we have the ceo of alphabet, the mother company of google. by and for billionaires. that's what that's all about. so democrats will not rest tonight until we vote on each of our amendments to protect working families. we will not rest tonight until we vote on each of our amendments to stop the tax giveaways to billionaires. and tonight democrats will be fighting by ourselves inviting our republican colleagues to join us. but we will not be fighting for ourselves alone. we are fighting for the american family. this republican budget, it is the great betrayal and we, the democrats, will fight to stop it. thank you, mr. president.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the democrat leader. mr. schumer: now in a few moments senators will begin voting on amendments to the republican plan that cuts taxes for the ultrarich. everything, everything that donald trump and the republicans have done over the last month, all the chaos, all the lawlessness that we've seen serves one crooked goal. donald trump, elon musk, and republicans are trying to give their billionaire buddies a tax break and have you, the american people, pay the cost. it can be summed up very simply in this wonderful chart that my friend from oregon has put

together. what the chart says under the republican plan, families lose, billionaires win. what could be further from what americans want? what could be further? tonight democrats are going to force republicans to defend their tax cuts for billionaires like elon musk. we're going to be here all night. we're going to put forward amendments forcing republicans to defend their unpopular agenda, exposing the republican plan for what it is. a massive, massive billionaire giveaway paid for on the backs of working class and middle class americans. the republicans know they want to hide this. they know it's not popular. they know 80% of the american people dislike this plan. so donald trump and others obfuscate. they want us to pay attention to

gulf of america, building hotels in gaza, annexing canada. why? why are doing these bits of foolishness? they don't want the american people to see that the republican plan has families lose and billionaires win. our amendments will come in three categories. one, focused on tax cuts for the billionaires. trying to undo those. one focused on the damage republicans will inflict on american families in order to pay for their tax cuts. and one on -- one bucket, the final bucket focused on lawlessness and corruption done in service to create chaos so they can cut taxes for billionaires. those are the categories. one focused on tax cuts for billionaires, one focused on damage republicans inflict on american families to pay for those tax cuts, and one on

trump's lawlessness and corruption done in service to create chaos so they can cut taxes for billionaires. let me repeat. tonight democrats will force republicans to defend their cuts for billionaires. and tonight we'll -- will just be the first time. we'll be doing this over and over again because we know that they don't want the american people to know that that's their north star. almost everything they do is aimed at getting those tax breaks for the billionaires. we're also going to force republicans to defend their cuts on american families, cutting health care and medicaid and education and housing and more. all to pay for the tax cuts for their billionaire buddies. finally, democrats will force the republicans to defend donald trump's scorched earth assault

on the rule of law, an assault he is waging in order to put more money in the pockets of billionaires. that's what tonight's all about. how republicans want to help billionaires win, american families lose, and the rule of law burned to the ground. i thank my colleagues for bringing the amendments to the floor. we're going to be here all night. we have lots of amendments that are in these three categories. it will be a long night, but it's a debate the american people need to see, deserve to see. and that's why we're here. we democrats are glad to have this debate. let's have it two, three more times when they come up with this new reconciliation and that, when the house and senate republicans finally get their act together. bring it on. i am proud to offer tonight's very first amendment, one that makes a simple proposal. nobody, nobody, nobody making

more than a billion dollars should get yet another tax break. that's it. that's the amendment. you make a billion dollars, god bless you. you're doing fine but you don't deserve a tax break. i'd love to hear the republicans argue why of all people who need a tax break right now, it's the billionaire class. in this era of high inflation and growing inequality, billionaires aren't the ones who should be getting the massive tax giveaway. they're doing just fine. instead we should be helping working and middle-class americans. so tonight the very first question republicans must answer is this -- do you agree, mr. and mrs. republican senator -- ms. republican senator, all the republican senators. do all the republican senators agree that billionaires should not be getting another tax

break? yes, or not? -- yes or no? if you don't think the billionaires should get a tax break, just vote with us in supporting this amendment. we're going to get our answer very, very soon. that answer the american people are going to see over and over and over again, over the next hours, the next days, the next weeks, the next months. the second amendment will be offered by senator klobuchar to prevent republicans from lowering taxes for billionaires if the price of good keeps going up -- food keeps going up. donald trump said when he was saying he was going to bring inflation down on day one. but inflation is going up. donald trump, mr. president trump, it's going up. what about your promise? it's going to go down on day one. grocery prices are up. chicks -- chicken, pork, steak, more expensive. eggs up 15%

from last month. while americans continue to rug s&l paying for groceries, feeding their kids, the last thing we should be doing is cutting taxes for the richest of the rich in this country. and i will offer the third amendment of evening, one that stops republicans from kicking people off medicaid to pay for their billionaire tax breaks. 80 million americans, a little less than a quarter of all americans, 80 million, get health insurance through medicaid from newborn kids to working moms to seniors in nursing homes and assisted living homes. republicans have made it crystal clear that gutting medicaid is one of their main strategies for paying for their massive tax cuts. look no further than the house republican proposal, a huge amount of the cuts to medicaid.

what do you tell people who need health care who are working people who use medicaid? what do you tell people who use community health centers, which give efficient health care, mr. musk, efficient health care? what do you tell a family who has a mom in a nursing home and that nursing home will get cuts, so mom has to come home and live with that family, build a new room in the house -- but wood prices are going up if trump puts in his tariffs. what do you tell them? and remember, i would remind my colleagues, when you tried this in 2017, tax cuts for the rich, cutting health care -- in that case, a.c.a. -- america didn't like it. they're not going to like it again. my amendment will ask republicans, do they really want to cut taxes for billionaires so badly that they're willing to

take health care away from kids? that they're willing to kick grandparents out of nursing homes and abandon americans are disability and take away health care from rural america. we'll see what they do. now republicans can spin their agenda however they want. they certainly will try to change the subject. they won't admit that their tax breaks are aimed at the wealthiest. they can try to pass one bill. they can try to pass two bills. they can try to pass 50 bills. doesn't matter. they can slice and dice their policies in whatever order they wish. it doesn't matter in the end. republicans' north star is singular, unchanging. they're trying to give their billionaire buddies a tax break and have you, the american people, the american families, pay the cost. mr. president, i note the

absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the majority leader. mr. thune: mr. president i can ask unanimous consent that the quorum calls be suspended.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, i yield back all time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: and i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be the first in order, that the amendments be reported by number with no amendments in order prior to a vote. schumer 454, klobuchar 494, merkley number 473. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the senator -- schumer i call up -- mr. schumer: i calm my amendment number 445. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. schumer proposes an amendment numbered 454. mr. schumer: mr. president, i'm proud to offer tonight's very

first amendment. it makes a simple proposal -- no billionaire should get another tax break. i ask my republican colleagues, yes or no, do you believe billionaires should get another tax break or not? vote yes on this amendment if you think billionaires should not get another tax break. mr. crapo: mr. president, the targeted budget blueprint before us today would secure the border, strengthen the military, and facilitate energy independence and take initial conception to get our fiscal house in order. while the finance committee does have a $1 billion deficit decreasing instruction, this is not a tax bill, nor a health care reform bill. the instruction makes that clear. to meet this instruction, the finance committee will reverse a

biden administration nursing home rule that would increase taxpayer costs by billions, and jeopardize health care in the long-term, especially in 0 our rural communities. i have been advised that this amendment would be corrosive to the privilege of bullet -- budget resolution if adopted because the measure contains a measure that is inappropriate for a budget resolution. it's adoption could jeopardize the resolution's privilege. this amendment violates the congressional budget act because it is not germane to the budget resolution. since the amendment does not meet a standard required by law, i raise a point of order against the amendment under section 305-b-2 of the congressional budget act of 1974. mr. schumer: pursuant too section 904 of the congressional budget act, i move to waive and ask for the yeas and nays.

the presiding officer: 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. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. the chance to have a spirited conversation. the budget committee reported out senate concurrent resolution seven, that will allow the reconciliation process, the spending of money and the reduction of spending based on different committees. this resolution allows for 175 billion immigration policy enhancements does not spend the many penny after words and by billionmr dollars what will hapn those two committees work with

the trump administration to meet their priorities. there is nothing in this resolution directing one dime of spending. note spending bill can be implemented without presidential signature. i want to make sure that is clear. one of $50 billion in increased defense spending. quiet? we have a lot of threats since the withdrawal of afghanistan radical islam is on the rise. we've got a hot war with russia and ukraine but israel is facing enemies on seven sides. we provided weapons to ukraine and israel. we've run out of 155 power surroundsound's for a while. we got to reinforce our industrial base. we need more money into our military yesterday to make sure we can to deter war if we get into a war, we win it. the $150 billion will be allocated by the armed services committee. we do not direct at the one and 50 billion is spent. we allow the armed services committee to spend that much if they choose.

they decide what to spend it on. they decide there's an money in the resolution and ukraine or any other specific purpose is not true. all we do is create a number for the committees to mark up too. it's up to the committee as to what is in the 150-dollar package. call the colleagues here will eventually get to vote on that product. if you don't like it you can vote no and eventually work product ought be sent by the president. that's how the process works. what we are doing today is jumpstarting a process that will allow the republican party to meet president trump's immigration agenda through the reconciliation process. the democrats uses very process to pass obamacare and the inflation reduction act. we are going to use it to secure our border. were not going to grow the government for the sense of growing the government put not going to create the green new deal. we are going to create border security, transformational in

nature. ladies and gentlemen, we are about to embark on a plan to jumpstart the most transformational border security bill in the history of the united states. thus, we need it yesterday proof at 11 million people come to this country legally. fentanyl kills 3000 americans every two weeks. he comes across the southern border. we are running out of detention space to hold people. tom homan, the borders are came to the republican senate last week or two weeks ago and said ice is out of money. this resolution jump starts the process to get tom homan the money he needs to fill the promises we made it to fill more detention beds you do not have to let people go. lakin rallies and murderer was in detention and release because of the lack of bed space wound up killing the young lady. that should never happen again but we are detained we should hold you and process you according to law. not release you read we need more detention beds we need to

finish the wall put $175 billion will be allocated by the committees in question. it will allow president trump to finish the wall, secure the border, deport criminals. ice is out of money. if you think it's a good idea took a few criminal gangs that come here over the years illegally, then you are right. to my democratic colleagues you should be working with us, not against us. everyone she went to clean up the mass of the last four years. everybody should want to go after criminal gangs. everyone she went to secure the board and because it's a national security nightmare. nobody should want the dilemma of a nation having to let somebody go that could potentially be dangerous because you have no place to put them. one or $75 billion will allow the most transformational border security bill in the history of the country at a time of great need. the one at $50 billion will be allocated by the armed services committee. they will decide what to spend it on for this a lot of modernization that we need of

art nuclear triad fleet. we need more weapons. our stockpile is low. there's a bunch of things we can spend one of $50 billion on. will the armed services committee decide those priorities. what comes our border security what it said by billion dollar plan the committees of jurisdiction will allocate that money. not this resolution. but without this resolution we cannot move forward. mr. mccormick, no. mccormick, no.

so we're telling arm services committee spend 150 brl dollars the way you see fit we're telling two committees to secure our border and we're telling seven other committees find savings inside your committee to offset spending we're creating in this bill. i think they can do that. i know doge is doing is good. this is a form of that. every committee that's been instructed to say save one billion declares will be able fennelly to go into the committee itself what they spend on and reduce spending because we're directing them to. my hope is that the 342 billion dollars we're going to spend to secure our border, help the military, enhance the coast guard will be offset with 342 billion of cuts and other parts of the government. we can do it. but this resolution has to pass or we won't do it i'm confident

that the republican chairman of the committees in question will deliver highly confident that we can find savings in the government tooff set the spending we're creating. the democratic party used this process for the green new deal. they used this process for obamacare. we're using this process to help our military who needs help to secure border that's been broken, and enhance the coast guard. that's the difference. we're doing things that need to be done to make us safe. 3,000 americans die every two weeks because fentanyl come across the border we're going to fix that since president trump has been in office border crossings have gone down by 0% we're going reenforce that success and never release another person in this country because we don't have a bed. we're going make sure that the criminal gangs keep leaving not staying because i.c.e. doesn't have enough money.

