so first is senator merkley 1. senator merkley: thank you, mr. chairman. very simply, the purpose of reconciliation was to do deficit-neutral or deficit-decreasing legislation. and my understanding that's the goal of the budget resolution before us, and so let's restore that principle so a bunch of proposals don't come back from the authorizing committees that in fact violate that and increase the deficit. chair graham: thank you. what i said before. senator murray. no. we're gonna -- call the roll now? ok. call the roll. i'm sorry. thank you. the clerk: senator grassley. senator grassley: no. the clerk: mr. crapo. senator crapo: no. the clerk: mr. johnson. senator johnson: no. the clerk: mr. marshall. senator marshall: no. the clerk: mr. cornyn. mr. lee. senator lee: no. the clerk: mr. kennedy. senator kennedy: no. the clerk: mr. ricketts. senator ricketts: no. the clerk: mr. moreno. senator moreno: no. the clerk: mr. scott. senator scott: no. the clerk: mr. merkley. senator merkley: aye. the clerk: mrs. murray. senator murry: aye. the clerk: mr. wyden. s

merkley: thank you. mr. warnock: mr. president. mr. president, i rise today in strong opposition to the nomination of russell vought to be the head of the office of management and budget. his leadership will only continue the disruption that is hurting georgians in every corner of my state, even as i speak. over the past two and a half weeks, my state has been plagued by chaos, by confusion that has harmed georgia families and georgia workers and organizations serving their communities. we are witnessing right now a careless and heartless assault on federal investments and a freeze of government funding that has already, already been appropriated by congress. to help georgia seniors, veterans, students, and so many more. let's be clear, these are funds that have already been appro appropriated. we've already gone through the legislative process. somehow, the president has created this new process in which he says i don't care what congress has done, i don't care what laws have been passed, it has to come back by me, through the omb man

merkley: when we fight -- >> we win! sen. merkley: we are ready to fight, so let's get at it. so did anybody vote for government of billionaires and millionaires? >> no! sen. merkley: are you ready to stand up and defend our democracy? what we are up against is an authoritarian take over our of our democracy, and we say hell no, hell no, hell no! the first thing an authoritarian dictator wants to do is take down the inspector general's. that's what they did, and we want them restored. we want the inspector general's back in. and then -- reinstate. and then what happened? he went to the fbi offices and had those who cover the executive branch pushed out of their offices. that is so wrong. we want the fbi looking at trump and his team. and then, of course replace the regular news with propaganda. you see take that right wing press and put them out to mislead the american people. how about we let people know through every possible network that this authoritarian takeover is happening and it's not ok. we are going to make it happen. and the constitutional crisis, it's on us. it's

let's hear it for jeff merkley. thank you. and i would like to introduce auntie maxine maxine waters of california. >> hello, everybody. we have convened here at the treasury department. we have got to tell elon musk nobody elected your ass. nobody told you you could get all of our private information. nobody told you you could be in charge of the payments of this country. we have told you you have made enough money off our government yourself. now you want to take everybody else's payroll and make sure that they do not make the kind of money that you have made. you want to use our money to go to mars. no. we want to use our money right here in washington, d.c., in this country. we want to make sure all of our federal employees are protected. we have to make sure that you know and understand nobody elected you. you think you are the president of the united states of america? the copresidents that can take over, go into our private payment system and do whatever you want to do? you got another thought coming. we are going to st

merkley: thank you. sen. graham: senator moran. sen. moran: thank you, chairman, for starting this process. sen. graham: the vote is on. second vote is on. sen. moran: i have voted. that's why i'm here last. so we are good to go. we have another cabinet confirmation from president trump which is very exciting. we're going to get his team in place, thank you for starting this process. thank you for getting this going. i think we need to kind of go back in time for just a little bit. not quite as much as in back to the future, let's just go back to 2020. there was an election in 2020. the democrats gained control of the senate and the white house, and what's been the result? during the four years of president trump, his first

