Floor Statements

On Iran, Donald Trump and members of his administration have referred to the fighting in Iran as a ``skirmish,'' a ``mini- war'', a ``little excursion,'' a ``blip'' and most recently ``a love tap.'' Let's call the ongoing hostilities with Iran for what they are-- a war.

Let me repeat: Donald Trump dragged America into a war--an illegal, costly war--without any goals, without any endgame.

It has been over a week since we hit the 60-day threshold under the War Powers Act, which means the hostilities must cease unless Trump gets authorization from Congress.

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth tried to skirt the deadline when they told us the timer had stopped because the fighting was over.

Tell that to the American servicemembers who were dodging Iranian drones and missiles in the Strait of Hormuz last week.

Tell that to the American people who just saw headlines the other day about Trump saying we are getting ready for a protracted blockade.

The war is over? Bunk, poppycock, craziness to even say it, but Trump says anything that enters his head which he thinks will please him in the moment--even if he gets himself in trouble by the end of the day.

And to this war, there is still no end in sight. Just today, the most recent round of negotiations with Iran fell apart. Trump keeps digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole.

Meanwhile, Americans are now paying over $4.50 for a gallon of gas. Families need real relief at the pump, and Senate Democrats will support real action to lower costs, but let's not pretend $0.18 of gas tax relief per gallon makes up for the damage Trump created with this war. Mr. President, $0.18 cents isn't $1.50, which is how much the price of gas has gone up since this war started.

Trump wants credit for handing the American people a glass of water to put out the fire he started--the massive fire he started--when he launched this war.

Americans don't need just a few cents back--they need an end to the chaos that sent gas prices soaring in the first place.

The best way to lower costs is to end this illegal war. Trump could end this war tomorrow and prices would plummet by far more than $0.18 a gallon.

And Republicans know that this blunder didn't magically end when the 60-day clock ran out. It is time to do something about it, so Democrats are forcing a seventh vote on our War Powers Resolution this week to withdraw United States troops from hostilities with Iran.

If Republicans care about preserving our War Powers, keeping our servicemembers safe, lowering Americans' costs, they need to support the War Powers Resolution and end this war.

If Republicans vote against our resolution, they will continue to bear the blame for Trump's war. Not a skirmish, not a blip, not an excursion--it is a war.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, this morning, America received another gut punch about the rising costs that they have to pay because we learned that inflation rose to 3.5 percent in March--the highest rate in almost 3 years. Do you know what that means? A 3.5-percent increase in inflation means Americans are paying more and more and more; and it means, at a time of rising costs that people hate, Donald Trump is making things worse, not better.

The historic blunder in Iran is compounding the increase in prices. There was an increase in prices before this bad war that Trump never should have called to begin with. Prices were going up for groceries. Prices were going up for electric rates. Prices were going up for healthcare. Prices were going up for childcare. Prices were going up because of tariffs--and then the war. Gasoline is over $4 a gallon, higher than it has been. The price of crude oil is higher than it has been in a very long time, all because of a war where Trump seems to have no direction, no aim, no purpose, no conclusion.

Let me repeat: Inflation rose 3.5 percent. There are higher costs on everything. There are higher costs on groceries, on household essentials, on everything Americans need just to get by. When oil costs go up, so does fertilizer, so does food, so does anything that travels by truck or train. So these costs are hurting everybody, and it is getting worse.

Donald Trump, do you see what the inflation number means? Costs are getting worse. Affordability is getting tougher. People are paying more, all because of you, Donald Trump.

Trump said he would bring costs down on day one. Well, here we are-- 15 months after Trump took office--and costs are skyrocketing so fast they are breaking records. As to the war, which is compounding the increases in inflation, Trump has no plan to show us how to get out of this quagmire just as he had no plan when he got us into this mess.

After weeks of leaving Congress in the dark about the state of Trump's disastrous war, Hegseth came to the Capitol to testify yesterday. What he said was disgraceful.

Here is what he said:

The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at

this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of

congressional Democrats and some Republicans.

Give me a break. You caused the war and your boss Donald Trump. You got us into this mess, and you can't get us out of this mess, so you try to point a finger. People don't buy that. Maybe a few MAGA listeners of FOX News do but not anybody else.

So I say to Hegseth, take a look in the mirror.

Our greatest challenge in Iran is Donald Trump and Secretary Hegseth, and Americans know it. The war is unpopular. They blame Trump for it, of course. The greatest obstacle to peace is the incompetence of the Secretary of Defense and of the President of the United States.

Hegseth said the war has been an astounding victory and that the American people support it.

