Floor Statements

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Well, Mr. President, today, every Senator must answer a very simple question: Senator, do you want chaos at our airports to come down--yes or no, Senator?

Let me repeat the question: Republican Senator, do you want the chaos at our airports to come down--yes or no? If you have had enough of long lines, if you want TSA workers to get paid, then vote yes on the motion I am bringing before the Senate today.

It is unacceptable for workers and travelers and entire airports to get taken hostage in political games, but that is what the Republicans are doing. It is unacceptable to say we will only pay TSA workers if it is attached to a bill that funds ICE with no reforms, but that is what the Republicans have been doing.

Democrats want to pay TSA workers ASAP, with no strings attached. A ``yes'' vote will do that. That is the first time in this Chamber that we will have an opportunity to vote yes or no on whether you want to pay TSA workers ASAP, with no strings attached.

Every bill they have brought before the Senate says: Oh, yes, we want to

pay the TSA workers, we want to reduce the lines at airports, but only if you pass ICE funding with no reform.

And the American people want reform. They know that, but you have got Stephen Miller up there in the White House and so many others who don't want any reform of ICE, and our Republican Senate friends are willingly going along with that and holding airports, travelers, and TSA workers hostage.

We Democrats want to bring down the long lines at the airport, and a ``yes'' vote--plain and simple--would do just that. I urge Republicans to support my motion.

The chaos at airports has reached a boiling point. People have been waiting for 2 hours, 3 hours--sometimes more--just to get through security. One couple in Austin said the lines stretched right out the door and into the grass outside the airport.

Meanwhile, TSA workers are about to go a full month without pay. That is unacceptable. It means they cannot pay the rent or the mortgage, they cannot buy groceries, and they are digging into their savings just to get by--these hard-working, good people. And at the same time, they are being asked to work brutal hours.

It is no surprise many of them have been calling in sick. It is not even a surprise that many are looking for other jobs. They have to support their families and themselves. We need to bring this to an end today--today--and that is what we can start doing with a ``yes vote'' on our motion.

As I have said, we have seen a lot of rollcall votes over the past few weeks on the floor related to DHS funding, and they say they want to get up and fund TSA. But they want to fund all of DHS--even ICE, even Border Patrol--with no reform.

This vote today is different from what our colleagues on the other side have offered. It is a breakthrough because it says: Fund TSA only. Vote ``fund TSA with no strings attached.''

Republicans, in essence, say they want to reopen all of DHS but only if there are no changes to ICE and Border Patrol when they vote. That is not acceptable, not just to us, not just to Democrats but to the American people.

The American people feel very strongly that ICE's conduct needs to be reined in. Trump himself, the originator of these horrible ICE goon squads, has said they have gone too far.

We can't just give ICE a blank check to keep operating without guardrails, as Republicans have proposed in their previous votes. So, today, Democrats offer to pay TSA without the anchor of demanding funding of ICE and CBP without any guardrails, which is what the Republicans are doing.

We want to open TSA with no strings attached.

Let me repeat: no strings attached.

There is not one bill the Republicans have brought forward that doesn't have strings attached--strings that don't let it have a majority vote.

Now, we are having productive conversations on reforming ICE and CBP, and Democrats remain committed to securing reforms. But that is an ongoing process. We are meeting today again, but we must fund TSA now.

Let us keep negotiating the outstanding issues with ICE, but let us start sending paychecks to TSA workers now. Let us bring the long lines at the airports--let us end the long lines at the airport now. This is the logical, expedient, correct thing to do.

So in conclusion, I urge my Republican colleagues: Vote yes if you want to pay TSA. Vote yes if you want to bring down the long lines at airports. Vote yes today.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Kaine), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I have a motion today that asks every Senator a very simple question: Do you want TSA workers to get their pay--yes or no? Are you tired, like many Americans are, of seeing long lines at the airport--yes or no?

If Senators want to pay TSA workers and end the airport chaos, they should support my motion. Our TSA workers cannot be taken hostage for political games, but that is what Republicans have done.

It is unacceptable--unacceptable--to say we will only pay TSA workers if it is attached to a bill that funds ICE with no reforms, but that is what Republicans have done.

Democrats want to pay TSA workers ASAP, no strings attached. A ``yes'' vote on my motion would start doing just that. This is the only vote--the only vote, not the others--that the Senate has taken that will fund TSA--no ands, ifs, or buts.

This is the first time--the first time--the Senate holds a vote related to paying TSA workers that has zero strings attached to it. This is the only vote that says you are for supporting TSA families unconditionally. All the votes Republicans have pushed so far tie TSA paychecks to fully funding ICE without any reforms.

