Floor Statements

Mr. President, on Iran, and all the while that that is happening, Trump took America to war. He did it without consulting Congress. He did it without an authorization of the use of military force. He did it without a plan, without a strategy, and without so much as a clear definition about what winning even looks like. That is the war that Trump is putting us into.

Now, 44 days later, everything is worse than when Trump started this war. His leadership of the war might as well be called ``Operation Epic Failure.'' The Strait of Hormuz, chaos; the Iranian regime, still standing; gas prices at the highest level in years; Iran's nuclear ambitions, exactly the same; American credibility in the world, worse.

The war planning is an epic--this war planning is an epic failure, and it all belongs to Donald Trump.

Just look at what the war has done to the American economy. Energy costs surged in March, led by a more than 20-percent increase in the price of gasoline, accounting for roughly three-quarters of the entire month's inflation increase.

Gas prices remain above $4 a gallon nationally. Oil is over $100 a barrel, and U.S. inflation is soaring on higher energy costs--far ahead of where it was before this war started. Companies are adding fuel surcharges. Small businesses across the country are being squeezed between rising costs and customers they cannot afford. Now it looks like, as long as oil prices keep driving up inflation, interest rates are going to remain higher for longer.

This is the Iran war tax. American families are paying every time they fill up the tank, every time they buy groceries, every time they book a flight. This is one of the very worst military and foreign policy operations that the United States has ever taken.

And now let's talk about the Strait of Hormuz, because nothing captures the chaos of this administration's nonstrategy better than what happened this weekend.

Donald Trump spent weeks demanding Iran reopen the strait. He threatened to bomb powerplants. He threatened to bomb bridges. He issued ultimatum after ultimatum. Then, this Sunday, he announced that the United States would begin blockading the very strait he was demanding remain open--what folly.

But it gets worse. While all of this was playing out, the Trump administration was quietly allowing Iran to sell its own sanctioned oil on the global market, actively financing the war being waged against us.

Trump is financing the war that Trump started. He is giving finances to be used against us in the war he started because they had no other way to keep gas prices from rising even further.

And guess who gets a hall pass to sell gas and oil: another active enemy--Russia and Putin--who are giving battlefield intelligence to Iran to target and kill our troops and use the billions they get from the Trump oil sanction exemption to finance their war of aggression against our ally Ukraine.

This is not a strategy. This is not a diplomatic solution. That is not a plan. That is chaos, and it is an epic failure.

Talks with Vice President JD Vance and Iranian officials in Islamabad fell apart in less than a day, with each side blaming the other.

And what has the Republican majority in this Chamber chosen to do while this dramatic, dramatic disaster of a war that Trump started unfolds? Absolutely nothing. They are silent, and their silence is deafening. There have been no hearings. There have been no investigations. There have been no attempts to stand up to Trump.

Well, our servicemembers deserve better than this. Republicans have had three opportunities to stop this war by passing a War Powers Resolution. Republicans have fallen in behind Donald Trump, and they own ``Operation Epic Failure'' as much as Trump does. That is why, again, this week, Democrats will force a vote on a War Powers Resolution to stop hostilities in Iran and return the power to go to war back to Congress, where it always should be. Republicans will, once again, have the chance to do the right thing and vote to end this war.

To my Republican colleagues, history is going to record this moment. It is going to record whether you stood up for the Constitution or whether you handed your power away to a President who threatened to wipe out an entire civilization and then turned around and blockaded the very strait he demanded Iran open.

And this Chamber is not a spectator. Congress must do its job and make sure that no President--not this one, not the next one--can drag this country into war alone and without consequence. It is time to put an end to ``Operation Epic Failure.''

Mr. President, on Pope Leo, last night, Donald Trump reached a new low when he insulted Pope Leo--the first American Pope--by calling him, among other things, weak on crime and too liberal.

What is going on in that man's head?