why are we doing this? because tom tobin and head of omb told us we're out of money to finish the job that president trump started to my house colleagues, i prefer one big beautiful bill that makes the tax cuts that does the thing we need and cut spending i wish you all of the best. i prefer what you're doing to what we're doing but we got to have a plan b if you can't get it done soon. what is the senate doing? we decided to load security we want to cut taxes. we want to make the tax cuts permanent we're going to work with the house colleagues to do that. expire at the end of the year but we have time to do that it is the view of the republican senate that when it comes to border security, we need not fail we should have the money now. to keep the moment going when it comes to the senate we believe the military needs money now because the world is on fire to

that makes tax cuts permanent not four or five years, then we'll all cheer over here nothing would please me more than speaker johnson being able to put together the bill that president trump wants. but i cannot sit on the sidelines and not have a plan b. this nation is under threat, the illegal immigrants have come here by the millions need to be sent back by the millions. the border needs to be secured, the wall needs to be finished. we need more detention space. we need to upgrade our military capabilities now. the reason we're doing it now is because we were told i.c.e. is out of money now. so i'm hoping that the house can deliver, but i'm very confident

that the senate only in the morning, republicans not one democrat vote will set in motion a process that will transform our border security to the most modern in the history of the country north and south that will set in motion 175 billion dollars of new spending to secure the border in a way that's never been achieved in the past. if this resolution fails, god help us all. if this resolution passes, help is on the way. if you believe that america needs to be serious about securing our border, this bill gets the job done if you believe the military needs to be stronger not weaker at a time of threat, this bill gets it done if you believe the coast guard needs more capability to do to deal with drugs and national security threat this bill delivers. this is a security bill. this is a bill that will combat fentanyl killing americans.

there are more americans diagnose two weeks from fentanyl than on 9/11. hundreds of thousands of young americans young and old but mostly young -- have died from fentanyl poisoning coming across that southern border. we're going to go after those cartels. i'm confident that president trump is the new sheriff in town that we need. but without resources it won't work. tom homan came to us and begged us for money to continue the plan he's enacted to get gangs out of this country to secure that border to have more detention space tom we heard you we're going meet your needs so i'm excited about this debate. i'm excited about republican led chairman committee chairman, finding ways to reduce spending to pay for this. this is a big deal, folks. the republican party is going to go all in on border security we're going upgrade our defense capability, and we're going pay

for it. anybody at home -- ever had to pick between two things? you couldn't be everything -- you couldn't have it all. but you had to spend because your child got sick or hurt. and you had to cut somewhere else because there wasn't inform money to do both? we're going set priorities. if you have a sick child or something bad in your family happens, that goes first. that means you have to pinch somewhere else except in washington. well that model is over. we're going start a new way of doing business. we're going to spend things that need to be done and should be done by the federal government to keep us safe and we're going to offset by riewgz spending in areas that matters important i'm the excitedded about this process. i urge my colleagues to come down on both sides of the aisle and participate in this debate. this is what i would elected to do. i think --

make america safe and prosperous in a way and offset spending is a great day. we're going to deliver this is going to go into the night. our democratic colleagues going to have a chance to offer a lot of amendments to our approach. and they will want this and they'll want that but what breaks my heart is they don't see the value in what we're trying to do. every american should want more money and to dhs to secure our border. every american should want more capability in the handle of the military at time of great threat. but we can't get there. we can't reach common ground on those issues. so we're going use the process they used. they used a process that create obamacare the green new deal inflation reduction act. we're going to use that very same process to make the cartels life miserable to go after criminal gangs, to finish the

law upgrade the capability of the coast guard, and make our military the most lethal since ronald reagan and we're going pay for it all. >> i said to wait -- >> in a bit not now i've been told. i will read a script that starts the process. to the senator from ohio that presiding officer. this is why you came. this is what you promised to do. i was on the campaign with you and looked your voters in the eye said we're going to do things differently we're going to secure our border and stop the fentanyl from poisoning your kids. and we're going to be serious about fiscal responsibility we're going to pay for all of this. so mr. president, you have a chance here to do what you promised you would do. and on this side of the aisle people are counting on us they're counting on this republican majority to deal with a mess that's been created for

the last four years. they're counting on this republican majority to give the president the money he needs to do the job that he promised to do. and we're going deliver. we're going to do it and do it tonight. and it's 5:00 in the morning -- i don't care how long it takes we're going to deliver. and we're going to pay for everything we do. so in a little bit -- in a small period of time around 5:00, we're going start this process, and this is a big deal, folks. this is just not business as usual in washington. this is a different way of doing business. i yield. >> mr. president -- >> i recognize senator from washington. >> thank you mr. president. mr. president, we need to be focused on solving problems and i think most of us here get that. no matter who the president is, our constituents expect us to work for them. they expect us to fight for them

and they expect us to do the hard work of passing laws to make their lives better. people don't sending us here to make their lives worse but that's exactly what trump and musk are doing. they are looking at a most pressing problems and making them worse and this budget proposal will only add fuel to that fire. right now, even this egg prices hit all-time high trump and muck musk have done to lower prices and done nothing to address the housing crisis or help families get quality, affordable child care or address other issues i hear about from folks all the timing instead they're slashing programs that help our families make ends meet, they are getting an agency that saves working people money, and protects them from scams and starting trade wars that will impose what is

effectively a trump sales tax entirely on the backs of american workers. as china works to strengthen its global leadership, trump and musk have seated the ground entirely illegally, cutting off investments we make to continue our country's leadership and help our allies. at the most precarious moment for the middle east in decades, trump is casually proposing to ethnically cleanse gaza so trump can build water front barrier and allies in ukraine secure a just peace, trump is giving away countlesse concessions to putin out of the gate. calling our ally a dictator and meeting with russia without inviting ukraine. when it comes to the bird flu trump and musk are firing the very workers who are responsible

for tracking the disease and keeping it from spreading further. and now suddenly they are desperately rying to hire him back -- and trks deals with this serious measles outbreak trump house secretary can't confirm the the obvious and tell parents the vaccine doesn't cause autism. which to be clear it does not. almost unbelievably after the deadliest plane crash in two decades trump and musk are firing faa workers who make sure flying is safe. who does that help? and now trump is letting musk going wild but inappropriately accessing rifling through sensitive ss and treasury files with irs being next. your data. how does that make sense? but while trump, president trump is busy making problems worse

and trampling laws and quoting dictators what are we doing here? the senate? are we holding president trump accountable? are we holding his copresident elon musk richest man in the world who has billions of dollars in conflicts of interest accountable? are we putting us back to the catastrophic cuts and firings that are hurting people and our communities and setting our country back decades? seems to me that would be a good use of time afterall i've heard some republicans admit that cutting things like medical research and firings people like our va workers are bad ideas. so you would think maybe -- we could work together from that common ground. but instead, republicans are throwing all of their effort behind a partisan plan to slash and burn programs that help our families and raise costs for everyday americans and shovel billions of dollars to help

people who already have billions of dollars. meanwhile, i would like to recommend to my colleagues we are less than a month away from a deadline to pass bills to fund our government and as we approach that deadline, the entire world is watching. as president trump and elon musk shut the government down bit by bit with other parts elon doesn't like. trump and musk are already showing thousands of our essential workers the door despite the fact that they have no clue what those workers do or why their jobs matter. they're just turning off the lights and hoping for the best. i am hearing so much alarm from this from back home, from fired workers and from the people who do depend on them. trump and copresident are shuttering entire agencies, they're locking workers out of their devices and out of their buildings and demanding the work of the american people come to a screeching halt again --

for no good reason. and let me really drive home just how damaging and extremely firing -- because we're not talking about some routine changing of the guard or some thoughtful or strategic plan. to make government more efficient -- trump and musk are taking a wrecking ball to the u.s. government they don't care what they smash up. they don't care who they hurt and they don't seem to have any idea just how painful this is for american families. we're talking about tens of thousands of people and counting being pushed out the door without any plan and without any justification beyond trump and elon want to slash and cut with reckless abandon. this has nothing to do with making government more efficient. it's about breaking it beyond repair. fundamentally this is not about cutting waste or curbing fraud instead this is about putting the federal work force into

trauma. that's what omb director votes california put it so they are mass firing hardworking women and men many of them veterans only mistake was serving our country, serving our communities and believing they wouldn't get stabbed in the back by a wannabe dictator and richest man in the world and the fact that many were e law illegally fired witht real cause it is not just the workers who are suffering because of this. these cuts undermine essential services for the american people right down to some of the most basic functions of government. trump and musk are firing people who help americans find quality affordable health insurance. people who help small businesses get a loan people ho have communities and families get back on their feet after a disaster. and people who have americans

get their tax refunds. they are firing people who help our economy stay competitive from firings that undermine energy projects and thousands of good new jobs. to firings that undermine innovation and technology. to firings that are hurting our farmers undermining agricultural research. they are laying off national park rangers which will mean longer wait times, dirtier bathrooms, delayed emergency responses, and closed parks. they fired forest workers who are crucial to preventing wildfires. and again i have to emphasize they have firing faa workers for crying out loud including personnel who work on radar and landing and other critical infrastructure that help our aircraft navigate safety safely. they are firing those people and prengsding it is no big deal while weeks after by the way, the deadliest crash our nation has seen in decades. trump and elon might not fly

commercial but the rest of us do. in the pacific northwest the power administration is losing hundreds of highly skilled workers and that includes everyone from electrician dispatchers line workers cybersecurity experts, and many more. these are literally the people who keep the lights on. and now, they're being fired on a whim because trump and elon musk do not have a clue about what they do and why it is important and you know what they don't care to learn. they don't seem to understand actually that these positions are funded by rate payers but all of us who live in the northwest. they are not from federal funding. trump and musk have even fired over a thousand va workers including people who are doing life saving research for our veterans. research to prevent veteran suicide, build life changing prosthetic address opioid

addiction and more. these layoffs will mean longer wait times for veterans to see their health care providers, it could mean ongoing clinical trials coming to a sudden stop. it means delays getting your debt disability claim approved. because trump and musk went ahead and fired clinician and claims raters even while today the current back log of disability claims is over 250,000. that's not just of the trail of these public workers. it is a betrayal of our men and women who have served us in uniform and it is also worth noting many of the workers fired are veterans themselves. trump is firing veterans. and let's not forget thousands of nih researchers having their research thrown into jeopardy and the patients who are watching president trump carefully toss their best hope for a cure into the shredder or experts working on improving

maternal health outcomes so fewer pregnant women die in this country. and medical research are not only ones putting american lives at risk because trump and musk are firing public health workers who respond to disease outbreaks cybersecurity experts who protect our critical infrastructure sensitive systems and our data if scientist who is make sure our water and our air are clean and that we are ready for extreme weather. workers that help our communities prepare for -- respond to, and recover from disasters. not to mention members of law enforcement who help stop violent criminals. and, of course, our nuclear engineers, seriously people who manage our nuclear weapons stockpile are being fired by the hundreds hundreds with no real strategy and we know there's not a strategy because frantically turned to regard many of them and we also know that --

another lesson because they just did the exact same thing to our work ergs who are responding to bird flu. record layoffs followed by no come back that's not a plan. that is not a plan to fire people who have to stay ahead of deadly diseases -- maintain a safe, security, reliable nuclear weapons stockpile, that is the height of dangerous incompetence. and nuclear cleanup work has been hit as well. i've been fighting to get more resources for the cleanup in years it is already understaffed and now trump is act ofly making things worse. i have heard directly, directly from workers who have been laid off even after some were recognized just in the past year for their outstanding work. and by the way, that underscores another reality of these firings they have absolutely nothing to do with merit. in fact the way they're targeting new employees

including people who are recently promoted so now work reverse getting fired from their newly earned jobs, literally pushing out some of our best performers and most committed workers. and one more thing they're even illegally firing the government watch dogs who provide accountability and prevent fraud. if trump and musk were really committed, to tackling waste, fraud, and abuse, would they fire the very people serving in nonpartisan roles who's very job to recover and reduce waste fraud and abuse if they were really interested in transparency would they have torn down a website for the public confinement agency about spending and policy. list ofms pointless actively dangerous firing goes on and on it grows by the day and alarm being caused by it. my phones have been ringing off

the hook i know i'm not the only one. again, these do you not address fraud or race? they are totally arbitrary pushing out high performers and the promising next generation of our federal work force who won't be easily replaced. not to mention the hiring freeze prevents them from even trying. and here's the thing that is so important to remember. these are people who have families. they work hard. they love their country. they're not being sent packing because they've done anything wrong or because their work is not important. they are being pushed out simply because trump and musk are trying to break the government. trying to make it not work for the people who need it. it is wrong. and if it doesn't stop now, it will be catastrophic. this scale and scope of trump and elon will set our country back decades it is not like you can fire anyone and say, oh wait

my bad rehire everyone with a snap of a finger. if you're a va medical researcher, working for less than you could make in the private sector, and you're fired by a billionaire who decides your research on cancer and burn exposure isn't worth investment would you want to come back? especially with the chaos and incompetence of this administration? the federal government is not twitter. you can't just fire everyone and break things and hope for the best. people's lives are at stake. elon musk has no clue what nuclear safety engineers do at hanford he doesn't care that the social security administration is understaffed that pushing more of those federal workers out the door will make harder for our seniors. this effort to push out and arbitrarily fire federal workers is going to break something. worse than it already has, and it is beginning to break it

irreparably when that happens the blame will fall squarely on trump and musk and republicans. and it's not just people being fired that is a serious problem. there are also still today funds frozen without rhyme, reason, or legal authority to do that i'm not only worried about the fast approaching funding deadline in march. i'm worried about the de facto government shutdown that is happening right now. as we speak trump and musk are still illegally blocking hundreds of billions of dollars in funding, we are all secured for the people we represent back home puttings good paying jobs on the chopping block. creating incredible uncertainty for businesses, funds for our infrastructure and energy projects and a lot more. and it is another week of trump illegally funding blockade is come and gone still reports are coming in from across my state across the country of the chaos and cuts this is causing.

and yet little to nothing has been done by the administration to restore investments in people and red and blue states that they're counting and republicans here in congress continue to sit by idly while our communities are robbed on hundreds of billions of dollars in bipartisan spending. meanwhile, it is our workers it is our families, it's our businesses that are feeling this consequence. which with each day that passes, the uncertain fate of these investments takes a toll of its own. ever growing anxiety for workers whose jobs are in jeopardy for farmers who are are eyeing the calendar and waiting on resources that they are owed for business owners worried ripped up contract might put them under. i've heard usda grants that are cut off to real businesses and farmers in home state of washington, and it is putting hardworking americans in dire straights.

a mans, ordered new machines and now trump is stiffing they will on funds they need to make that payment. a wheat farmer installed solar panels under a federal program. that trump is going to leave him holding the bag. a green house has completed its end of the bargain to install upgrades trump has stopped the federal government from doing the part it promised. and there's so many other federal investments on hold as well. forest service funding to reduce wildfire risks and restore ecosystems. epa funding for clean water infrastructure cleanup work in our superfund sites and department of energy investments to bring down folk energy cost and create new good paying jobs. funding for our roads and bridges and transit flood mapping and fisheries, so many other things -- medical research -- has also been completely upended at research institutions across our country throwing life saving

research, clinical trials and patients into uncertainty. meanwhile, they have not only illegally blocked our foreign assistance and shuttered usid programs that bolster our global leadership and make our world safer for americans, they are now illegally dismantling the department of education, they've already bull dozed independent research arm of the department of education. they're taking a wrecking ball to ongoing evidence based research and basic collection data we need for accountability to improve student outcomes k-12 schools and colleges. and among many contracts trump canceled with xiz executive order was funding for a program that helps students with disabilities transition from high school to work. work to improve evidence laced practices in washington state. ...

it is getting hard to even keep track of all the funding that's being illegally blocked. even stuff they say is not blocked or has been unblocked is still frozen. but, one thing that is clear, that is hurting our family, is hurting our communities and it needs to stop. remember, musk is the richest man on earth. with deep business ties to china and the direct line to putin. republicans have chosen to stand by and twiddle their thumbs as unilaterally and illegally cuts our constituents off from the federal investments they are owed and badly needed.

about conflicts of interest musk has as he chokes off government funding left and right pretty hands over our sensitive financial data assistance to patently unqualified individuals with no accountability. this multi billionaire is our burden completely in the dark hoping his lies are allowed enough to drown out any calls for truth and transparency it is a complete light to try and say this is all fraud, waste or conspiracy as a long-time appropriate or i can tell you we debate these bills publicly. we post the details out in the open. we passed them in a bipartisan way. overwhelmingly in support of the

individual bills we put together an committee last year many unanimously. 52, three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the point of order is not sustained and the amendment fails. ms. klobucher: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobucher: i call up my amendment 494 and ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment by number. the clerk: the senator from minnesota, ms. klobuchar, reports amendment 494. klobuchar i rise with a -- ms. klobucher: i rise with a common sense amendment. democrats and republicans alike

can agree that food prices are just too high. the price of eggs hit a record high of 4.95, that is 53% higher than a year ago and wholesale egg prices have increased 30% since the president took office to more than $8. that means egg prices will continue to skyrocket and as an aside, accidentally firing front line avian flu workers isn't going to change that. beef, fish, and fresh fruit increased with the most recent gurm price index consumer price index showing the prices rising, instead of focusing on $2 trillion are worth of tax cuts for billionaires, we should lower prices for americans across the country. my amendment will ensure that there are no tax cuts for billionaires unless food prices are lower for regular americans.

the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. crapo: the target budget blueprint would secure the border, strengthen the military, facilitate energy independence and take initial steps to get our fiscal house in order. while the finance committee does have a $1 million deficit decrease instruction. this is not a health bill. to meet this instruction, the finance committee will reverse a biden administration nursing home rule that will decrease this by millions. i have been advised this amendment would be corrosive to the privilege of this budget resolution if adopted because the amendment canes matter that is inappropriate for a budget resolution, its adoption could jeopardize the resolution's privilege. additional rily, this violates

the congressional budget act, it is not germane to the resolution. since it does not meet that standard required by law, i raise a point of order with the 305b2 of the congressional budget act of 1994. ms. klobucher: pursuant to section 904 of the congressional budget office, i move to waive and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there 0 sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin.

that is the proposition at the heart of the republican budget resolution. now, this plan is going to be explored tonight through a series of amendments. and as the american people want watchhow we vote on this amendmt will become clearer and clearer what it is all about. families lose, billionaires win.

we will see tonight, the democrats vote against their yourrepairable increases to the deficit. republicans vote to exploitative deficit. we will see tonight democrats vote against tax giveaways to that billionaires and republican both for tax giveaways to the billionaires. we will see tonight democrats vote again and again to protect programs that support families. too/those programs. for those programs families depend on to be on their feet to thrive and move into the middle class and beyond the middle class to know with confidence their children will have a strong foundation for growing up. that is what will see tonight. families lose and billionaires win.

democrats will fight this terrible vision for america and every single way we can. our republican colleagues earlier on the floor said no, this bill is nothing except a little bit about border security and national security. if that were true then why isn't this a conversation and the spending committee? the appropriations committee? if that were true, why did i republicans colleagues repeatedly block a bipartisan border and defensive bill? last or the appropriation committee passed a strong bipartisan defense bill. let's pass it. last year that the senate negotiated bipartisan border dill and donald trump the candidate killed it saying he wanted to exploit the issue of immigration on the campaign trail. well, the campaign is over. there is a path now for that

same bipartisan bill on the border. all of this makes it absolutely clear that this bill is not about border and defense. this bill is all about this, families losing, billionaires winning. this bill has a budget table that relays if they're going to/$1 trillion in programs for families and just the last six months of this fiscal year between now and september 30. and to do so, to fund more tax giveaways to maga millionaires and billionaires. cut for families to fund tax cuts for billionaires. that is what this is about. we saw that also last week, last wednesday in the budget committee. democrats offered amendment after amendment to protect programs.

and, what did we see? protect against the rising cost of groceries. republicans rejected. make sure we do not lose the tax credits that enable middle-class to buy health insurance on the exchange. democrats defended those credits republicans voted against it. attack medicaid, health care for the poor. democrats voted to protect medicaid and republicans voted against it. lowered the price of prescription drug so we do not pay more than people in other countries? democrats voted for that protection republicans rejected it. and on and on renting or buying a home? controlling costs democrats voted to defend and lower housing costs. republicans rejected it.

making college more expensive democrat said no way. we voted against them. republicans rejected so they could raise costs on college loans. and on childcare. that is what this bill is about families lose and billionaires win. republicans rejected every single amendment to a family helpfamilies stand on their feed thrive and families are going to pay a much higher price. in fact, this budget resolution opens the door to higher prices of groceries. it has arrived. this a budget opens the door to making healthcare more expensive both for low income families and middle-class families. this budget opens a door to theo making college morere expensive. i was the first and my family to gooollege. it was a really big deal that we found a way to afford to go. my family helped out i worked my

way all through college. making it more expensive, that is wrong. true inflation has arrived in the form of making college more expensive. all of this strategy to increase the cost for americans. i am not getting any calls to my office are you getting calls to your office saying we want to raise the cost of america? did nayar trump on the campaign trail think he was all about lowering costs. but tonight, this bill is about increasing the cost of goods to ordinary americans. yes it is about decreasing the cost to billionaires through massive tax cuts. this bill is all about helping the billionaire team. those of thousands of phone calls i've gotten some days, i have had over 2000 phone calls.

not one, not one single one said we want trumpflation. not one single one said we want tax cuts for billionaires. not one single call at 2000 day said we want you to cut the programs that enable families to be on their feet in healthcare and housing and education and childcare. candidate trump is a different person from president trump. candidate trump says i am running to fight for families. now who is he fighting for? the maga millionaires and the billionaires. this is a great betrayal. and, this connection exists by cutting programs for families and funding tax giveaways to the maga millionaires and billionaires. we have seen this before.

we saw in 2016 strategy during the last trump administration. they did a tax bill and almost all of the money went to the wealthiest americans. so, this is not like some fiction about president trump. this is a clear replay of the republican plan. they did it before and they are doing it again. now, you've probably heard the expression during your life, fool me once shame on you. full me twice, shame on me. while america, you are getting fooled a second time this is the great betrayal. let's not let that happen. it is going to take american citizens rising up to their feet, getting off of the couch for joining organizations make in their voice heard, that is what is going to make the difference in the course of what happens here in congress for it

is the voice of the people on the streets. as well as the battle we lead inside of this chamber that is going to save us from trumpflation. is going to save us from the plan that attacks family and feathers the nest and billionaires. this connection measuring cutting programs for families and increasing tax giveaways for billionaires is actually in the republican bill in the house side. they made it explicit. this house language process for every additional dollar they cut from the safety net they can given away an additional dollar to billionaires and tax cuts. it's the end of republican bill in the house just down the hall. that does a pretty remarkable and bold thing to lamp for all of america to read. there is an additional factor on the republican plan. that is to run the nation deeper into debt.

we have seen this play again before. each of these bars represents an administration the first president bush admitted plate administration, george w. bush, his eight years. obama's eight years, trumps four years, biden's for years. what you see a difference between the deficit their first year in office and there it last lastyear in office. so, what happens over the course of h.w. bush four years is the deficit went up. what you see in clinton's eight years is the annual deficit went down. his last deficit was not even a deficit, it was a surplus. george w. bush came along and said let's run the deficit right back up and he did it eight years, a lot more deficit in its eighth year than his first. obama came along and said fiscal

discipline, let's lower the deficit and he lowered it year after year from his first year to his eighth year. and then to cover the first administration he just blew the top of it all. talk about the biggest contributor, the biggest deficits the national debt. it is the first trump administration. along comes a biden administration that has got to lower those deficits and his four ears goes forth deficit was much lower than his first. in this budget plan tonight this is going back up. maybe not as large as trump one in terms of debt. but, absolutely going in the wrong to rest. it is a mystery, my republican colleagues campaign as fiscally conservative. they're going to lower the deficit and every single time they full as they come in here,

they cut the taxes for the richest americans. revenues proceed to compensate. and they run up the deficit. and now they are going to do it again if we let this budget resolution pass. so, let's not let it pass but let's oppose it. republican colleagues come and join us and fiscal responsibility. take this budget resolution, lay out a vision of more important deficits and put it in the wood chipper. been hearing a lot about the wood chipper. take this plan that cuts programs for families and put in the wood chipper. take this plan that gives tax dividend invoice the richest americans of megan billionaires and put it in the wood chipper because it is wrong for america to attack the programs for families to find tax giveaways for billionaires.

president trump has said he wants a big beautiful, beautiful bill. but do you know what? there is nothing beautiful about the bill that is on for tonight. there is nothing beautiful about destroying the programs families depend on. there's nothing beautiful about using those cuts to fund tax cuts for billionaires. there is nothing beautiful about running up the deficit and debt the way do every single time. what we have right now is not government by and for the people. what we have right now is by and for the billionaires. president trump made that very clear at his inaugural address. who do we have standing right behind him? mark zuckerberg the billionaire

facebook. at this and with a scowl on his face, elon musk ceo of so many companies including tesla. who do we have? jeff bezos of amazon. one of the richest men in the world along with elon musk and we have that ceo of alf about alpha aboutthe mother company o. buy in for billionaires is what it is all about. democrats will not rest tonight until we vote on each of our amendments to protect working families. will not rest to mentally vote at each of our amendments to stop the tax giveaways to billionaires. and tonight democrats will be fighting by ourselves. inviting a republican colleagues to join us. but we will not be fighting for ourselves alone. we are fighting for the american family break this republican

budget is the great betrayal. and we, the democrats will stop to fight it. thank you, mr. president. cook's arrays to support the budget resolution that is before the united states senate. speaking to that i want to remind people of some history. these famous words came president obama chief of staff that dates from about 2008. he famously said quote you never want a serious crisis to go away." there is no statement that better encapsulates the mindset of the previous administration. we all know americans are struggling to cope with economic and social disruption.

still carrying on from the pandemic. the biden administration saw a real opportunity. his size and scope they wanted to transform america. hope everyone on my side of the aisle wants to preserve america. in my view, to help individuals, families of small businesses. once the crisis subsides so should the programs and spending enacted in response.

yet here we are in 2025. federal spending is a share of the economy levels never seen outside of war or national emergency like recessions or depressions. in 2019, before the pandemic the total federal spending totaled 4 trillion 45 and 2024, the federal government spent over $2 trillion more. that's a total of $6,750,000,000,000. a relative increase of over 50%.

we must begin to put spending back on a path of normalcy. that is why we are having this debate that we call the budget resolution. the pastor normalcy is a spending path that accounts for the historic inflation of the past four years as well as population growth. now, there's a lot of people in this body that would say that spending that much is still too much. but i think it fits in with the principal of the 1974 budget resolution. once inflation and population growth are factored in, federal spending in 2024 remained roughly $1 trillion above pre-pandemic levels.

and, if social security and medicare and the interest on the debt are set to the side, federal spending was still over half a trillion dollars above 2019 levels and i hope you will study the chart here that shows what i just told you. unless we have a course correction, our national debt will set a new record as a share of our economy in 2028. that is eclipsing the previous high water set in the wake of world war ii. you can see that here in the period of time where it wasn't world war ii. as another democrat said, elections have consequences.

so, as a part of the november mandate president trump is looking for ways to reduce wasteful government spending. and, to this budget resolution before the senate now, we plan to help in that process. but, in fact that power should rest here, the president should not have to do it. but senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. the point of order is sustained and the amendment falls. mr. merkley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: thank you. i call up my amendment number # 73 and ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from oregon, mr. merkley, proposes an amendment numbered 473. mr. merkley: colleagues, the dream of homeownership is dying. and this is a big deal.

your home is your castle. it's a major source of wealth for middle-class families and a factor killing the dream of homeownership is private equity known as hedge funds buying up homes all across america. in fact, ordinary families can't compete with their all-cash, no-inspection offers. they're driving up the prices to buy homes. they're driving up the rents so today let's take a step towards restoring the dream of homeownership. this is a deficit neutral reserve fund that creates incentives for private equity and hedge funds to ease their way out of this market so families can continue to be homeowners in america, their children can continue to be homeowners. let's not let this dream die on our watch. i encourage you to vote for this because houses should be homes for families, not a profit center for wall street. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: senator. mr. scott: scott i urge my colleagues to oppose this

amendment. here's why. they're putting the blame in the wrong place. mr. scott: we all agree housing prices have skyrocketed over the last four years. unfortunately, my colleagues across the aisle aren't interested in new solutions. they are willing to place the blame anywhere except where it belongs. the real culprit in the failed housing policies is the biden administration. under the previous administration, rental costs rose 20%. we should be discussing how to make housing more affordable for more americans. i plan to do just that at the banking, housing, and urban development committee. i urge my colleagues to work with me. working with president trump and secretary turner, we can achieve a housing comeback for the blue collar workers. i urge my colleagues to reject this amendment. the presiding officer: 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. vote:

the clerk: mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. >> if you have never been in one, that is okay. [laughter] it is a chance to have a spirited discussion and debate about policy and about the budget resolution. so, what's happened here is the budget committee reported out of senate resolution seven. it allows the reconciliation process. the reduction of spending based

on different committees. this resolution allows 175 day policy and enhancements. it does not spend a penny. it allows the judiciary committee up to what is $35 billion plan to secure our border and do immigration reform. what will happen those two committees, mr. president will work with the trump administration to meet their priorities. there is nothing in this resolution directing one dime of spending. no spending bill can be implemented without presidential signature. so, i want to make sure that is clearwater $50 billion in increased defense spending. why? because we have a lot of threats since the withdrawal of afghanistancr as well as facing enemies from seven size how it

surrounds for a while. we've got to reinforce our industrial base. we need more money into our military yesterday to make sure we can deter war if we get into a war, we witness. $150 billion will be allocated by the armed services committee. we do not direct how they wanted 50 billion is spent we allow the armed services committee to spend that much if they choose. they decide what to spend it on this idea they are somehow money in this resolution for ukraine or any other specific purpose is not true. all we do is create a number for the committees to mark up to its up to the committee as to what is in the butter 50 billion-dollar package free to all the colleagues here you will eventually get to vote on that work product. if you do not like it you can vote no prevention of that work product of pepe7 the president but that's how the process works. but, what we're doing today is

jumpstarting a process that will allow the republican party to meet president trump's immigration agenda through the reconciliation process the democrats use this very process the past obamacare and the inflation reduction act. we are going to use it to secure our border we are not going to grow the government for the sense of growing the government. we are not going to create the green new deal we are going to create border security, transformational in nature. ladies and gentlemen we are about to embark on a plan to jumpstart the most transformational border security bill in the history of the united states because we need it yesterday. we've had 11 million people come to this country legally. fentanyl kills 3000 americans every two weeks. it comes across at southern border. we are running out of detention space to hold people. tom homan, the borders are came to thes. republican senate last week or two weeks ago and said

that. ice is out of money this resolution jump starts the process to get tom homan the money he needs to fill the promises made to feel or detention beds you do not have to let people go. lakin riley's murderer was in detention and was released due to lack of bed space wound up killing the young lady for that should never happen again when your detained mission hold and process you according to law, not release you. we need more detention beds. we need to finish the wall but what is had a $5 billion will be allocated by the committees in question. it will allow president trump to finish the wall, secure the border, deport criminals. ice is out of money. if you think it's a good idea to go after the criminal gang that have come here over the years illegally than you are right breach of a democratic colleagues you should be working with us, not against us. everyone she went to clean up the mess of the last four years. everybody should want to go after criminal gangs. everyone should want to secure

the border because it's a national security nightmare. nobody should when the dilemma of a nation having to let somebody ago because they could potentially be dangerous because you have no place to put them. this one is $35 billion will allow the most transformational border security bill in the history of the country at a time of great need one or $50 billion will be allocated by the armed services committee. they will decide what to spend it on there's a lot of modernization that we need about our nuclear triad fleet. we need more weapons our stockpile is low. there's a bunch of things we could spend $150 billion of what the armed services committee decide those priorities when it comes border security when it said 5 billion-dollar plan for committees of jurisdiction will allocate that money. not this resolution. but, without this resolution we cannot afford. without this resolute-why is this important? without this bill passing senate

concurrent resolution seven there is no hope of getting money for the border. the way it needs to be done. without this resolution passing tonight or early tomorrow, we are not going to get any money for the military without having to negotiate non- military spending increases. we do not have a lack of spending problem in the country we have spent way too much on things that do not matter enough. part of this process will be committees finding offsets. reducing the spending. we are told the armed services committee spent water $50 billion the way you see fit. we are telling two committees to spend one is had $5 billion to secure our border we are telling seven other committees find it savings inside your committee to offset the spending creating in this bill. i think they can do that what doge is doing is good. this is a form of that. every committee that is been instructed to save at least $1 billion will be able to

finally go into the committee itself, what they spend on and reduce spending because we are directing themst too. the $342 billion we are going to spend to secure our border, help the military, enhance the coast guard will be offset with her in a $42 billion on other parts of the government. we can do it. but this resolution has to pass or he won't do it. i am highly confident the republican chairman of the committees in question will deliver highly confident we will find savings in the government to offset the spending we are creating. the democratic party's this process for the green new deal. the use this process for obamacare. we are using this process to help our military who need help, secure border that's been broken and enhance the coast guard. that is the difference. we are doing things that need to be done to make us safe.

3000 americans die every two weeks because fentanyl comes across the border. we are going to fix that. president trump is been in office border crossings have gone down by 90%. we need to reinforce the success we need to finish that wall but we want to make sure we never release another person on this country because we do not have a bed. we are going to make sure the criminal gangs keep leaving, not staying because ice does not have enough money. why are we doing this? because the head of the omb told us two weeks ago we are out of money to finish the job that president trump started. to my house and colleagues i prefer one big beautiful bill that makes the tax cuts permanent. that doesn't things we need to do on the border with our military and cut spending. i wish you all the best. i prefer what you are doing to it but we are doing but we've got to have a plan b if you

cannot get it done soon. what is the senate doing? we have decided to front end load security. we want to cut taxes. you want to make the tax cuts permanent were going to for the house colleagues to do that. they expire at the end of the her but we have time to do that. it is the view of the republican senate that when it comes in border security we need not fail we should have the money now to keep the momentum going. when it comes a republican senate we believe the military needs money now because the world is on fire. to my house colleagues we will all get there together. if you can pass the one big beautiful bill that makes the tax cuts permanent, not for five years then we will all cheer over here. nothing would please me more than speaker johnson being able to put together the bill that president trump once. i want that to happen but i cannot sit on the sidelines and not have a plan b. this nation is under threat.

the illegal immigrants have come here by the millions, need to be sent back by the millions. the border needs to be secured. the walt needs to be finished we need more detention space we need to upgrade or military capability now. the reason you're doing it now is because we were told ice is out of money now. i am hoping the house can deliver what i am very confident the senate early in the morning republicans, not one democrat vote will set in motion a process that would transform our border security to the most modern and gross and border security plan and the history of the country north and south. that will set in motion $175 billion of new spending to secure the border in a way that's never been achieved in the past if this resolution

fails, god help us all. for this resolution passes, help is on the way. if you believe america needs to be serious by securing our border, this gets the job done if you believe in the military's be stronger not weaker in a time of threat, this bill gets it done if you believe the coast guard needs more capability deal drugs and national security threat, this bill delivers. this is a security bill this is a bill that will come but fentanyl killing americans for their more americans dying every two weeks from fentanyl than on 911. hundreds of thousands of young americans, young and old but mostly young, have died from fentanyl poisoning coming across a second border. we are going to go after the cartels. i'm confident president trump is a new sheriff in town that we need. but, without resources it won't work. tom home and came to us and begged us for money to continue the plan he has enacted to get

gangs out of this country. to secure that border and to have more detention space. tom, we heard you. we are going to meet your needs. i'm excited about this debate. i'm excited about republican lead chairman, committee chairman finding ways to reduce spending to pay for this. this is a big built folks the republican party is going to go all in a border security. we are going to upgrade our defense capability and we are going to pay for it. anybody at home ever had to pick between two things? you could not have all. 200 assumed because jon got sick or hurt. you had to cut somewhere else because there was not enough money to do both? if you have a sick child or something bad in your family happens, that goes first at me and kept a pension somewhere else except in washington.