Republicans say: Sure, we will pay TSA, but only if you keep funding ICE agents without any guardrails whatsoever.

That is not acceptable to the American people.

So, today, my motion makes the matter very simple: Let's pay TSA workers ASAP. That is it--nothing else. We can keep negotiating ICE and CBP separately.

We are having some productive conversations on getting reforms to ICE, and Democrats are going to continue pushing for real, serious reforms

through legislation. But that is an ongoing process that should not get in the way of funding our TSA workers.

So let's keep negotiating the outstanding issues with ICE while sending paychecks to TSA workers now. Let us end the long lines at the airports now. This is the logical, expedient, and correct thing to do.

I yield the floor.

You bet.

Would my colleague yield for a question?

Mr. President, this is the only vote available to us because you have filled the tree and not allowed an amendment like this here.

Would the Senator be willing to put this amendment to pay TSA immediately on the tree?

Is the tree full, Mr. Leader?

Like this past amendment was?

Mr. President, we are having productive discussions. I just met with our team 20 minutes ago. We are making some progress. There is more to be made. Each side has its own views.

But why hold pay for TSA workers up when we can do it immediately? Why wait? We don't know how long these negotiations will take. There are some pretty tough positions. We could do it now.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Kaine), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

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

Mr. President, the chaos at TSA is reaching a boiling

point. We need to reopen it as quickly as possible. That is what Senate Democrats are intent on doing. So, tomorrow, the Senate will take a very simple procedural vote on beginning to reopen TSA, which Democrats are leading.

Tomorrow, America will see the matter crystal clear: which Senators want to open up TSA, pay TSA workers, and end the chaos at our airports and which Senators are going to block TSA funding yet again. If you want to open up TSA, vote yes tomorrow.

Every previous vote offered by the Republicans has tied TSA funding to also continue funding for ICE, without any reform of ICE. This is different. This doesn't tie the TSA to ICE funding because ICE funding is controversial. This does not make the workers at our airports or the passengers at our airports hostages.

Republicans are saying: Unless you pass ICE as-is, without reform, we are not going to help the TSA workers get paid and reduce the lines at the airport.

We are saying: Just do it, no ands, ifs, or buts.

Negotiations to rein in ICE and end the violence still have a way to go. There are some very deep disagreements. Republicans still have not accepted that the American people want legislation--real legislation-- to ensure the kind of brutality we saw in Minneapolis can't happen again. But in the meantime, Republicans do not need to hold the rest of these Agencies hostage, including TSA.

To my Republican colleagues: We both see the chaos at TSA. We both know and would admit there is a lot more work to do on ICE. There is no good reason to keep holding TSA hostage. There is no good reason to reject our proposal to fund it.

We are going to hold this vote tomorrow, and I urge my Republican colleagues to vote yes.

SAVE America Act

Mr. President, on SAVE, the Senate is in session today, and all we are really doing is wasting time on a voter suppression bill written only to appease the fringe elements of the MAGA base. With so many problems facing our country, the cost of living so high, with people struggling to make ends meet, with the war going on in Iran, Republicans instead are choosing to spend time making it harder for citizens to vote. This is exactly what the SAVE Act is designed to do. It is designed to make it harder for citizens to vote.

Do not listen to the Republican talking points about voter ID. That is a ruse. Underneath the surface, the SAVE Act is a voter purge bill. Most of its core elements don't even talk about voter ID. They want to make it harder to register to vote than it is to register to buy an AR- 15.

MAGA Republicans want to force every single State in America to submit their voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security. They want Americans' information to be run through an algorithm that Elon Musk and DOGE could use to kick eligible American citizens off the voter rolls without them even knowing they were kicked off.

When you show up at the polling place, they say: Mr. Jones, Ms. Smith, you are no longer on the registry.

And you say: Why?

They say: Well, you will have to go find out.

That is a disgrace. That is undoing what is deeply American: the right to vote. They want to make registering to vote a bureaucratic nightmare.

They want to end vote-by-mail, end registering online, end registering on college campuses and in churches, and even end registering at the DMV, where, of course, you have to show ID.

That is what the SAVE Act is, and Republicans know it. They know that if the American people are given a fair chance to make their voices heard, Republicans are in trouble.

Iran

Mr. President, on Iran, thanks to Donald Trump's war with Iran, gas prices are now nearing $4 a gallon. Experts predict that this weekend gasoline will cross the $4-a-gallon threshold. In just the last month, gas prices have gone up by $1 a gallon. Brent crude is hovering around $108 a barrel, much higher than it has been.