Your intel is off, Secretary Hegseth. Fewer than one in four Americans thinks this war has been worthwhile. Let me repeat that to you: Fewer than one in four Americans thinks this war has been worthwhile, and a huge number of Republicans and Independents, not just Democrats, agrees. So stop being partisan. Stop pointing fingers. Roll up your sleeves and come to an end with this mess, this quagmire.

As for an astounding victory, of course, our servicemembers perform impressively--they always do--but they are saddled with the bad decision making of this President and his Cabinet, as 13 American servicemembers have been killed, nearly 400 have been wounded, and the Pentagon says it has spent at least $25 billion on this war so far. Meanwhile, American families are hurting every time they go to the gas station or grocery store, all with no strategic aim.

Is that what Pete Hegseth thinks is an astounding victory?

Are you going to take out a brass band and salute that inflation is up 3.5 percent? salute that the Strait of Hormuz is still closed? salute that we still haven't found the nuclear facilities and potential weaponry that Iran has?

None of that has been advanced. So this is not an astounding victory.

It is past time that Senate Republicans joined Democrats on our War Powers Resolution. We have forced votes on our resolutions five times and we are going to force it a sixth time today and it is going to come back week after week.

Republican Senators, you can't escape this. You are culpable. You are preventing an end to this war, and Americans want to see an end to the war.

Tomorrow marks 60 days since Donald Trump officially notified Congress about his attack on Iran. After we cross that 60-day threshold, there can be no more doubt that he is violating the War Powers Act. Republicans are out of hollow excuses. They are out of hiding places.

End this war, Republicans. Bring our troops home. Stop bleeding taxpayers dry. Support our War Powers Resolution.

Mr. President, on the noms package, this is another incredible thing as to the new lows that this administration goes to. Every day, there is a newer one. It is amazing. It is no surprise that Donald Trump's popularity ratings are in the midthirties. He does such profoundly crazy things, bad things, almost evil things. To pick somebody for the Federal court who was there on January 6, that is evil. That is not just supporting insurrection, that is elevating insurrection. But that is what is happening here. Republicans continue to force through some of the shadiest, most unqualified nominees I have ever seen. The loyalists--the Trump loyalists--in today's package are awful.

Darin Smith--Trump's pick for the district court of Wyoming--has no criminal or Federal court experience, opposes same-sex marriage, and supports teaching creationism in the public schools, but that is not the No. 1 thing against him. Smith was present at the Capitol on January 6, and now Trump wants him to uphold law and order. What hypocrisy. What fakery. How disgusting.

Donald Trump, you reach a new low every day--a new low every day--to make those who tried to take over the Capitol and create an insurrection heroes and elevate them to judgeships. That is why you are so unpopular, Donald Trump. You are in this bubble, and you have too many people in this

Chamber who shrug their shoulders and go along and support you.

Another nominee, Phillip Williams, the nominee for the Northern District of Alabama, has a dearth of criminal and Federal court experience and compared the prosecution of the January 6 insurrectionists to the Salem Witch Trials--the Salem Witch Trials. He also called abortion ``nothing more than industrialized slaughter.''

For the Middle District of North Carolina, Trump nominated Dan Bishop, Russell Vought's former top lieutenant at the OMB. He helped orchestrate the Trump administration's crusade to cut crucial services to the American people. People hate Vought. They hate what he has done. Yet here we are, elevating one of the chief henchmen of Russell Vought. Bishop also said he disagreed with the Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage and supported national abortion bans on multiple occasions as a legislator.

Finally, I want to say a word about Richard Kloster, nominated to serve on the Surface Transportation Board. Kloster has shown a troubling lack of basic understanding of what the Board does. He is, however, a die-hard MAGA loyalist--good enough in Trump's eyes.

Kloster's nomination comes as Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are set to refile today their $85 billion--$85 billion--merger application with the Surface Transportation Board. If Kloster helps clear the deal, it will mean higher costs for the American people.

Hear that, Americans? Trump is putting people on the Board who are so, so obeisant to industry that he is going to raise your costs. The more the railroads merge, the less competition, the more the consumer-- the more the American people--pays. And if Kloster is on the Board, we are kidding ourselves to think he would side with workers and consumers over the interests of Wall Street-backed railroad oligarchs.

I could go on and on, but Americans get the picture: Trump wants to stack the Boards of his administration with MAGA loyalists who are hell-bent on threatening our freedoms, our economy, and our democracy. And Republicans--even worse--don't even want to put each of these up for a vote. They can lump them all together because they are embarrassed to vote for some of these people, I am sure.

Mr. President, first, I appreciate what the Senator from Ohio has done. It is a good thing that the Senate is moving swiftly to prohibit Senators and staff from playing around in prediction markets.

Since this is a resolution, it is immediately going into effect for Senators. That is a great thing. Speaker Johnson should immediately do the same thing in the House and prohibit House Members from playing around in prediction markets as well.

We must never allow Congress to turn into a casino where Members representing the public can gamble on wars or economic crises or elections. That would destroy the very principle of representative government. Just the possibility that Members could have their votes influenced because of betting is reason enough to prohibit Members from meddling in the prediction markets.

Of all the issues we debate in Washington, this falls squarely in the category of a no-brainer. Then we should go further. This is a good start but not enough. The administration and its employees must apply these very same rules too--particularly this administration, which shows such a troubling affinity to corruption and self-dealing.

When we come back in May, I will work with my colleagues to ensure that the administration can't get rich off betting markets. But today's resolution is a very good first step, and I thank my colleague the Senator from Ohio and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working quickly to approve this legislation, which I am proud to support.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, in just a few hours, it will be 60 days since Donald Trump officially notified Congress he was dragging us into one of the most foolish foreign misadventures in American history. Pete Hegseth can't just hit the pause button on that countdown, not when American troops are in harm's way.

For 60 days, Trump has blundered, stumbled, and straggled through this mess of his own making. For 60 days, prices on everything from gas to groceries have soared at a rate not seen in years. For 60 days, military families have stayed up at night, praying their loved ones won't join the ranks of the brave 13 American servicemembers killed and nearly 400 wounded. And after 60 days, Republicans have sat idle.

Well, I say to my colleagues: Time is up. Republicans, stop sitting out. Start speaking up. The American people have had enough. They have been calling for peace for weeks. Americans literally cannot afford this war to drag on, not when gas costs $4.30 a gallon--$4.30 a gallon--and inflation just hit a record for over 3 years for 3.5 percent, higher inflation than we have had in a long time. And that means people pay more for just about everything.

This sixth vote on the Democrats' War Powers Act is different than the first five. The 60-day threshold for war powers is upon us. No more dodging. No more hiding. No more shirking. Republicans need to help us end this illegal, costly war. They should have done it long ago. The most important vote a Senator can take is on matters of war and peace.

I hold our Republican colleagues to show an ounce of courage our brave members are showing in the field every day as this war continues and to do what is right. Do your duty.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, earlier this morning, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court took another step toward resurrecting the Jim Crow South.

In a decision that for all practical purposes upends half a century of precedent, defies the spirit of the American Civil Rights Movement, and reverses generations of progress toward racial justice, the rightwing Court today essentially declared it valid and appropriate for States to discriminate against racial minorities in drawing districts.

The Voting Rights Act--a law written in the blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice of Americans who marched, who fought, and died for the right to vote and to prevent racial discrimination--has been diminished once again.

The consequence of this decision is as clear as it is dangerous: fewer protections for voters, more power for politicians to draw maps that silence them--particularly historically disenfranchised voters.

The conservative Court has tried to make it seem like its decision today was narrow and tailored. But let's be very clear. In the words of Justice Kagan, this decision is a ``demolition''--a ``demolition''--of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. It opens the floodgates for States across the South to redraw their congressional districts and make voters of color essentially invisible in our democracy. By some estimates, this decision could lead conservative State legislatures to draw as many as 19 additional seats that favor Republicans in the House.

So, far from being a narrow decision, this MAGA Court is trying to give Republicans a leg up--an illegitimate leg up--in future elections.

Let me say it again: This case is the MAGA Court trying to give Republicans a leg up in future elections.

It is a knife to the heart of some of the most important civil rights legislation that past generations marched for, organized for, and bled for. It will bring back the old, sinister practices long discarded to the dustbin of history: State legislatures diluting, erasing, and overpowering voters of color.

Shame on the High Court. Shame on the MAGA Justices for rigging our elections.

This did not happen all at once. For years, this Court--beginning with the Roberts decision in the awful Shelby County decision--has chipped away at the Voting Rights Act, decision by decision. Chief Justice Roberts bears a lot of the blame for this awful decision.

The commitment of equal representation has been broken before, but every time, Americans have forced it back into the law. Senate Democrats will fight it, once again, to reverse this awful, awful decision.

Even before this wretched decision, we knew the MAGA far right was hell-bent in trying to undermine our democracy.

Mr. President, we know that the MAGA right is trying to rig our democracy. We knew it long before this decision. Donald Trump knows and his party knows that they are going to lose this election in 2026, which is why they are working around the clock to tilt the scales unfairly in their favor.

Trump issued another Executive order, a month ago, to subvert our elections. Last week, they took aim at the Southern Poverty Law Center to chill speech and suppress actions from organizations that protect democracy. Trump continues to push for his SAVE Act to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans, and he stacked his administration with election deniers.

So, today, I am launching the Democratic Party's most expansive effort, to date, to protect the 2026 midterm elections and to shield them from the direct threats posed by Trump and MAGA Republicans.

This afternoon, a group of Senators and I will meet with former Attorney General Eric Holder, Mark Elias, and some of the country's top election experts to talk about how we can be ready for any and all threats that might come against our elections this fall.

I want to thank my Senate Democratic colleagues for joining in today's meeting.

We know that some on the extreme right will try to rig the system. Donald Trump said it. He said he can't win the election except by rigging it. That is more or less what he said. Donald Trump's Justice Department sought to seize States' voter rolls. Rightwingers raided election offices in Georgia. They pressed election officials in Arizona to turn over documents. Online radicals are threatening poll workers and are spreading lies about voter fraud. And, here in Congress, hard- right Republicans are trying to pass Jim Crow 2.0 in the SAVE Act.

These threats are only going to intensify the closer we get to election day. So our election fraud task force represents the most aggressive and coordinated effort to date to make sure our elections this fall are protected. The goal of our task force is to ensure that every vote counts and every American can participate in our democracy without coercion, intimidation, or threats from Trump or anyone else.

Now, Mr. President, on DHS--a lot is happening today-- last night, Donald Trump confirmed what I have been saying for weeks: Speaker Johnson and House Republicans are holding up funding for the Department of Homeland Security. They are holding it up--the Republicans, not Democrats. The White House said it, in effect. The White House put out a memo urging House Republicans to stop dithering and pass the DHS bill that every Democrat and every Republican in the Senate passed unanimously not once but twice.

For weeks, Republicans have tried to pin the blame for their shutdown on Democrats. The Trump administration just exposed how preposterous that lie is.

Republican dysfunction is endangering our national security. House Republicans have been so busy fighting one another in the House that FISA may expire.

Republicans, get your act together. Our national security depends on it.

While Democrats have been trying to fund the Secret Service, the TSA, the Coast Guard, CISA, FEMA, and other crucial Agencies, Republicans have been trying to jam through as much as another $140 billion for Trump's rogue Agencies. And while Democrats have been working diligently and assiduously to try and lower Americans' costs, Republicans want to splurge on a $400 million gold-plated ballroom for the President. The last thing Americans want us spending their tax dollars on is a gilded palace for Donald Trump.

What will Trump ask Americans to pay for next--a moat?

What else could $400 million get Americans? A year of childcare for 30,000 families; skills for training 50,000 new electricians, plumbers, and welders; disaster loans for 10,000 households; and so much more.

Keep in mind that, just 1 month ago today, Donald Trump said:

There's not one dime of government money going into the

ballroom.

Then put your money where your mouth is, President Trump. Stop trying to waste Americans' hard-earned tax dollars on this extravagance, and get your party to work with Democrats to keep the American people safe.

Finally, Mr. President, on Iran and gas prices--as I said, there is a lot going on--just hours ago, Pentagon officials told Congress that Trump's disastrous war has cost taxpayers $25 billion. Can you believe it? At least $25 billion and we are less than 2 months into this war. And $25 billion is just the sticker price.

Americans are also paying for this war at the pump. This morning, average gas prices in America hit $4.23 a gallon. That is a record high since the start of the war.

Let me repeat: U.S. gas prices are at their highest level since the beginning of the war in Iran. It is now $4.23--up 40 percent since Trump started his costly war with Iran.

The price of gas is the highest it has been in 4 years. There is only one person to blame--Donald J. Trump.

Trump says he is bleeding Iran economically. But he is draining the pockets of American families. And for what? The Strait of Hormuz is still closed. The Iranian regime is still radical. Our servicemembers are still in harm's way. Trump still has no idea how to end this blunder.

Instead, we hear reports that Trump is telling his aides to prepare for a protracted blockade. This morning, Trump warned that Iran better get smart soon.

Well, it is Donald Trump who had better get smart soon and end this war unless he wants Americans to continue paying $4.23 at the pump.

This week, Democrats will force a vote on our War Powers Resolution for the sixth time. We will continue to force votes every week as this war rages on.

I urge my Republican friends to help bail Donald Trump out of his mess. Vote with us to end this war, or you, Republican Senators, will continue to face the outrage of the American people.

This Friday marks 60 days since Trump officially notified Congress that he had launched this reckless war. Under the War Powers Act, Trump must seek authorization for his war to continue beyond 60 days. After that deadline, Republicans will have no place to hide and no more hollow excuses to let this fighting continue. Republicans know Trump's handling of this war has been a disaster. They see how much the American people are hurting right now.

How many War Powers Resolutions do Democrats need to put before Senate Republicans until they do what is right?

How many Americans will have to go bankrupt?

How many days do our service members have to spend apart from their families?

How many people will have to die before Trump realizes that this war must end?

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, as our Nation wages Donald Trump's reckless war with a dangerous and erratic enemy and as the Department of Homeland Security is still not funded because of the high jinks within the

President's own party, Donald Trump has decided to focus on a taxpayer- funded, gold-plated ballroom instead of focusing on these important national security issues: the war in Iran--dangerous for the United States; the fact that we haven't funded Homeland Security--dangerous for the United States. Does Donald Trump roll up his sleeves and say ``Let's solve these problems''? No. He is focused on this ballroom--his gilded, gold-plated, taxpayer-funded ballroom--instead of focusing on the important national security issues facing the country.

Trump's values are perverse--just perverse. If the President and House Republicans truly care about our national security, fund DHS, fund the Secret Service, fund CISA, fund the Coast Guard, fund all the crucial, law-abiding Agencies that every Democrat and every Republican in the Senate unanimously voted to fund not once but twice.

Now House Republicans say they are tinkering with technical changes to our legislation.

Speaker Johnson, our bill--our bipartisan bill--doesn't need any changes. Just pass the damn thing. Pass the damn thing. We desperately need it.

Democrats chose to fund national security and keep Americans safe. For 32 days, House Republicans have blocked the funding for DHS. Donald Trump and Republicans' fixation on the ballroom just shows how out of touch--how very out of touch--they are.

Let us not forget that last year, Karoline Leavitt said Trump's gilded ballroom ``is not going to cost the taxpayers a dime.'' Well, rewind. Instead, the ballroom is going to cost the taxpayers a pretty penny, to the tune of $400 million. Let me repeat: $400 million for Trump's walled palace--that is how much his acolyte Senator Graham wants to authorize for the project in this new bill. He has also floated potentially forcing through ballroom funding with Republicans' partisan reconciliation process. Rush it through without debate and without amendment--$400 million for a ballroom? Seriously? Apparently, Donald Trump wasn't satisfied with forcing Americans to foot the bill for a war they do not want and $1 trillion in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires that Americans eschew. It is absolute absurdity.

What happened to funding the ballroom with tens of millions of dollars in shady donations Trump received from billionaires and corporations or with the billions his family has made off the Presidency? What happened to that--ignoble as that was?

Instead of spending $400 million to build a walled palace for Donald Trump, Republicans should use that money to lower housing, food, gas, and healthcare costs for the American people. I am putting out a framework today on how to bring down healthcare costs. Republicans ought to follow it--helping the American people for once.

Unfortunately, holding up DHS funding isn't the only way Republican infighting is threatening America's national security.

Speaker Johnson, Donald Trump, and national Republicans: America's national security is at stake. Get your act together on FISA. America cannot afford for you to continue dithering on FISA.

Get your act together, Speaker Johnson. Run the House of Representatives like it should be run--dealing with the problems America faces.

Now, Mr. President, on Cuba, since launching his disastrous war with Iran, Donald Trump has said that ``Cuba's going to be next'' and that ``we may stop by Cuba'' after we are finished.

The last thing working Americans need right now is another war, let alone one that is 90 miles south of the United States.

Republicans must get out in front of the looming catastrophe in Cuba before it gets even worse, as they should have done with Trump's war in Iran.

Today, Senate Democrats will advance a War Powers Resolution to give Republicans an opportunity to stop a looming catastrophe in Cuba.

Republicans, do Trump a favor: Support our War Powers Resolution so he doesn't get messed up in another foreign adventure that hurts America.

Mr. President, on King Charles, today is a great honor for both the House and Senate to welcome His Majesty King Charles III to address a joint meeting of Congress.

It has been 35 years since a British monarch addressed the elected representatives of the American people. In that time, the world has changed dramatically, but in many ways, the same tests remain before us. Conflict still grips regions across the globe, Russia grows more aggressive, the Middle East remains unstable, and the future of the transatlantic alliance hangs in the balance.

Today, the visit of King Charles III should serve as a reminder to the President of the United States and to every elected official in this country: Friends and allies matter, and most of all, for the security of Europe, NATO matters.

I encourage His Majesty to impress upon the President the absolute importance of NATO. I hope he is able to get Trump to listen and understand the stakes. NATO must endure. It must stay strong. Our national security depends on it. The security of much of the world depends on it. To walk away from NATO would be a terrible mistake that will reverberate for generations and make Americans far less safe. Trump must listen and understand the stakes.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.