that model is over we are going to start a new way of doing business were going to spend on things that need to be done and should be done by the federal government to keep us safe or going to offset it by reducing spending in areas that are not as important. i'm excited about this process. i urge my colleagues to come down on both sides of the aisle and participate in this debate. this is what i was elected to do i think. make america safe and prosperous. and do it in a fiscally responsible way. the idea were going to actually offset spending is a great day. we are going to deliver. this is going to go into the night our democratic colleagues are going have a chance to offer a lot of amendments to our approach. they will want this and they will want that. but, what breaks my heart is they don't see the value in what we are trying to do.

everyone every american should but want more money into dhs disappear secure our border. every american should be more capability in the hands of the military in a time of great threat. but, we cannot get there. we cannot reach common ground on those issues. so, we are going to use the process they use per day is the process to create obamacare. the green new deal, the inflation reduction acts, we are going to use that very same process to make the cartels life miserable to go after criminal gangs, to finish the law, upgrade the capability of the coast guard to make our military the most lethal expense since ronald reagan. we are going to pay for it all. in a bit, not now been told i will read a script that starts the process to the senator from ohio the presiding officer. this is why you came.

this is what you promised to do. i was on the campaign with you you look your voters in the eye and said we are going to do things different. we are going to secure the border we are going to stop the fentanyl from polluting your kids and we are going to be serious about fiscal responsibility. we are going to pay for all of this. so, mr. president you have a chance here to do what you promised you would do. all of us on this side of the aisle, people are counting on us. they're counting on the republican majority to deal with the mess has been created for the last four years. they are county of this republican majority to give the president the money he needs to do the job that he promised to do. and we are going to deliver. we are going to do it and do it tonight. at 5:00 a.m. in the morning i do not care how long it takes. we are going to deliver and we are going to pay for everything we do. so come in a little bit, and a small period of time around 5:0t

this process is a big deal folks is not business as usual in washington. this is a different way of doing business. i yield. >> mr. president? to reckon of the senator from washington. quick thank you, mr. president. mr. president, we need to be focused on solving problems and i think most of us here get that. no matter who the president is, our constituents expect us to work for them. they expect us to fight for them. they expect us to the hard work making their lives better. people do not send us here to make their lives worse but that is exactly what trump and musk are doing. they are looking at our most pressing problems and making them worse this budget proposal will only add fuel to that fire. right now, even as egg prices hit an all-time high trump and

musk have done nothing to lower prices. they have done nothing to address the housing crisis or help families get quality affordable childcare. or address other issues i hear about from folks all of the time. instead, they are slashing programs that help our families make ends meet. they're getting an agency that saves working people money and protects them from scams and starting trade ores that will impose what is effectively a trump sales tax entirely on the backs of american workers. as china works to strengthen its global leadership, trump and musk have exceeded the ground almost entirely illegally cutting off investments we make to continue our countries leadership and help our allies. it's a most precarious moment for the middle east in decades. trump is casually proposing to

ethnically cleanse gaza so trump and his family can build a waterfront property there. when it comes to helping our allies in ukraine secure a just peace, trump is giving away countless concessions to putin out of the gate. calling our ally a dictator meeting with russia without inviting ukraine. when it comes to the bird flu, trump and musk are firing the very workers who are responsible for tracking the disease and keeping it from spreading further. and now suddenly they're desperately trying to hire them back as texas deals with the serious measles outbreak trump's health secretary cannot even confirm the obvious and tell parents the vaccine does not cause autism which, to be clear it does not. almost unbelievably just weeks after the deadliest commercial

plane crash in the u.s. and over two decades, trump and musk are firing faa workers who make sure flying is safer. who does that help? i know trump is letting musk run wild by inappropriately accessing and rifling through sensitive ss a treasury of files with irs being next, your data. how does that make sense? while president trump is busy making problems worse in trampling our laws and dictators, what are we doing here in the senate? are we holding president trump accountable? are we holding his coat president elon musk the richest men in the world wasn't billions of dollars in conflicts of interest accountable? are we putting a stop to the catastrophic cuts and reckless firings that are hurting people and our communities and setting our country back decades? it seems to me that would be a

good use of time. after all i've heard some republicans admit cutting things like medical research and firing people like our v-8 workers are bad ideas. so, you would think maybe we can could work together from that common ground. but instead republicans are throwing all of their effort behind a partisan plan to/and burn programs that help our families and raise costs for everyday americans and shovel billions of dollars to help people who already have billions of dollars. meanwhile i like to recommend to my colleagues we are less than a month away from a deadline to pass bills to fund our government. as we approach that deadline the entire world is watching as a president trump and elon musk shut the government down bit by bit whatever parts he longed does not lie. they are arty showing thousands of our central workers the door despite the fact they have no

clue what those workers would do or why their jobs matter. they are just turning off the lights and hoping for the best. i am hearing so much alarm from this from back, from fired workers and from the people who depend on them. trump and his copresident are shuttering entire agencies they are locking workers out of their devices and out of their buildings and demanding the work of the american people come to a screeching halt again for no good reason. let me really drive home just out damaging and extremist firings are. we are not talking about some routine changing of the guard or some strategic plan to make government more efficient. trump and musk are taking a wrecking ball to the u.s. government they do not care what they smashed up. they do not care who they hurt they do not seem to have any idea just how painful this is for american families.

we are talking tens of thousands of people and counting being pushed out the door without any plan and without any justification beyond trump and elon went to/and cut with reckless abandonment. this has nothing to do with making government more efficient. it's breaking it beyond repair. fundamentally this is not about cutting waste or curbing fraud. instead this is about putting the federal workforce into trauma. that is what omb director put it. they are massive firing hard-working women and men. many of them veterans whose only mistake is serving our country, serving our community and believing they would not get stabbed in the back by a want to be dictator and the richest man in the world. setting aside the fact many were illegally fired and without real

cause, it is not just the workers who are suffering because of this. these cuts undermine essential services to the american people right down to some of the most basic functions of government. trump and musk are firing people who help americans find quality affordable health insurance. people who help small business get along but people who help communities and families get back on their feet after a disaster. people who help americans get their tax refunds. they are firing people who help our economy stay competitive. from firings that undermine energy projects and thousands of good new jobs. to firings that undermine innovation and technology. two of firings that are hurting our farmers and undermining agricultural research. they are laying off national park rangers which will mean a longer wait times, dirtier bathrooms, delayed emergency

responses, enclosed parks. they fired forced service workers who are crucial to preventing wildfires. and again i have to emphasize they are firing faa workers for crying out loud including personnel who work on her radar and landing other critical infrastructure that help our aircraft navigate safety, safely. they are firing these people and pretending it's no big deal just weeks after the deadliest pressure nation is seen in decades. trump and elon might not fly commercial but the rest of us do. in the pacific northwest the bonneville power administration is losing hundreds of highly skilled workers. that includes everyone. vote, the yeas are 48, the nays are 52, three-fifths of the senators duly sworn having not voted for the amendment, the point of order is sustained and the amendment falls.

a senator: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that -- mr. thune: that the following amendments be recorded by number with no amendments in order prior to a vote in relation to the amendments. warner 130, murray, 878, and hickenlooper, 925. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from virginia. mr. warner: madam president, i thank the majority leader for having my amendment. i'd like to call up my amendment 130 and ask that it be record by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from virginia, mr. warner, proposes men and womened 130 -- amendment 130. mr. warner: this would prohibit any bill that does not decrease the cost of housing for american families. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. warner: thank you, madam president. that doesn't hear about the enormous rising cost of housing

and throughout the years of biden and trump, we said we're getting to housing next. president trump said on day one he would come in and lower the cost of housing. he's done nothing of the kind. instead we have 3.7 million americans who have a shortage of housing units, 30% of all renters pay more than half the rent income in rental costs, with we have to send a message to the american people that we're going to take on the rising cost of housing. one way we can do that is supporting my amendment. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. scott: thank you, madam president. i urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. democrats are the ones who caused the record-high inflation and soaring consumer goods prices with their reckless partisan spending. the cost of everything is up 20 and the cost of housing went up

40e% during -- 40% during joe biden's presidency, cutting energy costs to reconciliation are critical components to reducing costs at the checkout aisle. this is not in order, if adopted, it would jeopardize the privileged status of -- since the amendment does not meet the standards required by law, i raise a point of order against the amendment under section 305b2 of the congressional budget office of 1974. i urge -- i urge my colleagues to just vote no. mr. warner: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: while i have great respect for my are friend from south carolina, pursuant to section 904, of the congressional budget office, i move to waive and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there

a sufficient second? there appears to be. the previous vote on the amendment numbered 473 was not a point of order. the amendment was not agreed to. the yeas and nays have been ordered. on this motion to waive, the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. aobrooks. >> targeting new employees including people recently promoted. now these workers are getting fired from their newly earned jobs literally pushing out some of our best performers and are most committed workers. and one more thing they are illegally firing the government watchdogs provide accountability and prevent fraud. if trump and musk were really committed to tackling a waste, fraud, and abuse with a fire in

the very people serving and nonpartisan roles whose very job is to uncover and reduced waste, fraud, abuse. if they were really interested in transparency with them torn down websites for the public can find information about agency spending and policy? on the list of pointless actively dangerous environments goes on and on. it grows by the day, as does the follow-up in alarm being caused by it. my phones have been ringing off the hook and i know i am not the only one. again, sweeping layoffs do not address fraud or waste. they are totally arbitrary pushing out high performers in the promising next generation of our federal workforce who would not be easily replaced. not to mention a hiring freeze prevents them from even trying. and here is the thing that is so important to remember. these are people who have families. they work hard.

they love their country. they are not being sent packing because they've done anything wrong there being pushed out simply because trump and musk are trying to break the government. trying to make it not work. it is wrong this doesn't stop now it could be cut catastrophic. it's not like you can fire anyone in say might bat and rehire everyone at the snap of a finger. if you are a va medical researcher working for less than you can make in the private sector. fired by a billionaire who decided your research on cancer and burn pit exposure isn't worth the investment would you want to come back? especially with the chaos and confidence of this administration. they cannot fire everyone break

things and hope for the best people's lives are at stake. elon musk has no clue the social security ministration understaffed will make harder for our seniors or senate already has a brigadier repairable he. will fall on trump and musk in the republicans. it's not just people being fired that's a serious problem there still today funds frozen without rhyme or reason or legal authority to do that. i am not only worried about the fast approaching funding bill in march but the de facto defective government shutdown that's happening right. now. as we speak trump and musk are still illegally blocking we also

care for the people that would represent back home. good paying jobs on the chopping block. creating incredible uncertainty for businesses, stalling funds for infrastructure and energy projects and a lot more. it's another week of trump illegally funding blockade has come and gone. reports are coming in across my state and across the country of the chaos and this is causing. little to nothing has been done by this administration to restore investment in people in red and blue states that they are counting on. republicans here in congress continue to sit by idly while our communities are rocked of hundreds of billions of dollars in bipartisan spending. meanwhile, it is our workers. it is our families or businesses with each day that passes the

uncertain faith of these investments takes a toll of its own. ever growing anxiety for workers whose jobs are in jeopardy. for farmers who are eyeing the calendar and waiting on resources they are owed. for business owners worried a ripped up contract might put them under. i have hurt usda grants have been cut to rural businesses and farmers in my home state of washington. it is putting those hard-working americans in dire straits a small laundromat ordered new machines but now trump is stiffing them on funds they need to make that payment. a wheat farmer installed solar panels under a federal program going to leave him holding the bag. a greenhouse has completed its complete itsend of the bargain l upgrades, trump a stop the federal government for doing the part it promised. and there are so many other federal investments on hold as well. forest service voting for

wildfire risks and restore echo systems eta funding for clean waterur infrastructure cleanup work are superfund site. hud and the department of energy investments to bring down folks energy costs and create new good paying jobs. funding for our roads and bridges and flood mapping and fisheries. so many other things. medical research has been completely upended as research institutions across our country through inc. lifesaving research, clinical trials and patients into uncertainty. meanwhile they have not only illegally blocked our foreign assistance and shuttered usaid programs that bolster our global leadership to make the world safer for americans, they are now illegally dismantling the department of education bread they've already bulldoze the independent research arm of the department of education. they are taking a wrecking ball to ongoing evidence-based

research and basic collection data we need for accountability to improve student outcomes that are k-12 schools and colleges. and among the many contracts trump canceled with his executive order, was funding for a program that helps students with disabilities transition from high school to work and work to improve adoption of evidence-based literacy practices. these billionaires have no idea what programs they are cutting. given the chaos of all these efforts from trump sweeping a radical and illegal executiveca orders, two elon musk jumping from agency to agency doing seemingly whatever he pleases and whatever is good for his business. it's getting hard to even keep track of all the funding that is being illegally blocked. even stuff they say is not blocked or say has been unblocked is still frozen. but one thing that is clear that

is hurting our families and communities and it needs to stop. remember, musk is the richest man on earth with deep business ties to china and a direct line to putin. republicans have chosen to stand by and twiddle their thumbs is a unilaterally and illegally cuts our constituents from the federal investments they are owed and badly needed. we have zero insight or oversight of what conflicts of interest musk has as he chokes up federal government left and right hands over our sensitive financial data and assistance to patently unqualified individuals with no accountability. this multibillionaire is operating completely in the dark. hoping his lies are allowed enough to drown out any calls for truth and for transparency.

you can agree or disagree about federal spending big goodness knows we have a lot of debates around here. it is a complete lie to try to say this is all fraud, waste and conspiracy. longtime appropriate or i can tell you we debate these bills publicly we post the details out in the open. we pass them in a bipartisan way republicans overwhelmingly supported the individual bills many unanimously. just because did not know how to read u.s. spending.. a program is not wasters because it does not help the richest man in the world. it is not fraud just because he doesn't like it. a law is not illegal just because he disagrees with it. this guy does not know what is talking about.

he does know how to count. the website and only lists 16.6 billion took 8 million as in an ms and musk can't count the count as 8 billion with a b as in bs. speaking of reading comprehension i do not think elon fully grasped the concept of transparency and accountability mean. this month the treasury system that is a crime most of the most sensitive data. no one gets to look at what he is actually doing, that cannot

be the standard. to decipher himself when he shares publicly about his actions. it's a. >> similarly concerning especially given there are many obvious conflicts of interest from a single decision. how is it not a conflict when the owner of space acts is gutting nasa or taxpayer funds to his company keeps flowing? how is it not blatant corruption when the owner of tesla is freezing grants and loans that benefit his competitors? how are we supposed to just trust him when his probing agencies that are doing right now investigations into his businesses. trump fired the ag inspector inr

general who is investigating elon's company. and then fired the fda officials who were reviewing it. he fired the epa inspector general and transportation inspector general as they were looking at tesla. he fired the labor inspector general several investigations into musk company. and trump fired the defense inspector general was looking at space acts notably musk connection to putin. it's not just musk that is concerning. he brought on an army of walking red flags into our government's most sensitive data. how are americans supposed to feel knowing someone who was previously fired for leaking sensitive information from their employer is digging through it r most private financial data. how are americans supposed to

feel knowing someone who engage with prominent white supremacist and misogynist is helping to shut down usaid? how are they supposed to feel knowing someone who tweeted explicitly racist statements. someone who said they were quote racist before it was cool was given control over incredibly important treasury payment. what sort of, if any vetting is going on here? are they trying to pick the least qualified most concerning people? you are supposed to filter out not select for them. the american people deserve transparency. if elon musk really has nothing to hide he should leave his safe place on x and the trump rally and come before us at a congressional hearing to be held accountable to the public. what they are doing here is not just illegal.

it is a devastating for working people in every zip code in america red and blue states alike. when you speak of the unified choice that when congress passes a bill we need to focus on negotiating serious funding bills on a bipartisan basis ahead of the fast approaching march 14 deadline. that is exactly what i am trying to do right now. the long-term cr should not be acceptable for anyone here as i reminded my colleagues many times now, there's a world of difference to be a short-term cr that gives additional time for safe negotiations. a long-term cr that would not only create major shortfalls for critical programs but would also hand vast power over spending decisions to an administration that absently cannot and should not be trusted. passing a clean would first of

all create major shortfalls and failed to adjust for new realities on the ground. it could mean that instead of babies getting fed through a whip, monitored and put on a waitlist for the first time in the program's history. and instead of families getting rental assistance they get cut off that means veterans are not able to get the care they need and the benefits they have earned in a timely way. and, it means our military falling behind from forcing cuts across dod two causing promotion, station changes other really essential functions. it also means losing opportunities to provide resources for new challenges and provide a check on trump policies including ones members on both sides of the aisle have issues with. and on that note i want to emphasize because this is really critical. unlike short-term cr a clean means hundreds of specific

funding directives from congress effectively creating slush funds for this administration to adjust spending priorities and potentially eliminate long-standing programs as they see fit. that is a nonstarter it with a full year cr congress will be turning over our power of the purse to a president who is already shown he could not care less about the separation of powers. your lung cr would be a green light for president trump, elon musk and russell to redirect funding to their own project/and burn and zero out the programs we have supported from congress that our families count on. maybe they siphon money away from public schools? imitate/federal work funding grants and financial aid me with a zero money for national parks and monuments they think are too awoke for what would that even mean? maybe they scrap over oversight over immigration courts are and family reunification or

dismantle the guard rails for detaining immigrants. some think we are already seeing by the weight with the use of guantanamo bay they could cut funding to limited hiv, address maternal mortality or increase vaccination rates. they could turn our constituent priorities into slush funds, clean energy investments can become payday for fossil fuels. many meant to stop sentinel and opioids could fuel private prison operations and mass deportations. congress must detail its spending priority and directed president trump to implement these programs faithfully bypassing appropriations bills just as it does every year. this truly no telling just how far they will go in vending or federal budget from what our constituents need into whatever trump and musk want. if you do not think things could get worse, you are wrong clean your lung cr is frankly an

unacceptable outcome. we cannot tell our constituents that instead of using our authority to check a president we give him the keys to the kingdom. we cannot say instead of fighting to get to the resources you need we will let a billionaire have more say in where your tax dollar goes instead. so, we need are public and to get serious about the bipartisan funding bills and we have got to know once those bills become law trump will actually follow them. we cannot reach an agreement, pass a bill in standby while president trump groups are laws in half. there is a serious bipartisan path forward for our country but it is one were congress works together to avoid a shut down. stop the defective shutdowns that's already happening and it reasserts its authority to protect the funding our communities need. unfortunately there is a far cry from the past republicans are going down with this pro-

billionaire anti- middle-class budget resolution is on the floor. let's be very clear republicans budget resolution does not just accept. it actually doubles down to what trump and musk are doing. it is not about balancing the budget. we all know that because they do not plan to reverse one of the biggest drivers of the debt, republican tax cuts despite all of the book he meant republicans like to point to is driving the national debt, the reality is the single biggest driver of our national debt since 2001 has been republican tax cuts. the trump and bush tax cuts of cost our nation over $10 trillion and counting. i will never guess or collect on the other side of the isle are focused on right now. nothing to lower the cost of eggs. it's actually more republican tax cuts. i know, they will not be paid for and yes, they will blow up

the national debt. elon musk hacks and chopped his way to the government and the name of meager savings and republicans are cheering him on, they are all hoping we will ignore the elephant they brought into the room. even as his budget is a roadmap. the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 47, the nays are 53. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the vote is not agreed to. mrs. murray: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. the senate will be in order. the senator from washington. mrs. murray: madam president, i call up my amendment, number 878, ask it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report by number. the clerk: the senator from washington, mrs. murray, proposes amendment numbered 878. the presiding officer: the senator from washington.

mrs. murray: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mrs. murray: madam president, my amendment does two things. first, it strikes the reconciliation instructions. secondly, it creates a reserve funds to implement a bipartisan, multi-year agreement to provide 171 billion in discretionary funding for both defense and nondefense. democrats do agree. we need more resources to invest in our national security and address the challenges at the border and counter china, but we cannot leave the rest of the budget in the dust while we do that. so let's deliver investments to do both, and make sure we also support our veterans, agriculture, disaster response, biomedical research, faa, child care, and more. these are all big challenges. democrats stand ready to work with our colleagues, as we have in the past, including through bipartisan efforts on the appropriations committee. that can only happen if republicans are willing to work

with us, and working with us means actually working with us, not telling us to accept elon musk cutting a trillion dollars in fiscal year 2025 to our priorities, which is assumed in this republican plan. at the same time, spending 342 billion on their own priorities. it also means not sitting on your hands while elon and trump rip up our bipartisan hands. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment. the presiding officer: who speaks in opposition. mr. graham: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: this is a big-time no. they're rewriting the budget resolution. they want to take half of the 340 billion and spend it on things not related to what we want to do. we want to secure the border and give president trump 175 billion to secure the border, through homeland security, judiciary, figure out how to spend it. we want to do 150 billion for

defense, because the world is on fire. we want to do 20 billion drawers for the coast guard -- $20 billion for the coast guard to help us become safer. they're taking half the money dedicated for border security and defense, spending it on more nondefense stuff. we're tired of that. we're not going to do that anymore. we're going to defend america in this resolution. we're not going to take half the money and spend it on more social spending. we're going to defend our border. we're going to make the military more lethal. and we're going to help the coast guard. and we're going to pay for it. something you would never do. so vote no. the presiding officer: 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. >> that is the proposition at the heart of the republican budget resolution. now, this the plan is going to be explored tonight through a

series of amendments. and, as the american people watch how we vote on the amendment will become clearer and clearer what it's all about, families lose, billionaires win. we will see tonight the democrats of votes against yourr repairable increases to the deficit and republicans about to explode the deficit. we will see tonight democrats vote against tax giveaways to the billionaires and republicans a vote for tax giveaways to the billionaires. we will see tonight, democrats vote again and again to protect the programs that support families. while republicans vote time and time again to/those programs. those programs, families depend on to be on their feet and to thrive, to move into the middle class and beyond the middle

class. to know with confidence their children will have a strong foundation for growing up. that is what we will see tonight. families lose, and billionaires win. democrats will fight this terrible vision for america and every single way that we can. now, i republican colleagues earlier on the floor it said no, no this bill is nothing except a little bit about border security and national security. if that were true then why isn't this a conversation in the spending committee, the appropriations committee? if that were true, why did our i republican colleagues repeatedly blocked bipartisan border and defense bills? last through the appropriation committee passed a strong bipartisan defense bill, let's pass it lester said it negotiated bipartisan border

deal in donald trump, the candidate killed it saying he wanted to exploit the issue of immigration on the campaign trail. well, the campaign is over there is a path now for that same bipartisan bill on the border. all of this makes it absolutely clear that this bill is not about border in defense. this bill is all about this. families losing, billionaires winning. this bill has a budget table that relays they're going to/$1 trillion in programs for families and just the last six months of this fiscal year between now and september 30. and to do so, to fund more tax giveaways to maga millionaires and billionaires cut to fund tax cuts for billionaires.

that is what this is about. we saw that also last week, last wednesday in the budget committee. democrats offered an amendment amendmentafter amendment to prot programs. and, what did we see? protect against the rising cost of groceries. democrats voted for that protection. republicans rejected it. make sure that we do not lose the tax credits that enable middle-class to buy health insurance and the exchange? democrats defended those credits. republicans voted against it. attack medicaid democrats voted to protect medicaid. republicans voted against it. lower the price of prescription drugs so we do not pay more than people in other countries? democrats voted for that

republicans rejected it. and on and on renting or buying a home, controlling the cost, democrats voted to defend and lower housing costs. republicans rejected it. making college more expensive, democrats said no way, we voted against that. republicans rejected so they could raise costs on college loans. and on childcare, that is what this bill is about families lose and billionaires win. republicans rejected every single amendment to help families stand on their feet and thrive. families are going to pay a much higher price. in fact, this budget resolution opens the door to higher prices on groceries. that is trumpflation. trumpflation has arrived. this budget opens the door to making healthcare more expensive both for low income families and for middle-class families. trumpflation. this budget opens the door to

making college more expensive. i was the first in my family to go to college. it was a really big deal we found a way to be able to afford to go. my family helped out and i worked my way all through college. making it more expensive, that is wrong. trumpflation has arrived in the form of making college more expensive. all of this strategy to increase the cost for americans, i'm not getting any calls to my office are you getting calls to your office, colleagues and saying we want to raise the cost of america? didn't i hear trump on the campaign trail saying he was all about lowering costs. but tonight, this bill is about trumpflation increasing the cost of goods to ordinary americans. yes it is about decreasing the cost of billionaires through massive tax cuts.

this bill is all about helping the billionaire team of those thousands of phone calls i've gotten v on some days i've had over 2000 phone calls. not one single one said we want trumpflation. not one single one said we want tax cuts for billionaires. not one singleo, call at 2000 a day, said we want you to cut the programs that enable families to be on their feet in healthcare and housing and education and child care. candidate trump is a different person from president trump. candidate trump said i am running to fight for families. now, who is he fighting for? he is fighting for that maga millionaires and the billionaires. this is the great betrayal. and, this connection exists

between cutting the programs for families and funding tax giveaways to the maga millionaires and billionaires who we have seen before. we saw in the 2017 strategy. during the last of trump administration. they did a tax bill and almost all of the money went to the wealthy americans. moran, moreno, mullin, paul, ricketts, rounds, schmitt, scott of florida, scott of south carolina, sheehy, sullivan, thune, tush virginia, and wicker. mr. tillis, no. mr. grassley, no. ms. murkowski, no. mr. husted, no. mr. cruz -- >> joining organizations,

making their voices heard, that's what it's going to make the difference in the course of what happensin congress . it is the voice of the people on the streets as well as the battle in the inside his chamber that is the same from inflation that will save us from the plan that fenders the nest of billionaires. this connection between cutting programs for families and increasing tax giveaways for billionaires is actually a republican bill now side. they made it explicit . this language says for every vision of our cut from the safety net they can get away anadditional dollar to billionaires . that's in the republican bill in the house. that's pretty remarkable and

bold to layout for all of america to read . there is an additional factor here. that is to run the nation deeper into that. we have seen this play again before . each of these bars represents an administration, the first president bush administration , george w. bush, obama's eight years, trumps four years, binds four years and what you see is the difference between the deficit in their first year in office and last year in office so what happens over the course of each w first four years the deficit went up. clinton's eight years the deficit went down, his last deficit was not even a deficit, it's a surplus . george w. bush said let's run

that deficit right back up and he did eight years, a lot more in his first year than is a peer. obama came along and said let's lower that deficit and he lowered year after year, first year to his eight-year the first trumpet administration he blew the top off it all . the biggest contributor, the biggest deficit, biggest contributor to national debt in the first trumpet administration and along comes up by an administration and he said we've got to lower that deficit and its four years, his fourth deficit is much lower than his first. now we're seeing trunk 2 this budget plan tonight it's going back up, maybe not as large as trump 1 in terms of text but absolutely going in the wrong direction. so it's a mystery why republican colleagues

campaign as fiscally conservative. they say they're going to lower the deficit and every single time they flow us. they coming here, cut the taxes for the richest americans, revenues to fail to compensate and they run up the deficit and now they're going to do it again if we let this budget resolution passed. so let's not let it pass, let's oppose it . colleagues join us in fiscal responsibility and take this budget resolution, laying out a vision of more and more debt and put it in the wood chipper . we've been hearing about the wood chipper, that access plan that puts it in the wood chipper and in this plan gives taxes away to the richest americans and put it

in the whichever because it is wrong for america to run programs for families to give tax cuts away to visit billionaires. president 12 has said he wants a big beautiful bill but you know what, there's nothing beautiful about the bill on the floortonight . there's nothing beautiful about destroying the programs families have better. there's nothing beautiful about using those cuts to fund tax cuts for billionaires. there's nothing tearful about running up the debt deficits and debt republicans do it every single time. what we have right now is not government by and for the people. what we have right now is for

the billionaires. trump made that very clear in his debacle, what do we have, standing right behind him . mark zuckerberg the billionaire of facebook. send elon must. ceo of so many companies including text tesla and just basals of amazon, one of the richest men in the world with elon must and the ceo of alphabet, the mother company of google. by and for billionaires, that's what this is about so democrats will not rest until we vote on each of our amendments, we will not rest till we vote on our amendments to stop the tax giveaways to billionaires and tonight democrats will be fighting by ourselves

inviting our republican colleagues to join us but we will not be fighting over for ourselves alone, we are fighting for theamerican family . this budget is the great betrayal and we as democrats will fight to stop it . thank you mr. pres. >> i rise to support the budget resolution. speaking to that i want to remind people of some history . these famous words came from rahm emanuel, pres. obama's chief of staff that dates from about 2008. he famously said you never want a serious crisis to go away," . there's no statement that

better encapsulates the mindset ofthe previous administration .we know americans are struggling with economic and social disruption. still carrying on from the pandemic . the biden administration saw real opportunity, an opportunity to permanently increase the size and scope of government . they said they wanted to transform america. i hope everybody on my side of the aisle wants to preserve america. in my view it makes sense in times of national emergency for government to take steps to help individuals, families and small businesses whether

that storm. but once the crisis subsides so should the programs and spending enacted in response. yet here we are in 2025. federal spending is a share of the economy remains at levels never seen outside of war or national emergency like recessions or depressions. in 2019 before the pandemic the total federal spending totaled 4 trillion 4,450,000,000,000 $4,450,000,000,000. in 2024 the federal government spent over $2 trillion more so that's a

total of 6 trillion of $6,750,000,000,000, a relative increase of over 50% . we must begin to put spending back on a path of normalcy and that's why we're having this debate that we call the budgetresolution . the path to normalcy is a spending path that accounts for the historic inflation of the past four years as well as population growth. there's a lot of people in this body that would say spending that much is still too much but i think it fits in with the principles of the 1974 budget resolution. once inflation and population growth are factored in

federal spending in 2024 remained roughly $1 trillion above pre-pandemic levels. and if social security and medicare and interest on the debt are set to the side federal spending was still over half $1 trillion above 2019 levels and i hope you will study the chart here that shows what i just told you. unless you have a course correction our national debt would set a new record as they share of our economy. in 2028. that is eclipsing the previous high water set in the wake of world war ii .

you see that here in the period of time as it was in world war ii . as another democrat said elections have consequences . so as part of the november mandate president trump is looking for ways to reduce wasteful government spending. and through this budget resolution before the senate now we plan to help in that process. but in fact that power should rest with here, the president shouldn'thave to do it . but it's congress and has the power of the purse and will have to do the heavy lifting. getting out on the fiscal hole you've done forourselves requires the first stop digging . the budget that we're debating ..

n i: :

mr. barrasso: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. barrasso: mr. president, i ask to amend the request, that it be the wyden 1156. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. the senator from colorado. mr. hickenlooper: i call my amendment number 925 and ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from colorado, mr. hickenlooper, proposes amendment number 925. the presiding officer: senate will be in order. mr. hickenlooper: mr. president, the united states is producing more energy right now than any country in the history of the

world. we're in the middle of an energy revolution. we got here by embracing an all of the above approach to energy including solar, wind and geothermal to keep prices as low as possible for working people. most of the energy that's ready to go today is clean and affordable. any action that blocks the rollout of that will raise prices for working americans, kill jobs and seek complete control of emerging industries of china. in the last few years we passed bills that make historic investments in american-made energy. these bills created more than 400,000 good-paying jobs and yet there's an effort by this administration to trash the progress we've made. these actions will balloon energy bills for families, at least h 240 bucks a year for working families at a time when they are struggling to buy eggs at the grocery as inflation begins to rise again. rather than limiting energy or firing critical government employees let's welcome our new

energy future, a future marked by resilient energy, built by american innovations, delivers cheaper energy for more coloradans. how could vote against that? a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, reducing energy costs for all americans starts with reducing red tape to develop our abundant energy resources. if we build more gas pipelines, build more power plants, more transmission lines we'll cloture costs for consumers across -- we'll lower costs for consumers. the democrats spent decades on unreeb liable power, solar, wind, battery source not using the free markets but using mandates and subsidies. that's not how we do things that doesn't reduce costs. it forces american taxpayers to

subsidize those industries. if we cut through the red tape we can make energy affordable and reliable for americans. since the amendment does not meet the standard required by law, i raise a point of order against the amendment under section 305b2 of the congressional budget act of 1974. a senator: mr. president. mr. hickenlooper: pursuant to section 904 of the congressional budget act i move to waive and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:. the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

the clerk: 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. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. 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. the last thing they need is another massive tax hike on top of that inflation. what happens if the tax cuts expire . if we do not extend these tax policies americans will be at with an over $4 trillion taxincrease . more than 2.6 trillion of that tax increase will fall on households giearning $400,000 per year and an

average family of four making $80,000 will be saddled with the $1700 tax increase . this is the equivalent to 6 to 8 weeks work of groceries for a family of four . tens of millions of families will see their child tax credit cut in half to $1000 and 90% of taxpayers would see their standard deduction cut in half. owners of over 20 million small businesses will face a massive tax hike with taxes up to 43.4%. 7 million taxpayers will be impacted by the alternative minimum tax from 200,000 taxpayers from . many more small businesses and farms will have their death tax exemption cut in half. the national association of manufacturers highlighted if we allow the

tax cuts to expire 6 million jobs will be at risk, $540 billion in employee compensation will be lost and us gross domestic product ul will be reduced by $1.1 trillion. bottom line: while we are considering tax policy as part of this reconciliation package it's important to set the record straight and what's at stake in the upcoming tax debate . the stakes couldn't behigher . you're going to hear tonight dozens of tax amendments being brought . were going to respond to each of those by explaining that debate is not this amendment. this budget we are debating today is on the border, on our national defense and on increasing our oil and gas production to strengthen our economy.

that's why the senate and house republicans are falling together to act as quickly as possible to make these tax cuts permanent that will be in the next step and prevent a massive tax like to provide relief to families and businesses across this nation. thank you mr. pres. >> we will stir soon be starting a vote, if you've never been at one it's okay but it's a chance to have a discussion and debate about policy and the budget resolution. what happened here is the budget committee reported out senate concurrent resolution seven that will allow for the reconciliation process of the spending of money and reduction of spending based on different committees. this resolution allows for 175 billion of border and immigration policy enhancements but it doesn't stand a penny . it doesn't

allow the judiciary committee and homeland security committee to come up with an up to hundred $75 billion plan to secure our border and do immigration reform and what will happen is those two committees will work with the top administration to meet their priorities. there's nothing in this resolution directing one dime of spending those spending bills can be implemented without presidential signature so i want to make sure that's clear. there's $150 billion in increased defense spending because we have a lot of threats . since the withdrawal of afghanistan radical islam is on the rise, we've got a hot war with russia and ukraine, israel facing enemies on sevens i . we've run out of 155 howard surrounds, we've got to reinforce the industrial base, we need more money into our military yesterday to make sure that we can deter

more if we get into a war we win it so the hundred $50 billion will be allocated by the armed services committee. we don't direct how hundred 50 billion is spent we just allow the armed services committee to spend that much if they did choose so this idea that there's money in this resolution for ukraine or any other purpose is not true . all we do is create a number for committees to mark up to and it's up to the committee as to what is in the hundred $50 billion package and to all our colleagues will eventually voting get to vote on at work and if you don't like it you can vote no and eventually work product will be signed so that's the way the process works what we're doing today is jumpstarting a process that will allow the republican party to meet president trump's immigration agenda through the reconciliation process and

the democrats used this process to pass obama care and the inflation reduction act, were going to use it to secure our border. were not going to grow the government for the sins of growing the government, were going to great green new deal, were going to create border security. ladies and gentlemen we are about to embark on a plan to jumpstart the most transformational border security bill in the united states because we need it yesterday . we've had 11 million people, legally, fentanyl killed 3000 americans every two weeks . it comes across at the southern border. we're running out of detention space, tom holman came to the senate last week and said ice is out of money. this resolution jumpstart the process to get tom holman the money he needs to fill the promiseswe made .

lake and wiley's murderer was in detention and released because of the lack of bed space wound up killing the younglady . when you're detained we should hold you and process you according to law, not release you . we need to finish the wall, this hundred $75 billion allocated by the committees will allow president trump to finish the wall, secure the border and deport criminals. ice is out of money . if you think it's a good idea to go after criminal gangs that come in illegally then you're right. to my democratic colleagues you should be working with us not against us. everybody should want to clean up the mess of the last four years, everybody should want to go after criminal gangs, secure the border because it's a national security nightmare and nobody should want the

dilemma of a nation having to let somebody go that could be dangerous because you have no place to put them. this hundred $75 billion will allow the most transformational border security bill in the country at a time of great need . the hundred $50 billion will be allocated by the armed services committee . there's a lot of modernization we need about our nuclear triad fleet. we need more weapons. our stockpile is low. there's a bunch of things we can spend hundred $51 billion on but will let the armed services committee design was priorities. when it comes to border security hundred $75 billion plan , they will allocate that money not this resolution but without this resolution we can't move forward. why is this important. without this bill passing concurrent resolution seven there is no hope of getting money for the border the way it needs to be done . without this resolution passing tonight or early tomorrow you're not going to get any

money for the military without having to negotiate nonmilitary spending increases. we don't have a lack of standing problem, we have spent way too much on things that don't matter enough . part of this process will be committees finding offsets, reducing spending so we're telling the armed services committee send the hundred $50 billion the way you see fit, were coming to committees to spend 175 billion to secure our border and seven other committees find savings inside your committee to offset the spending we are creating in this bill. i think they can do that. i think what george is doing is good . this is a form of that. every committee has been instructed to save at least $1 billion will be able finally to go into the committee itself, what they spend on and reduce spending

because we're directing them to. my hope is that the $342 billion were going to stand to secure our border help the military and hence the coast guard will be offset with $342 billion of cuts in other parts of the government . we can do it but this resolution has to pass or we won't do it. i'm confident the chairman will do. i am confident we can find savings in the government to offset the spending or creating . democratic party used this process for the green new deal . they used this process for obama care. we're using this process to help our military needs help, to secure a border that's been broken and enhance the coast guard. we're doing things that need to be done to make us safe . 3000 americans die every two weeks because fentanylcomes across the border. we're

going to fix that . since trump has been in office border crossings have gone down by 90% . we want to finish that wall, make sure we never release another person in this country because we don't have a bed . we got to make sure the criminal gangs keep leaving, not stay because ice doesn't have enough money. why are we doing this? because tom holman and mr. boyd told us two weeks ago we are out of money to finish the job president trump started. i do for one big bill to make the tax cuts, do the things we need to do on the border and cut spending. i wish you all the best. i prefer what you're doing to what we're doing but we got to have a plan b if you can't get it done soon . what is the senate doing? we decided to front end load security . we want to cut taxes, make the tax cuts

permanent. we're going to work with colleagues to do that but we have time to do that. it is the view of the senate that when it comes to border security we need not fail, we should have the money now to keep the momentum going. we believe the military needs money now so to my house colleagues we will get there together. if you can pass the one big beautiful bill and makes tax cuts permanent not for five years then we will all cheer over here. nothing would please me more than speaker johnson being able to put together the bill president trump watts. i want that to happen but i cannot

before. now is not the time to fire dedicated public servants who perform wildfire mitigation, manage visitors, clear trails, permit grazing and mining and

oil and gas operations. fewer boots on the ground means more wildfire risk and less access to our public lands, and puts enormous burden on communities across the country, from alaska to north carolina to maine. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: article 2 of the united states constitution declares the president of the united states to be the person who holds the executive power. he has the discretion to hire and fire those who work in executive branch agencies. now, for decades staffing for the federal land and wildlife management and outdoor recreation agencies has been a bipartisan issue. this amendment does not do that. instead, it attempts to turn federal land management agency employment into a political football. as chairman of the senate energy and natural resources committee, i look forward to working with my colleagues onned both sides of the aisle -- on both sides of

the aisle to address issues affecting federal land management and federal land management employees, including finding innovative solutions for housing and we're not held up in endless paperwork. and giving land management? discretion to hire qualified employees and work with gateway community businesses. this is not that amendment. this goes the wrong way, and i oppose it. mr. bennet: do i have any time left, mr. president? the presiding officer: six seconds remaining. mr. bennet: i urge my opponents to vote for this amendment. i ask for the yeas and nays. i yield back whatever seconds remain. the presiding officer: 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. >> i'll lay out the rules of order are going to be doing today and look forward to the discussion . i think senator

luan i think he has covid? we wish him well. under the rules he can vote by proxy. so i'll let you do that. i know he has amendments he wants to offer. you can also offer amendments on his behalf . i don't think he can vote on final passage but we wish him well and want to make sure he can participate by proxy. members will be recognized in accordance with committee practice at the beginning of the market in order of seniority. committee members arriving will be recognized in the order they arrive.

consideration of amendments only timely filed amendments will be considered. we will vote to report the resolution. there as the practice of prior chairs all amendments must be fully offset over the total of years followed by theresolution . resolutions are not in order the walls so senate amendments are not permitted. as the budget resolution is considered to be a privileged matter i will rule out of order. i've covered that before. otherwise votes must take place as in prior markups in

certain blocks of time and stack the vote on amendments throughout the day. our rules require we have the budget resolution and prior years agreement has been reached to keep the markup moving forward even if there were at times, this has worked well in the past so i moved that the opening statement and debate during markup and the requirement be considered met for the duration of the markup. hearing no objection sure. i asked members to limit their statements to six minutes . just do the best you can and i will lead by example.

so we're here to pass a budget resolution bill that will allow $175 billion to be spent to secure our border, one hit hundred $50 billion to increase our military capability . 20 billion for the coast guard and then we're going to construct the appropriateness to do that and instruct the other committees to find an offset for reconciliation compliance mandatory spending not social security and the reason we're doing that is that there's been debate between the house and the senate on what to do and why.the reason i start and i want to start now is because there is a sense about immigration at donald trump in this regard. 80% of the people according

to the new york times support immigrants who are here legally and have criminal records, 87%. 65% support exporting immigrants here illegal and arrived over the last four years, 55% support all immigrants here legally and that's where the public is. the problem we have now is ice is running out of money into my colleagues in the house i hope you can pass one big beautiful bill meeting the priorities of president trump and what would be the permanent thing to do is party but we've got to move on this issue. tom holman said yesterday that ice czar for lack of a better word there's 300,000 children in this country and if we get more money we can find them quicker and only god knows what they're going through . we need to finish the wall,

then space is in short supply so when we apprehend somebody they can't be deported right then on the spot. they have to be housed there is a legal process to go through and we're running out of bed space so we desperately need more detention space and we need more ice agents to make this happen. what's happened here is where dealing with four years of irresponsible immigration policy. lost for years people have been waiting for the country violating the parole statutes. the young lady that was murdered in georgia, the man convicted of killing her was in custody and was paroled because of lack of detention space in texas. that's not a legitimate reason to parole somebody, you can parole people for two reasons. the special need they offer to our country, not like bed

space. we were in campaigns since 2024 on what to do about immigration and our party said we were going to deport criminalsha, finish the wall, give ice the tools they need to bring law and order to america and we need money to do that. to my republican colleagues i'm pulling for one big beautiful bill there's a sense of urgency. we will consider what to do if you cannot produce one big beautiful bill quickly. to my democratic colleagues president trump was right to run on the idea of mass deportation in response to mass illegal immigration . the number of people that have crossed into this country illegally last four years is probably over 10 million and now barred work

of getting criminals out of the country begins. securing the border and hiring people necessary to make that happen. this bill will allow the money to be spent to make that happen. if we get this bill through the senate and house ice left the money they need to finish the job we promised they will do. if we get this bill on the president's desk military will have $150 million to upgrade our ability and the coast guard will be better off to my republican colleagues were going to pay for everypenny of this . we want standard for years, we want to pay for it in four years so i'm ready to get it started. the campaign is behind us, it's time to govern . we're going to keep those promises and it starts today. the next thing we will do is deal with taxes and spending and i'm committed to making sure we spend consistent with

the values we have as republicans and i am dying to work with mydemocratic colleagues to fix the broken immigration system that only happens if you regain control of the border and deport the people that it should never have been here to begin with . idea of immigration reform will be put on hold till we get control of our border . i've been involved in every effort to produce a comprehensive immigration bill and the problem we have now is so many years of open borders has done a lot of damage. it would be hard to convince republicans much less anybody no matter how wordy the case may be for legalization until you first secure the border and were never goingto do that here . were going to control the more first and get control over the gangs first and then talk about what to do next so

with that i look forward to the markup. >> thank you for holding bismarck so we can have a public discussion of the ideas behind this particular budget resolution . many of us share the concerns about our security in the bipartisan bill through the senate and i remind you it was a republican house and torpedo that bill and there was a plan last year works out and again it was the republican candidate president then mr. trump who torpedoed that bill so working together in a cooperative fashion on border security and national security we are all for but we are not for this budget resolution and i'm going to explain why. this budget resolutioncontains 9 trillion in cuts to programs for working families . this budget resolution has a simple vision, families lose

billionaires with. it mirrors alaska presented by donald and his former omb director, the architect of project 2025 and of course we now have again russell vote as omb director. if you cancel the budget chairs you find in 2025 it proposes $1 trillion to programs. we also saw reflected that an application of what was in trump's budget for 2021 which had $1 trillion in federal work in a decade . that budget/programs, slash them for healthcare and housing for seniors and veterans, slashed the school meal programs, slash program, police and firefighter from the . we did all that and now we're

seeing replay of that strategy. families on the chopping block for the big massive giveaways to the richest americans. this is a great betrayal because president trump campaigned on helping families not destroying the programs that help them stand up do well drive moving to themiddle class . that's why were so opposed to this particular budget resolution . this resolution sets up a bill that opens the door to making student loans more expensive, closing off the opportunity for millions of students to thrive by attending college. this proposal eliminates cpas methane fee which is a critical tool for encouraging the biggest polluters of this global warming gas, biggest incentive for them to reduce their leaks . this budget sets up a strategy for encouraging massive amounts of drilling pours fuel in the climate chaos generating more

droughts, more powerful hurricanes, afflicting our communities across this nation. and in turn drives up the cost of flood and fire insurance we're already seeing disappear from the markets in florida california and in oregon. we know families are upset about this vision. were getting thousands of phone calls, emails . they're concerned about the impacts to education and housing and childcare. so mr. chairman that's our only concern. her other concern is this will continue the record of republicans driving us deeper into debt. as you will see by this proposal was struck by me if we look at first year of deficits for each republican administration compared to last year every single republican administration increases the deficits over the term.

every democratic administration reduces their deficits so we see them then proceed to massive tax cuts to the wealthiest driving our country deeper into debt. indeed this is a vision that is now existed for 40 years . we're seeing replay the charade one more time . the trickle-down never trickles down. we know that many of the cuts in this budget are very real and will hurt families but we also know many of them are a more. if you take the chairman's mark for the first year that calls for trillion dollar cut our colleague laid out the vision of what those cards will look like and what they would look like is wiping out all funding in the

balance of fy 25 for energy, natural resources, agriculture and regional development, education and social services and half of the funding for healthcare transportation veterans benefits unemployment benefits and housing. " designed to offset giveaways of the richest americans that magic abstract leaves unallocated program cuts means when they don't have we run the country deeper into debt repeating the model we have seen time after time. if your fold wants cheap on you but if your fold twice, shame on me.we're talking about fourth or fifth time we are full and it's designed to give tax cuts to the richest americans drive up the national debt. this is not government of by

and for the people, this is all by and for the billionaires. i propose a budget that builds more affordable housing, improves education and creates good paying jobs . thank you mr. chairman. >> as part of its duty to execute mandate the budget committee will markup the budget for fiscal year 2025. the end is the beginning. on his first day in office in january 2021 president joe biden blew open the southern

border by using executive authorityto receive a number of successful trumpet ministration policies. is open more policies brought more than 10 million illegal immigrants into our country . pres. biden failed to uphold the law with regard to border security . while president trump has reinstated many of these policies through executive order the fiscal year 2025 budget resolution implements lasting security for american citizens. additionally this resolution restores america's military power to counteract russia china and other adversaries around the world. this work combined with president trump's america first foreign-policy would keep america the preeminent global power and shore up our national defense. to begin the process of returning to fiscal sensitivity the finance committee instruction in this budget unlocks our ability to reverse