senator merkley? senator merkley: thank you very much. mr. chairman, regulations on your new role. look forward to working with you. welcome to the committee. senator cornyn, senator ricketts and new to the senate, senator marin, welcome. the senate budget committee is going to be deeply engaged in the policies with reconciliation playing a central role, and reconciliation begins right here in this room. we will consider trump's budget requests. and i must say my deepest concern about the reconciliation bills is that they are going to betray working americans. working americans who president trump appealed to in his campaign come up working best campaign, working americans -- appealed to in his campaign, working americans who listened to the strategies that he laid out, that he proposed. but certainly the actual plan isn't to help working people. the actual plan is to help the few healthy get wealthier with -- the wealthy get wealthier with massive tax giveaways, with working families paying the bill. now how are these massive , giveaways, to the wealthiest families going to be pai

senator jeff merkley is a democrat of oregon. he kicked off the democrats 30 hours straight of speeches against russell, votes confirmation. and he joins me now. senator, we showed the poster next to you on the floor of the senate, calling him the most dangerous nominee by trump. why do you why do you say that? >> oh, absolutely. well, think of some of the folks who are very concerned about people like tulsi gabbard or by like hedgeworth. they they have people below them who are going to moderate their their actions, contribute some real professional content if they are in fact in office. and of course, authority is. but in this case, there will be no one moderating russell vote. he was so clear to us that he believes that that is the president's power to ignore the laws as written. that is the president's power to ignore the constitution. if people want to take it to the supreme court, fine. but that will take a long time, and they'll be able to continue doing. >> what. >> they want. and once you erase the boundary between congr

joining us now is senator jeff merkley, an oregon democrat. he is the ranking member of the senate budget committee. hi, senator. so republicans hold such a slim majority, right in both houses. do you feel this meeting speaks to larger difficulties facing the party? how do you think this is going to play out? >> well, right now, senator graham has said on the senate side, he is going to put forward a bill this friday. it will be up for discussion wednesday and thursday of next week. so the senate's proceeding with a reconciliation bill in a two part strategy. so first, addressing the issues of immigration and energy. meanwhile on the house side, they want to do a single bill, but they can't find a single bill that they can get a majority to agree on. and so they're rather stymied at the moment. and yet, reconciliation is the filibuster free pathway where republicans can move without democratic support. so it's essential to their plan. >> let me just ask you, i mean, there are some questions over democratic messaging and whether democrats need

merkley, no. ms. cortez masto, no. the clerk: mr. ossoff, no. the clerk: mr. welch, no. clerk: ms. baldwin, no. ms. cantwell, no. the clerk: mr. kelly, no. the clerk: mr. graham, aye. mrs. moody, aye. mr. warner, no. ms. lummis, aye. the clerk: ms. blunt rochester, no. mr. husted, aye. ms. slotkin, no. mrs. capito, aye. the clerk: mr. murphy, no. the clerk: mr. blumenthal, no. the clerk: mr. scott of florida, aye. mr. sullivan, aye. mr. hickenlooper, no. the clerk: mr. sanders, no. mr. cornyn, aye. the clerk: mr. king, no. mr. reed, no. mr. markey, no. ms. warren, no. mr. cramer, aye. mr. paul, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, no. the clerk: mr. wicker, aye. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no. the clerk: mr. moreno, aye. the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, no. the clerk: mr. whitehouse, no. the clerk: mr. booker, no. the clerk: mr. kaine, no. ms. rosen, no. mr. durbin, no. mr. warnock, no. the clerk: ms. smith, no. the clerk: mr. kennedy, aye. the clerk: mr. hagerty, aye. vote: the clerk: mr. lee, aye. the clerk: mr. cruz, aye. the clerk: mr. padilla, no. mr. young, aye. ms. murkowski,

senator merkley. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. on day one president trump issued an executive order that requires agencies to cause the disbursement of funds that were authorized, inflation reduction act and the infrastructure investment and jobs act. there is a legal mechanism for changing past law, it's called conversation. and there's an illegal way. it's called an impoundment. what you send a rescission message to congress or will you use the illegal impoundment strategy? >> thanks for the question. those eos were again pauses to ensure that the funding that is in place is consistent and moves in a direction along the lines of what the present rent on, unleashing american energy away from the green new deal. the -- >> which strategy will you use? that's a simple question. >> there is a section in those eos this is the office of legislative affairs will work with the office of management and budget. i may put forward rescissions but again, the language of the eo says required by law and its meant to do a programmatic delay to f