And Donald Trump has the gall to say that prices are ``not that bad.'' Do you hear that, America? Donald Trump is telling you $4 gas is not that bad. What bubble does he live in? How often does he fill up his car with gasoline? When Donald Trump says that the prices are not that bad, who is he kidding? He is speaking like a billionaire. America is being led into war by Marie Antoinette.

And then Kevin Hassett, the top economic adviser to Trump, says Americans' pain is ``the [least] of our concern[s] right now.'' Can you believe this? The highest economic adviser in the Trump administration says Americans' pain is ``the [least] of our concern[s] right now.'' If there is anything that shows how much Donald Trump and his minions are out of touch, that is it right there. Trump and his acolytes are unbelievable. They are so clueless. They are in a bubble.

Meanwhile, the war with Iran is expanding. Iranian strikes on Qatar's energy structure have knocked out 17 percent of the country's LNG export capacity. QatarEnergy says two LNG trains could be sidelined for 3 to 5 years--a staggering blow to global energy markets. In other words, even if this war ended tomorrow--and there are no signs it is anywhere close to ending--the damage Donald Trump has unleashed will take a long, long time to fix.

Meanwhile, the war in the Middle East is expanding, not shrinking. Donald Trump is sending additional warships and thousands of marines to the region. He refuses to fully rule out boots on the ground, a step that would mean more American casualties and even higher costs than he now projects. And this week the administration was floating a funding request of more than $200 billion--$200 billion--to finance this open- ended war. No way; that will never happen. It is a preposterous and dangerous risk. We should never accept giving Donald Trump a blank check to wage war in Iran in perpetuity. Even a fraction of the $200 billion is unacceptable for a war without a plan, without an endgame, without the support of the American people. And, of course, the money could be used for so much better--reducing Americans' costs on healthcare and on housing and on electricity and on daycare.

So much could be done with that money instead of a war that Donald Trump has chosen to wage without even a vote in Congress.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to vilify and bash our closest allies even as he publicly asks for their help. Today, he called NATO a ``paper tiger'' and called our allies ``cowards.'' How does he expect to form a coalition, which he says he needs, if he is just going to spend his time calling them names--calling our allies names?

The damage Donald Trump is doing to our alliances will last a long time and is sickening. He has spent years trashing our allies, insulting them, threatening NATO, undermining the very alliances that have kept us strong for generations. Now, suddenly, after Trump has dragged the United States into a war that is not going his way, he turns around and asks those same allies to jump in and help. What world does he live in? And when the allies don't immediately leap into this open-ended conflict in the way Donald Trump wants, what does he do? He calls them ``cowards.''

Donald Trump's leadership is pathetic--pathetic.

The war needs to come to an end now. The American people have had enough.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, well, Donald Trump promised an easy and quick war with Iran. He promised overwhelming victory. Three weeks later in Iran, just the opposite of what Trump promised is happening.

Last night, a stunning report in the Washington Post revealed that the Pentagon has reportedly discussed with the White House requesting $200 billion--$200 billion--from Congress to bankroll Donald Trump's war with Iran.

Two hundred billion dollars so Donald Trump can go to war with Iran is preposterous and unacceptable. Even a fraction of that is unacceptable for a war without a plan, without a goal, without the support of the American people.

Let's be very clear: If Trump wants $200 billion, that means he believes we might be in a war with Iran for a very, very long time. Two hundred billion is more than what we spent even at the height of the war in Iraq. It is more than we have spent all together in Ukraine.

It is an indefensible number; one of the most wasteful and unthought- out budget requests I have ever heard in my time in the Senate. For $200 billion, we could lower healthcare premiums for tens of millions of Americans. For $200 billion, we could educate a generation and unleash the immense potential of our students. For $200 billion, we could cut hunger in this country in half or more for many years. For $200 billion, we could invest in jobs and science and manufacturing. We could begin fixing our power grid.

But instead--instead--the Trump administration reportedly wants $200 billion to go to war with Iran.

It is unacceptable. It is ridiculous. It is beyond the pale. Such a large amount of money for a war that no one knows the goal, no one knows the conclusion, no one knows the path that changes--Trump changes all of these things, the goal, the path, the cost every day--and he wants us to spend all this money?

And meanwhile, the consequences of Trump's war are mounting every hour. I hope America will look at this chart. In 4 weeks, gas prices have surged by 27 percent here at home.

It is the second largest 4-week jump in 35 years--the second largest jump in 35 years. And Donald Trump doesn't care.

Here is what Trump said about this huge increase--plus 27 percent--in gas prices. He said:

They're not bad. I thought it would be worse.

Well, if you are a billionaire, you don't care. If you are a billionaire, you don't think such a large increase every time you pull up at the pump is bad. Tell that, