mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. senators voting in the affirmative -- alsobrooks, baldwin, bennet, blumenthal, blunt rochester, booker, cantwell, fetterman, gallego, gillibrand, hassan, heinrich, hickenlooper, hirono, kaine, kim, king, klobuchar, lujan, markey, merkley, murphy, murray, ossoff, peters, reed, rosen, sanders, schatz, schiff, schumer, shaheen, van hollen, warren, wyden. senators voting in the negative -- banks, barrasso, blackburn, budd, cotton, cramer, crapo, cruz, curtis, daines, ernst, fischer, graham, grassley, hoeven, husted, hyde-smith, johnson, justice, lankford, leigh, mccormick, moody, moran, moreno, mullin, paul, ricketts, risch, rounds, scott of florida, scott of south carolina, sheehy, thune, tillis, wicker, young. mr. marshall, no. ms. smith, aye. mr. sullivan, no. mr. mcconnell, no. ms. mur

mr. patel: me personally, no. sen. schiff: after you said we digitized and recorded it and all of that, did you take it to the studio and digitized and recorded? mr. patel:, personally, no. sen. schiff: so you were lying to steve bannon and his audience? mr. patel: no, i was using the pronoun "we" appropriately. sen. schiff: the proverbial "we." you certainly promoted the hell out of i no. mr. patel: i? mr. patel: promoted the heck out of it? mr. pat raising money for families in need. sen. schiff: saying you are going to get this to number one on the billboards, right, mr. patel. mr. patel: i think it did. sen. schiff: yes it did. isn't that great, people who violently attacked police have a number. you claim you didn't know about any of the people are the choir, right? mr. patel: i didn't know about the violent offenders and i didn't participate in any of the violence in the violence in and around january 6. sen. schiff: what due diligence did you do to find out who was in the choir before you promoted their beautiful music

mr. schiff, no. mr. whitehouse, no. mr. marshall, aye. ms. baldwin, no. the clerk: mr. warnock, no. clerk: mr. schumer, no. the clerk: mrs. murray, no. the clerk: mr. merkley, no. the clerk: mr. graham, aye. the clerk: mr. markey, no. the clerk: mr. blumenthal, no. the clerk: mr. grassley, aye. the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, aye. mr. ossoff, no. the clerk: mr. mr. padilla: no. ms. klobuchar, no. the clerk: ms. gillibrand, no. the clerk: mr. risch, aye. mr. schmitt, aye. the clerk: mr. van hollen, no. the clerk: mr. budd, aye. the clerk: mr. sullivan, aye. the clerk: ms. lummis, aye. the clerk: mr. young, aye. vote: the clerk: ms. hirono, no. the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 53. the nays are 47. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of health and human services, robert f. kennedy jr. of california to be secretary. mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, as we begin this discussion that is so important to america, i thought i would just mention the conver

mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- banks, barrasso, britt, capito, collins, cotton, crapo, curtis, daines, ernst, fischer, grassley, hoeven, husted, johnson, lankford, lee, marshall, mcconnell, moody, moreno, mullin, paul, ricketts, risch, rounds, schmitt, scott of florida, scott of south carolina, sullivan, tillis, tuberville and wicker. senators voting in the negative -- duckworth, durbin, gallego, hassan, hickenlooper, hirono, kim, lujan, merkley, sanders, schiff, shaheen, van hollen, and wyden. mrs. blackburn, aye. mr. kennedy, aye. mr. fetterman, no.

mr. schiff, no. mr. ricketts, aye. ms. hirono, no. the clerk: mrs. shaheen, no. the clerk: mr. kennedy, aye. mr. coons, no. mr. murphy, no. the clerk: mr. durbin, no. the clerk: mr. sullivan, aye. ms. murkowski, aye. the clerk: mr. welch, no. the clerk: ms. lummis, aye. the clerk: mr. cassidy, aye. mr. hickenlooper, no. the clerk: mr. booker, no. mr. blumenthal, no. vote: vote: the clerk: ms. klobuchar, no. the clerk: mr. hawley, aye. the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye. the clerk: mr. paul, aye. the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, no. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, aye. the presiding officer: we have 51 yeas. 47 nays. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of justice, kash patel of nevada to be director of the federal bureau of investigation. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. mcconnell: i've never liked calling too much attention to today's date, february 20. but i figured my birthday would be as good a day as any to share with our colleagues a decision i made last year. during my time in the