senator merkley? sen. merkle: thank you very much, mr. chairman. on day one, president trump issued an executive order that requires agencies to cause a disbursement of funds that were authorized, the inflation reduction act and the infrastructure investment in jobs act. there is a legal mechanism for changing passed law called the rescission. it is an illegal way. will you send a rescission message to congress, or use the illegal impoundment strategy? mr. vought: thanks for the question. those were pauses to ensure that the funding that is in place is consistent and moves in a direction along the lines of what the president ran on, unleashing american energy away from the green new deal. sen. merkle: which strategy will you use? that is a simple question. mr. vought: there is a section in the eos that says the office of affairs will work with the management of the budget and work for rescissions. the language of the eo's required by law and it is meant to do a programmatic delay to figure out what are the best ways -- sen. merkle: ok. thank you i

. >> you take me to my next question because your colleague jeff merkley said he's prepared to shut downernment over these sledgehammer actions that he's seeing with elon musk. are you prepared to shut down the government and yes, look at what the trump administration is doing right now. >> is that a yes? >> they are simply trying to dismantle the government. so, yes, if we have to take steps to hold them accountable and we use the leverage that we have to force it. i cannot support efforts that will continue this lawlessness that we're seeing when it comes to this administration's actions, and for us to be able to support government funding in that way only for them to turn it around to dismantle the government, that is not something that should be allowed. >> just to be clear, senator, you are open to shut down the government government? >> this is on them. they are the majority and if they cannot govern then that's for the american people to see, but i've worked in government. i've worked through multiple government shutdowns. i would be the last person to want to get to that stage, b

with that, senator merkley. cliques thank you very much mr. chairman.day one president trump issued executive order that requires to pause funds that were authorized for inflation reduction act and infrastructure investment and jobs act. there is a legal mechanism for changing past law. it's called a rescission and there is an illegal way called an impoundment. will you send a rescission message to congress? or will you use the impoundment strategy? what thank you for the question. those ceos were again pauses to ensure the funding that is in place is consistent and moves in a direction along the lines of what the president ran on unleashing american energy away from the green new deal. what strategy will you use at the simple question. >> there is a section that says the office of legislative affairs for work at the office of management and budget for they may put forward rescissions. but again the language of the eo as required by law. it is meant to do a programmatic delay to figure out one of the best ways kuester. >> thank you. i will note you are

jeff merkley, the senator from oregon, he is open to shutting down the government.said, no more business as usual. shut it down. president trump is doing exactly what america voted for. but here the headlines -- there are the pictures and those are the democrats in the united states senate saying, we don't care what the american people say. we're going to shut down the government. president trump is shrinking the size of government. we know that government is too big. we know it spends too much. president trump is accounting for every single penny. and we're not going to make pennies anymore, as a result of the fact that it costs three cented to make a penny. -- three cents to make a penny. democrats want to shut down the government. they don't like the success that america is having today. they don't like the optimism that is pervasive throughout our country. once again, if there's going to be a shutdown, we're talking about a schumer shutdown of our country because they lost the election. additionally, mr. president, here we are on the floor of the senate. the sen

to be an illegal referral of the inflation reduction act and foreign assistance funds as senator merkley referred to. your written response was you will follow the advice of the in coming council, mark, who called the control act a stupid law and tweeted impound baby impound. i said members of coping must know a deal is a deal. agreements cannot happen and congress cannot function without that level of trust. impound baby impound is not the answer i'm looking for. so, i'd like to ask you today. will you, if confirmed as director, faithfully follow the law? the impoundment control act, yes or no? >> we will faithfully uphold the law. the president ran on the notion that the impoundment control act is unconstitutional and i agree with that. i will say what the president has unveiled all ready are not impoundments. >> has the impoundment law ever said to be unconstitutional by a court of law? >> not to my knowledge. >> no, it has not. i don't care what the president said when he was running. it's the law of the land, will you follow that law if you are confirmed to the office. >> the presid