Trump said this in response to the Pope's comments during Easter Sunday, calling for peace. It is the same Donald Trump who has called the Bible his favorite book on the campaign trail but can't name a single verse, who sells a Trump-branded ``Presidential Edition'' of the Bible made in China for $100, and who we all remember held up a Bible in front of St. John's Episcopal Church here in DC after ordering protestors for racial justice to be tear-gassed. Maybe Trump has forgotten what is written in that Bible or, more likely, he never knew it in the first place.

Trump followed up his criticism of Pope Leo by posting an AI- generated image of himself as a Christlike figure. Can you believe this? Can he get any lower?

This sort of behavior makes a mockery of millions of Christian Americans, many of whom voted for Trump and who fervently believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. More broadly than that, it is a disgusting affront to anybody who expects an American President to lead with dignity.

Trump's defenders, no doubt, will manage to find a way to hand-wave or ignore this latest temper tantrum--his blindly loyal and devoutly Catholic Vice President included.

Can you imagine, if a Democrat had done this, the outcry we would be hearing?

But, really, how much clearer could it be that the despised villains we read about in the New and Old Testaments--power-drunk and violent authoritarians like the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar or King Herod of Judea--bear many parallels to Donald Trump, who--let me repeat--has viciously attacked Pope Leo for calling for peace in the world.

If King Herod had had a Truth Social account in the first century, I think he would have probably described Jesus Christ, who saved the penitent thief crucified alongside him, as weak on crime as well.

The shortest verse in the Bible is ``Jesus wept.'' Maybe Donald Trump can manage to remember that one.

(Mrs. BRITT assumed the Chair.)

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

Mr. President, well, today, Senate Republicans are once again wasting time on voter suppression instead of paying TSA.

Republicans have an amendment on the Senate floor dressed up as what they call commonsense voter ID, but let's be very clear what this amendment is: It is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and it is a giant coverup to cover up what their bill really does, which is dramatic voter suppression, kicking 20 million or more people off the rolls without their knowledge or consent.

The point here is not at all about voter ID. In fact, 99 percent of the SAVE Act doesn't talk about voter ID. Most of their bill is kicking people off the voter rolls and making reregistering, once you are kicked off, a bureaucratic nightmare, an almost impossibility for many people.

And, once again, the public saw the SAVE Act for what it really is--a voter suppression bill. And once that happened, Republicans had to do something. So they cobbled together this amendment as a coverup. It was never in the original bill, and now they pretend it is reasonable policy on voter ID.

But let's get to the facts. The amendment Republicans are pushing today would impose the single strictest voter ID law in America-- stricter than Texas, stricter than Florida, stricter than any State in the country.

Republicans are calling this amendment common sense. But if it is so common sense, why is it stricter than what every single red State already offers?

Many States already have rules in place for voter ID, and every State has some method to verify the identity of voters.

Republicans pretend like States don't have backup verification systems, backups to those backups, and redundancies in place to ensure that our elections are safe and secure, but we do. And it is why voter fraud--this whole bill is hidden, covered up because they say they need to stop voter fraud. There isn't any to mention at all. That is how absurd this is.

The Heritage Foundation, a rightwing conservative organization, studied voter fraud and found only 77 cases of noncitizen voting in 24 years. And we are going to upend our whole system of how people register to vote for that because of those 77 cases in 24 years?

Just 0.04 percent of voter verification cases are returned as noncitizens. Now you see what the Republicans are doing. It is what Trump said. They want to determine who should vote. Trump wants people--Noem said this as well that the only people who should vote are people who agree with them. It is disgraceful, disgusting. This radical amendment would toss out every single voter ID requirement in all 50 States for Federal elections and put in an overly restrictive, one- size-fits-all approach except only a handful of IDs.

Let's talk about vote-by-mail. Under this ridiculous amendment--this amendment--voters who choose to vote by mail, which is about one in three Americans, guess what they would have to do? They would have to add a photocopy of their ID with their ballot.

So the election officials would open up the envelope and could see how you voted. The sacred secrecy of our ballots would be undone by this amendment. It is ridiculous.

Again, anyone who voted by mail would have to put a voter ID inside the envelope, and the board of elections would have to open it up and see how you voted. It is incredible.

It would also leave people susceptible to identity theft. It would violate basic privacy. So let's be clear. Most people wouldn't like the idea of having to stick a copy of their photo ID with their ballot in the mail. This requirement is another Trojan horse for trying to weaken and kill vote-by-mail altogether.

Democrats are supportive of commonsense voter ID standards. Just look at the Freedom to Vote Act, which had the full support of the Democratic caucus. It set flexible, comprehensive standards based on West Virginia's then-law for voter ID requirements.

Their amendment--this amendment--is not about security; it is about exclusion. It is not about security; it is about exclusion. The SAVE Act is not about protecting our elections; it is about suppressing the vote.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, in the wake of the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Senate Democrats were clear: no blank check for a lawless ICE and Border Patrol. This long-overdue agreement funds TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA, CISA, strengthens security at the border and the ports of entry, and keeps Americans safe.

This could have been accomplished weeks ago if Republicans hadn't stood in the way. Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump's rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms.

I am very proud of our Democratic caucus. Throughout it all, Senate Democrats stood united--no wavering, no backing down. We held the line.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, this morning, Democrats sent Republicans our counteroffer on legislation to reopen DHS, pay TSA workers, while at the same time rein in ICE with commonsense guardrails. Our offer is a reasonable, good-faith proposal that contains some of the very same asks Democrats have been talking about now for months.

Leader Jeffries and I have spoken about this agenda, and he agrees we need these strong reforms.

Now, over the last day, Republicans have made the outrageous and bad- faith claim that Democrats are somehow moving the goalposts back in these negotiations. They are saying Democrats changed the ask. They are saying Democrats are backtracking and suddenly introducing new demands at the last minute.

This is nonsense--nonsense.

Democrats and the American people have been very clear from the beginning about what we need in order to move forward. We have been talking about ICE reforms from day one. These are not new demands. These are not surprise demands. They are not things we came up with yesterday.

They are commonsense reforms, reasonable reforms, reforms that police departments across America follow every day. These are reforms the American people overwhelmingly support and things that Republicans know perfectly well we have been seeking since these negotiations began-- since these discussions began as well.

So for Republicans to now act as though Democrats have changed our position as though we have moved the goalposts is poppycock, bad faith. And for Republicans to send us a proposal that has no reforms is bad faith as well and will only slow things down. They know it is bad faith.

In fact, over the weekend Democrats had constructive conversations in person with our Republican colleagues. They--the Republican colleagues--conceded that some of the reforms, verbally, that we have been looking for, they said: These make sense.

We thought there might be a path forward on some of the ways to reform ICE and to get some of the things everybody knows ought to be in Federal legislation. We thought there had been some progress.

But then Republicans sent us their offer yesterday, and it contained none of what had been talked about, none of the reforms we had been discussing. So if anyone is slowing down negotiation and hurting TSA workers, it is the Republican leadership who did not include one single reform.

Republicans, frankly, are struggling to get on the same page among themselves. That is probably why they have been so erratic here.

Moderates in the Republican caucus say one thing; conservatives say another. Donald Trump is all over the place, seemingly without a clue of what is going on. They are still worried about and afraid of what he might say or do. That is what this is all about.

So let me say this: We are ready to discuss these issues at a moment's notice with Republicans. We will not walk away. We are not walking away, and we want to get to a solution.

We now have given Republicans our response. It is a serious offer, and time

is of the essence, I say to my Republican colleagues. The Easter holiday is coming. Families are going on spring break. TSA lines are literally stretching out the door at airports. People are exhausted. And our TSA agents need to be paid.

Enough is enough. It is time for Republicans to drill down and work with us to solve this thing. We have asked the Republicans nine times already to support TSA. We have told Republicans: Just support TSA while we settle these disputes with ICE, and they have refused nine times. They say they want their position on ICE met first before they do anything to fund TSA and pay our workers.

The way to pay TSA is to vote to send their paychecks now while we settle this dispute regarding ICE. We can and must do both--negotiate reforms to ICE but vote to pay our TSA workers now.

That is why, today, for the 10th time--10th time--Democrats will go to the floor so that we can pay TSA immediately as we negotiate ICE. We hope our Republican colleagues will finally see the light and join us.

Let me say it again: Enough is enough. It is time for Republicans to drill down and work with us to solve this thing.

SAVE America Act

Mr. President, finally, on the SAVE Act, which seems to have now been intertwined in these negotiations because of Donald Trump and Republican obeisance to him, let me say this to our Republican colleagues: If you want to shove the SAVE Act into reconciliation, then have at it. We are going to fight you tooth and nail throughout the reconciliation process every step of the way.

You are going to find it very difficult to jam massive changes to the American election system, to turn the American election system inside out, as it were, by using a process that was never designed for that purpose. Reconciliation was not, is not, and will not be intended to be a backdoor for sweeping election law; that is not what it is for.

So if Republicans want to head down that road, they should understand it will be a hard road. Democrats will fight them every--every--step of the way on that road, and it will not go the way they think or want.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, today's vote is simple. Will Republicans join us to save good-paying energy jobs, strengthen our grid, and undo the damage from Donald Trump's war on clean energy; or will they bow before the throne of Big Oil once again?

This CRA vote is a necessary step to reverse the damage from Donald Trump's anti-clean energy vendetta. It will overturn the IRS's eleventh-hour rule change that makes it harder for wind and solar companies to claim tax credits needed to expand investment, increase output, and put Americans to work. This IRS rule does nothing but raise taxes on energy producers. Experts have warned this could raise electricity by 10 percent.

Do you hear that, America? What Trump has done is going to raise your energy costs 10 percent just on this alone. It is going up higher because of other things. It also hurts local communities that rely on jobs.

It is nothing but another front in Donald Trump's war on affordable American energy, and in this case--this is a harsh word, but it is a corrupt giveaway to his Big Oil and Big Gas donors.

It was public. It was in the newspapers. They said: If you give us a billion dollars in campaign contributions, we will get rid of all the deregulation and giveaways they could possibly imagine. It is a crooked, corrupt scheme that is raising people's energy costs along the way.

If you are a Senator and you care about good-paying jobs, care about our

grid, and want to lower people's energy costs, support this resolution.

I thank Senators Cortez Masto, Wyden, and everyone who has shown leadership on this issue, and I want to thank my Democratic colleagues for leading the way.

Last week, Senate Democrats released our newest ``Broken Promises'' report, exposing how Donald Trump is driving up people's energy bills. Trump made a promise to the American people on the campaign trail: I will cut your energy bill in half. But has he done that? Of course not. Energy prices are up. And they aren't just up; they are rising and at triple the rate of inflation. Some States are seeing double-digit increases over the last year. And now, thanks to Donald Trump's idiotic war with Iran, gas prices are at $4 a gallon.

We must put a stop to all of this today, and that is what this vote is all about.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, well, I would first like to talk about the voter ID amendment that Senator Thune talked about on the floor.

Today, Leader Thune is going to appease the MAGA far right with another amendment Republicans claim is about commonsense voter ID.

But let's be very clear: This amendment is a giant coverup. It was never in the original bill.

The bill--98, 99 percent of it--is about suppressing voters, about taking them off the voter rolls, unbeknownst to them, so they cannot vote.

The bottom line is very simple: 99 percent of this bill has nothing to do with voter ID--what a voter does when they arrive at a polling place to vote. The vast majority of this bill, the overwhelming bulk, is about suppressing people on the voter rolls--taking them off, not even knowing about it.

And it is a coverup. When the Republicans saw that everyone saw through their so-called voter ID amendment, which is not about voter ID but about suppressing the vote, they got worried. So they added this amendment to the original bill, and now Leader Thune is going to ask for a vote on it.

But it is a coverup to cover up what is a giant voter suppression bill. That is the real purpose. That is what 99 percent or so of this bill does, but they can't say that because it is so devastatingly wrong, unconstitutional, and unpopular with the American people. So they are trying to cover up with this amendment.

Let me talk about the amendment.

Republicans say their amendment is a reasonable approach to voter ID. It is not. It is not true when you look under the hood. What Republicans won't tell you is that, first, this MAGA voter ID proposal is more sweeping and restrictive than every State--every State-- Democrat or Republican.

So Republican Senators, this will make it even harder for people to identify themselves in your States.

This amendment would preempt all State laws and was drafted by a MAGA think tank expert who was part of the Trump 2020 fake elector scheme.

Second, MAGA's voter ID provision would block student, veteran, and other State and Federal IDs.

Can you imagine? You can't use your--under this amendment, you can't use your veteran ID, after you served the country and you want to come back and vote, and you show your voter ID, which has been used for so many different legitimate purposes.

And they say: Nope, it doesn't meet this new law.

Third, Democrats support commonsense voter ID standards. States require varying forms of voter ID, either at registration, at the polls, or both. We support both. We support those.

Democrats' Freedom to Vote Act, from a few years ago, set flexible, comprehensive standards based on West Virginia's then-law for voter ID requirements. It was something I think that Senator Manchin talked about and helped get written into the bill.

Ours is supposed to help people vote by making ID within reach. Theirs is very limiting. It doesn't even allow a soldier's ID as a mechanism.

Our bill--our proposal in the Democratic Freedom to Vote Act--from a few years back, provides flexibility for States and inclusive options for voters. That is a commonsense approach to election integrity and voter access.

This Republican amendment, however, does not. As I said, this is a giant coverup to disguise the real purpose of the SAVE Act, which is to kick 20 million people off the voter rolls, most of them not even knowing that it has happened to them.

Department of Homeland Security

Mr. President, now, talking about this bill, Senators continue negotiations to reach an agreement to fund TSA, fund the Coast Guard, FEMA, and CISA, and fund other critical Agencies, while at the same time securing real reforms to rein in ICE.

We had made some modest progress over the weekend, before Donald Trump threw a temper tantrum yesterday, demanding that the SAVE Act be part of any deal to pay TSA workers. Attaching voter suppression to TSA paychecks was an outrageous demand from the start. Democrats knew it. Republicans knew it. And we wasted a day of negotiations because of Donald Trump's temper tantrum. A day may not seem like a lot to the President, but that is another day TSA workers are needlessly waiting for checks, another day of travelers standing for hours at a time at security.

Fortunately, it seems like things are getting back on track this morning. Donald Trump, perhaps realizing that Democrats will block voter suppression in the Senate--the SAVE Act--seems to have gotten over his temper tantrum--we hope, for a little while. With him, you never know.

Republicans can, hopefully, now come back to the table and get serious about reaching a solution to pay TSA workers ASAP.

We await to hear from them in a written proposal that we will review, because, right now, the situation at our airports is untenable. TSA wait times in Houston reached 6 hours at one point over the weekend.

And what does Donald Trump do? He sends ICE agents to the airports.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I noted the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent that I speak for 1 minute.

I thank the leader for his courtesy.

Mr. President, with this next rollcall vote, the Republicans are tabling my motion to suspend the Senate rules to provide a path to pay TSA workers. I will vote against tabling because I want to see the TSA workers paid.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Now, I thank Senator Murphy for his great leadership on this issue, for speaking so clearly and fiercely about the need for this resolution.

This war has dragged on for long enough. It is long past time for it to come to an end. And, today, with this resolution, the Senate must assert its power on matters of war and peace.

This is the third time--the third time--that Republicans have been given a chance to do the right thing and end this war. It is the third time, though, they stick their heads in the sand and pretend this war does not exist. But the war is expanding. The Senate has an obligation to step in.

I say to my Republican colleagues: If there was ever a time to stand up for the authority of the Senate, stand up for the powers given to us through the Constitution, the time is now.

Thirteen American servicemembers have been killed and thousands more injured. Energy prices are above $100 a barrel. And now the Wall Street Journal reports the Pentagon will deploy another 3,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne.

Enough.

The War Powers Act allows questions to be asked, allows the public to be drawn into the discussion. That is the way to end endless wars, not to tell no one what is going on, not to keep it secret, not to give anyone else any authority. That is a loser, and it will be a loser for the American people.

The American people are tired of sending our sons and daughters to fight endless wars. Americans are exasperated every time they go to the gas station and pay $4 a gallon. They are tired of Donald Trump making outrageous and deluded statements like saying he does both have a plan and does not have a plan. This is who is leading the war effort-- someone who changes his mind every day, who can't answer the question of what is the goal here? what is the endgame? how much does it cost?

So enough is enough.

Donald Trump does not have the authority to wage this war without the explicit authority from Congress.

I thank Senator Murphy for pushing this resolution. I am proud to support it. I urge some of my Republican colleagues to vote yes.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, first, let me begin today by saying that my deepest prayers are with the families of the two pilots who were killed in a terrible collision at LaGuardia Airport this morning. The video and audio of the collision were heart-wrenching. It is like a punch to the stomach when you listen to it. It leaves you gasping for air.

I spoke with Chairwoman Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board, which has always done an outstanding job, impartial, in investigating these tragedies. I spoke to Chair Homendy earlier today, and she told me the situation is under investigation.

She told me that over 25 investigators are on their way to LaGuardia right now to get to the bottom of what happened. We owe it to those pilots and their families to find out exactly how this accident was permitted to happen, and I will remain in constant communication with Chair Homendy and the NTSB as well as local authorities as the investigation unfolds.

My heart goes out to all of those affected by this tragedy. My heart goes out to the two pilots who were killed and to all the passengers who were injured at LaGuardia.

Mr. President, on Homeland Security talks. Over the weekend--and for weeks now--Democrats have engaged Republicans in good faith to pay our TSA workers, to fund DHS, while also enacting commonsense safeguards to rein in ICE.

Both sides talked all weekend long. We had some constructive conversations, but there is considerably more work to be done, and Democrats are ready to keep negotiating. Democrats believe TSA staff should be paid now--now.

We tried to move forward this weekend to pay these workers, but Republicans have blocked pay for TSA workers in a rollcall vote where they all voted no on Saturday; and additionally, they have blocked pay for TSA workers seven times when Democrats tried to bring it up.

It is preposterous because the chaos at our airports is simply unacceptable. Still, Democrats are going to keep working in good faith.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, is trying to sabotage negotiations, demanding that talks stop entirely until Congress passes the SAVE Act, a bill that has nothing--nothing--to do with paying TSA workers and nothing to do with ending the shutdown.

That is right. Donald Trump is now saying: We will pay TSA only after Congress passes voter suppression.

What a ridiculous thing to do. What a callous thing to do. He doesn't give a damn about the American people. He cares about his own election. He thinks this SAVE Act--which isn't going to pass--will change how the election comes out, and he uses millions and millions of Americans as hostages.

How can our Republican friends on the other side of the aisle go along with this? It stinks on its face. You don't need any deeper explanation.

This morning, unfortunately, Trump doubled down in Memphis, saying explicitly as possible he won't pay TSA workers and he won't end this shutdown until the SAVE Act is passed.

Let's make it very clear: Donald Trump is the one standing in the way of paychecks for TSA workers with this ridiculous attempt to pass the SAVE Act; the SAVE Act, which would destroy a lot of what we know about democracy; the SAVE Act, which would disenfranchise 20 million American citizens in all likelihood from voting in the next election; the SAVE Act,

which is designed to do as Kristi Noem said, to allow people to vote who we like how they vote as opposed to others.

Well, Donald Trump, your latest temper tantrum is not going to work. The SAVE Act does not have the votes to pass this Chamber, and Democrats will fight it every step of the way. The SAVE Act has nothing to do with DHS, Homeland Security; it has nothing to do with TSA workers or making sure ICE follows the same rules as every other Federal law enforcement Agency in the country.

Every other law enforcement agency uses warrants when they bust-- needs a warrant when they bust into your home. Every other law enforcement agency doesn't wear masks.

Trump and the Republicans are insisting that continue, and they are saying we are holding TSA workers and millions and millions of passengers hostage. And now all of the sudden, in addition to that, Trump says: I won't move forward unless we pass the SAVE Act, which isn't going happen, Mr. Trump. It is not going to happen.

Democrats' position has not changed. We want to pay TSA workers today. We are ready to meet with the White House today to keep talking. In fact, we were going to meet this morning with Tom Homan, but apparently the White House pulled that meeting because of Donald Trump's temper tantrum.

They are all scrambling around there in the White House. They don't know what to do. Their boss, the President, comes out with these idiotic statements every day, whether it is related to the war in Iran where he contradicts himself, whether it is related to the SAVE Act where he doesn't even know what it does, or related to what is happening in Homeland Security.

We hope that Donald Trump will stop derailing these talks and let negotiations continue. Democrats want to be reasonable, and we are going to keep working in good faith to reach a solution. We need to pay TSA workers ASAP. The American people want ICE to change its violent ways. They do not want to repeat the kind of violence we saw earlier this year in Minnesota. They certainly do not want to see ICE detaining passengers at airports and making things worse.

Donald Trump is tying himself in a triple knot on the Iran war, on the SAVE Act, and on TSA workers. And he makes--he tightened that knot around his waist last night by saying ICE should go to the airports, then by saying that he would not go forward unless the SAVE Act passed.

He is making it harder and harder for himself. He is making himself less and less popular with the American people, and he is causing tens of millions to wonder: What is going on in that man's head?

So that is the dilemma we all face, and it is the American people who suffer. They suffer at the airports. They suffer as gas prices go up because of the Iran war. They suffer because he is threatening their democracy.

Now, let me talk about ICE at the airports. This morning, Tom Homan from the Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents have arrived at 14 airports--New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and elsewhere. Everywhere ICE goes, trouble follows. We have seen that, and it is highly likely the airports will be no exception.

No one trusts that ICE is going to make things better. Patrolling airports is not in ICE's job description; it is certainly not what they are trained to do. Let's be clear: ICE agents performing the work of TSA officers are not going to make our airports any safer.

It is going to make them less safe because ICE agents aren't trained in airport security. These agents aren't familiar with the layout of the airports they are walking into. They don't know the protocols and procedures in the same way TSA workers do.

It is a simple solution, Donald Trump: Pay the TSA workers so you don't have to bring ICE agents in there.

ICE agents are going to miss things, and that is assuming they focus on security. What if they do what they have done in other cities and start harassing travelers, asking to check papers, check their citizenship, detain them without due process even if they are American citizens, just as we have seen them do for months now?

And I wouldn't be surprised if Donald Trump and Stephen Miller would encourage them to do just that at the airport.

In any case, ICE's mere presence is going to inflame the situation at these airports where tensions are already high. Every time a traveler walks to their gate or stands in line at security and sees an ICE agent lurking about, they are going to be reminded of Donald Trump's chaos. They are going to be reminded of Minneapolis, and they are going to think: The chaos is now coming to my city too.

So, Donald Trump, the more you keep ICE agents at our airports, the more you will be reminding people of how much chaos and fear ICE has already caused. It is a terrible idea that could backfire on the country and on Donald Trump.

Instead of trying to replace TSA workers with ICE agents, Trump should pay TSA workers right away, get Republicans to come to a deal before the chaos gets worse.

Let me repeat that because it is so simple. Instead of trying to replace TSA workers with ICE agents, Donald Trump should simply pay TSA workers and get Republicans to come to a deal before the chaos gets even worse.

Mr. President, the Senate is in session once again this weekend, and once again Republicans are doing nothing productive. Yesterday, instead of considering legislation to tackle inflation or end the war in Iran, MAGA Republicans wasted Senate floor time on a radical culture-war amendment that went nowhere. It failed, and it accomplished nothing--a total waste of time with nothing to show for it.

And, yesterday, the Republicans once again blocked the Senate's ability to finally start paying our TSA workers. These workers have gone now for weeks without pay. They work around the clock. They keep our airports running. Republicans had the chance to pay them once again, and they refused. They refused.

The bottom line is this was the first time we saw ``yes'' or ``no'' votes from Republicans on an amendment that simply said ``Pay them.'' Don't wait, as the Republicans are saying, until we resolve all the other issues in ICE. It simply said ``Pay them now,'' and they said no. And that shows you, when they are voting yes on amendments that won't actually pay them because it won't pass because it is tied to all the other complications in ICE--including the desire that American people have that we must have warrants when you bust into someone's home and that the police should not wear masks--they say they will only vote for TSA agents if we get rid of those things, if we don't make sure they have to wear masks. That is fake. That is not really helping TSA workers. Our amendment did. They all voted no.

But we are going to keep at it. I say this to TSA workers. I say this to people at the airports who are waiting in line ungodly hours. We will keep doing this and doing this until the Republicans see the light and feel the pressure that they are holding up payment and relent.

Now, today, Donald Trump and Homan are saying they will deploy ICE agents to airports starting on Monday. This is really disturbing. ICE agents--who are untrained and have caused problems everywhere they have gone--lurking at our airports? That is asking for trouble, and it will certainly make the chaos at the airports even worse. No one has any faith in ICE agents. They haven't received training. They don't know what it is to be a TSA person and do what you need to do there.

The real problem here is they have no plan for using these ICE agents. Trump says send them there, they send them there, and Homan says they are still drawing up plans, with less than a day's notice.

What is this? We know what it is. It is another impulsive action by Donald Trump. Some idea pops into his head, and he announces it, and then the people working for him, a few of whom do have some degree of talent and ability--not many--underlings--they have to rush to try to implement what they know is an idiotic plan.

In this case, it is a plan that has no planning. It is another impulsive action from Donald Trump. When he acts impulsively, there is usually trouble. Whenever Donald Trump acts impulsively with no follow- through, there is trouble.

ICE agents will be asked to do things they are not trained to do. They don't know how to perform core TSA screening functions. Travelers will be on edge with Federal agents looking over their shoulders. All they will do is worsen the situation at airports, which are already on edge.

So I have an idea for Donald Trump: Instead of sending ICE agents to harass travelers at airports, why doesn't

Trump get his act together and agree to pay the TSA workers and get the Senate Republicans to do so?

Iran

Mr. President, now let's talk about the disastrous war in Iran, causing so much havoc, so much chaos, and raising everybody's gas prices and prices on so much else.

Here is what Donald Trump said on Friday about the war. Donald Trump said:

You know, I may have a plan or I may not.

For a war? Whoa. Here people's lives are at stake, billions are being spent on an almost daily basis, and he says:

You know, I may have a plan or I may not.

These are the words of the Commander in Chief in the middle of a war involving one of the most dangerous regimes on Earth:

I may have a plan or I may not.

That is unhinged and dangerous. Lives are on the line, and the President says he may not even have a plan. Tens of billions are being wasted. No plan. Troops being killed and injured. No plan. Civilians being killed and injured. No plan. Gasoline costs $3.94 a gallon on average. And Trump: I have no plan--or I may not have a plan, which means none.

What does Donald Trump do? He lifts sanctions on two of the states that are enemies to us in so many ways--Iran and Russia--so they can go after our own troops and allies. Lifting sanctions on Iran and Russia so they can go after our troops and our allies--it is the dictionary definition of ``asinine.''

Donald Trump's military strategy is like watching a snake eat its own tail.

This war needs to come to an end.

Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and other Cabinet officials must come before the Senate and testify under oath in public to explain why we are in this mess and what the goal even is. Even some Republicans are openly admitting they have no clue what the administration is trying to accomplish in the Middle East.

Enough is enough. The American people do not want a war with Iran that has no end. They do not want to see our troops deployed again and again to the Middle East. They don't want to just have a knot in their stomach every time they pull up to the gas pump and, soon enough, the grocery store as well because of the higher prices caused by this war. It must come to an end.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Gallego), the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Kaine), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), the Senator from Michigan (Mr. Peters), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen), are necessarily absent.