mr. schiff, no. mr. booker, no. mr. padilla, no. mr. padilla, no. is led by this. we wish to be everywhere all times. with allies and partners and encouraged everyone to invest have they represent but it requires realistic nominees. a lot of to the media anyone suggests abandonment are trying to drive away allies. we are committed to that and understand the importance. the fiscal reality of the have to. nato has to spend more and we are very encouraged and behind closed doors acknowledging that reality nato read again is what trump said in 2017 that said president trump is abandoning nato turning his back on nato allies 2018 now almost every nato they said. considering there you are. we are proud to be. and we are going to this. can you expand on that a little bit? >> one of the self-evident the war in ukraine is the underinvestment the ability emerging technology and rapidly blind spot exposed to the aggression against great. and you a great deal. we have to do more to ensure this. we are not able. the defense department the leader to ensure we are investing in va

mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. senators voting in the affirmative -- banks, barrasso, blackburn, britt, budd, cassidy, cotton, ernst, grassley, hagerty, hawley, hyde-smith, kennedy, moreno, paul, schmitt, scott of florida, tillis, and young. senators voting in the negative -- duckworth, durbin, king, lujan, murkowski, murphy, padilla, peters, sanders, warner and welch. ms. slotkin, no. mr. sheehy, aye. mr. schatz, no. mrs. moody, aye. mr. crapo, aye. mr. scott of south carolina, aye. ms. rosen, no. mr. tuberville, aye. mr. husted, aye. mr. johnson, aye. mr. risch, aye. mr. kelly, no. mr. ricketts, aye. mr. blumenthal, no. mr. daines, aye. mr. justice, aye. ms. cantwell, no. mr. graham, aye. ms. collins, no. mr. marshall, aye. ms. lummis, aye. mr. mccormick, aye. mr. schumer, no. mrs. gillibrand, no. mr. sullivan, ay

mr. schiff: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mr. schiff: after tulsi gabbard was selected as donald trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, the russian newspaper was overjoyed. they wrote, the cia and fbi are trembling. sadly, the russian newspaper is probably right about that. another russian state outlet called her a comrade. on a separate broadcast, a top putin mouthpiece, after gushing about kash patel said, and what about our girl? we have our girl there. our girl is evidently the kremlin's way of referring to our nominee, tulsi gabbard. his guest, as so as to be sure, intel intelligence? the answer was yes. r.t., another russian outlet ms. gabbard regularly read and shared articles from, took to twitter to defend her, quote, we've got your back, tulsi. yes, they certainly do. in september, it was revealed that r.t. was acting covertly on behalf of moscow to spread propaganda in the united states. not a surprise that r.t. has tulsi gabbard's back. the question is, should we? the director of national intelligence i

mr. schiff, but i heard a lot of people say in their comments if the allegations are true. this is coming from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. so they are not 100% sure, but it sure certainly fits comfortably into a narrative in opposition to mr. patel. we heard a video reference i think by senator whitehouse about, one of the members here talking about the chopping of logs on the people on the so-called enemies list which was an index to a book that mr. patel wrote and published. if you keep watching that same video that he didn't produce and it was many years ago, you will see that he was also chopping off at the end of the log maga, truth social and a couple of others. everybody conveniently presses pause to make their argument, but if they had gone a little bit further they would have seen other things are coming off the log. so guys, let's be fulsome in our research, our response for our basis for supporting or opposing a nominee. i think mr. patel is going to come and fix an agency that i have great admiration for, that i still believe is the gold standa

mr. schiff. >> thank you all for being here. i just want to express my heartbreak at hearing about the loss of your sons. i can't imagine what you've gone through and like every parent of college age kids or high school age kids, i got those conversations with my kids. and i'm grateful that you're here and willing to share experiences, which is so important for us to hear. i have a couple of questions. doctor, i want to ask you. one of the concerns about the bill was a concern that it could inhibit research. you made a comment that you made it too quickly for know catch about nih's view or others. is there a need to have language to make sure that the research can go on? or do you feel that is a non-issue for some reason? >> no, so this is a compromise bill. the initial language that came out was just sure scheduling language and when there were concerns that it could impact research negatively, the research component was added and that would supported through the first omdcp. the accommodations opened up all schedule on researc

mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the presiding officer: a quorum is present. the ske is is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of russell vought of virginia to be director. office of management and budget shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. >> thank you, mr. chairman, ranking member, members of the esteemed committee for the opportunity to appear before you today. let me begin by thanking my girls who are now returning to the congressional confirmation. their love and enthusiasm for me serving again is a major reason why i feel going back to own be as of right endeavor at the right moment. beyond my enthusiasm for being at president trump sid

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 an

mr. schiff: mr. president. the presiding officer: the gentleman from california. mr. hiff: today we consider the nomination of robert f. kennedy jr. to lead the department of health and human services. in a time when science has given us the tools to extend life, to eradicate disease, to protect the most vulnerable among us, this body is being asked to confirm a man who has dedicated the better part of his career to attacking science. but the debate over r.f.k. jr. jr. and his antiscience agenda does not take place in isolation. it is part of a broader and far more reaching and destructive agenda. it is part of an ert to dis -- effort to dismantle public services, to strip away the country's resourced, to defund the department of health and human services, to take away from those who have little and hand it to those who have everything. so this is not just about r.f.k. jr. it is about every senior who relies on medicare, every low-income family whose children get health care through medicaid, every person who depends on the government not as a luxury, but as a necessit

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 corporations and make billionaires. our senate has a provision, that we set up and the wealthy pay their fair share in the government should serve everyone, not just the priv

mr. schiff: mr. president, it is a great day to be a billionaire in america.or the rest of us, not so much. egg prices are the highest they've ever been. rent is through the roof. prescription drug costs are squeezing families and seniors. but billionaires like elon musk? billionaires are doing just great. in fact, they're about to be doing a whole lot better because if donald trump and my republican colleagues have it their way, they're about to get another massive handout, a $4.5 trillion handout, to be precise. yes, trillion with a "t" and one that will explode the national debt. this bill, the one we will all but certainly soon consider on this very floor, reads like a thank you card to the ultrawealthy. it supercharges the president's 2017 billionaire windfall. but how, we should ask, are we going to pay for it? well, we already know, don't we. they are going to come after medicaid. 44% of their proposed cuts to fund this tax cut for billionaires are to medicaid. they're going to come after medicare and health care generally. they're going to come after t

mr. schiff: it's getting late, too late for some of the people we serve to even be awake, though i imagine many are. not by choice. a more in central valley is awake, staring at her kitchen table trying to work out where her sick child can receive the medical care that child needs now that a federal grant supporting the only rural health care center in her community is in limbo. a federal employee is awake trying to figure out how they'll make the rent next month if they're laid off. maybe they spent a few decades serving this country overseas and were just called back home. now what? people around the world are awake watching humanitarian help. that means their next meal or safe harbor from disease has disappeared wondering why in their time of most need, their l longtime ally has decided to abandon them. because the trump administration has turned their lives, turned so many of our lives into a series of question marks because this president and his cronies like elon musk and russ vought are putting politics and profits over people's lives. over people's livelihoods, over lives. they're

mr. schiff: just over eight years ago donald trump assumed the office of the president for the first time. he began that administration with at least a few people of independence and stature, people that had enough of a respect for themselves and the rule of law that when they were asked to do things that violated the larks their oath, or their own sense of decency, they said no. they resigned. people like defense secretary mattis who wrote in his resignation letter, my views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both maligned actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. we must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity, and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the silt daughter of our alliances, because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, i believe it is right for me to step down from my position. treating allies with respect, being

schiff: thank, mr. chairman.hink everyone can agree that american farmers today face deeply different challenges, from extreme weather events, never ending labor shortages, and a looming trade war, just to name a few. these challenges come on top of a job that's inherently demanding and at times unforgiving. it's congress's job to ensure that when farmers are faced with a worst-case scenario, they have the tools to weather the storm and eventually rebuild. that's why congress invests billions each year in federal crop insurance and disaster assistance programs. while traveling through california, i learned many of our growers simply are not eligible for the insurance or assistance they need. california farmers are incredibly resilient but they deserve our full support as well. mr. larew, can you speak to the challenges that specialty crop growers face when it comes to accessing federal programs? perhaps you both could address what steps you think congress could take to expand access to risk management options for