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. plan is to help the wealthy get wealthier tax giveaways families paying the bill. how massive giveaways going to be paid for? slashing services to families and families try to get on their feet so they can thrive and get to the middle-class. great betrayal. today we will consider russell the office of management and the budget really the place for this campaign is coordinated. we will hear very different ideas have to take our country forward. from my friends across the aisle will hear we need to continue to give massive tax giveaways to the wealthiest americans and we will hear how nonpartisan expertise that makes our country run smoothly should be replaced by those with political loyalty and how programs that assist the environment or unions organizing working people should be replaced by programs that serve big corporatio

merkley: i am the most junior senator so i go last. ever since i got here, and it has been a whole week, i get told two things when i rush up to my fellow senators. number one,, are you senator britt? [laughter] and number two, you know the senate is a body that is deliberative and calm, and i am anything but. i don't know how the next couple of years will look but i hope they bear with me. i have been a lot of things that are these agencies i thought we would never see out of the united states. i know my fellow attorneys general who would agree with me in fact, some of them are here to support you. i would love to introduce them, the attorney general from south carolina, former utah attorney general as well, and little son and the louisiana ag. they joined me. thank you for being here. they joined me in signing onto a letter supporting your nomination. we did that while i was still attorney general over a week ago. they came here today to support you. mr. chairman, i know you have been referencing a lot of letters you have entered int

jeff merkley center from oregon he's open to shutting dunnigan he said no more business as usual, shut it down for trump is doing exactly what america voted for. but here the headlights come the pictures of those of the democrats in the united states senate saying w we don't care wt the american people say. we're going to shut down thet government. president trump a shrinking the size of government we know that government is too big. we know it spends too much. president trump is accounting for every single penny. and we're not going to make pennies anymore as a result of the fact that the costs three sense to make a penny. that's why democrats wantt to shut down the government. they don't like the success that america is having today. they don't like the optimism that is pervasive throughout our country. so once again if there's going to be a shutdown, we are talking about a schumer shutdown of our country because they lost the election. additionally, -- >> the senate is coming in for more work on president trump's cabinet nominations. the next vote will be on confirming tulsi gabbard

so to my colleagues, you're saying well, i don't know if senator merkley from oregon is right about this, read the supreme court case. and you have a responsibility to defend the constitution, and that's why you have a responsibility to vote no on russell vought who wants to violate the constitution. another piece that i'm concerned about with mr. vought is that he didn't wait to be confirmed to start being essentially the shadow director of the office of management and budget. and i can't count how many nominees have come through and said, well, actually, i can't go near that office until i'm confirmed because that would be a violation of the intent of the const constitution, that people have to be confirmed before they take a role. but what did we hear from the white house after all those illegal executive orders were put out? press secretary karoline leavitt said russell vought told me to tell all of you the line to his office is open. so here's mr. vought basically saying i'm really the power already to omb. my line's open. call me. well, mr. vought, if you would quit breaking the la

jeff merkley center from oregon he's open to shutting dunnigan he said no more business as usual, shutdown for trump is doing exactly what america voted for. but here the headlights come the pictures of those of the democrats in the united states senate saying w we don't care wt the american people say. we're going to shut down thet government. president trump a shrinking the size of government we know that government is too big. we know it spends too much. president trump is accounting for every single penny. and we're not going to make pennies anymore as a result of the fact that the costs three sense to make a penny. that's why democrats wantt to shut down the government. they don't like the success that america is having today. they don't like the optimism that is pervasive throughout our country. so once again if there's going to be a shutdown, we are talking about a schumer a senator: mr. president, i come up to the floor this afternoon to join a number of my colleagues because of

jeff merkley, senator from oregon, he's open to shutting down the government, oh, yeah, no more business than usual, shut it down, president trump is doing exactly what america voted for. but here the headlines, there are the pictures and those are the democrats in the united states senate saying we don't care what the american people say, we're going to shut down the government. president trump is shrinking the size of government. we know that government is too big. we know it spends too much. president trump is accounting for every single penny. and we're not going to make pennies anymore as a result of the fact it costs three cents to make a penny. that's why democrats want to shut down the government. they don't like the success that america is having today. they don't like the optimism that is pervasive throughout our country. so once again, if there's going to be a shutdown, we're talking about a schumer shutdown