mr. schiff the presiding officer: no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend. clerk: mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. the clerk: mr. schumer, you should know, pursuant -- the clerk: mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. the clerk: mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. the presiding officer: pursuant to rule 12 no debate is permitted during a vote. the clerk: ms. smith. the presiding officer: no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend. the clerk: mr. sullivan. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. the presiding officer: no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend. the clerk: mr. warner. the presiding officer: no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend. the clerk: mr. warnock. the presiding officer: pursuant to rule 12 no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend. the clerk: ms. warren. the presiding officer: pursuant to rule 12 no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend. the clerk: mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. the presiding officer: no debate is permitted d

senator schiff: thank you, madam chair. mr. chairman. >> thank you. thank you for being willing to do this job. i love serving with you. you were a terrific senator, and i'm so glad you are willing to do this job. it is going to be a great service to our country. let me ask you a question or two to start with about the priorities at sba. i noticed that on day one of his administration, the last president issued an executive order directing federal agencies to adopt a broad racial equity agenda, and that was particularly a focus of sba over the last four years. according to one report, by far the largest program that uses racial preferences in the federal government is the 8a program run by sba. to be eligible, companies had to show various racial and other characteristics to access funding. a federal court in tennessee ruled unconstitutional. another federal court struck down a similar requirement also administered by sba, the restaurant revitalization fund. president trump has now thankfully on his executive orders that we are going to put a stop to

and senator adam schiff on why he's raising alarms about kash patel's foreign financial interests. >> it's what. >> you did, mr. patel, that matters. >> it's what you. >> did when all in. >> starts right now. good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. in just the past few hours, we've gotten a fuller look at donald trump's foreign policy vision. and i have to say, it is worse and more dangerous than i think i even expected. with maga poised to rapidly undo the american led global democratic order. in fact, taking concrete steps today to do so and unraveling the began this morning with an announcement from trump's secretary of defense, pete hegseth, saying that america was pulling back from defending its allies. >> we must start. >> by recognizing. >> that returning to ukraine's. pre 2014. borders is an unrealistic objective. chasing this. illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering. the united states does not believe that nato membership for ukraine is a realistic outcome. >> of a. >> negotiated settlement. we're also here today to directly and unambiguously express that stark. strate

mr. guffey: yes, ma'am. sen. blackburn: i am over time. i'm going to recognize senator schiff and gently gavel to m-- turn the devil to ms- -- turn the gavel to ms. moody. sen. schiff: i want to thank you for your advocacy and express condolence for the loss of your son. i can't imagine what you've been through. thank you for taking the trauma and using it to help other families. i have not had the chance is a senator to study multiple approaches of the various bills, although some i've supported in the house. but i wanted to ask you, professor, we established section 230 for the reasons you implied -- it was a nascent industry, they urged us to do so so we would not stifle innovation. they also made the argument that without 230, they were not moderate content because they would be sued if they did and this would encourage them to moderate content. there may have been a time when they moderated content, but those days seem to be over. it certainly wasn't an act -- wasn't enacted because it was believed necessary for the first amendment. first amendment stand on its own two fe

mr. schiff: i thank my colleagues for their courtesy to speak on this resolution. i urge you to beware of the temptation of labeling both sides equally at fault. the temptation to ignore the facts of history and aggressive impulses of an evil colleagues. my colleagues, these are the words of ronald reagan almost 42 years ago to the day. imagine if you could see his party -- if he could see his party now turning its back on ukraine. sponsoring a u.n. resolution that would whitewash the start of the war evan gauging the most immoral equilavents and failing to assign responsibility to russia for its ruthless aggression. voting with russia and north korea against our long time friends and allies in europe and around the world, abandoning and insulting our allies as putin seeks to remake the map of europe. and what is this resolution in the united states about that we helped defeat? the u.s. has used its influence and vetoes in the security council many times, but this resolution was offered by dozens of our close allies on the third anniversary of russia's invasion of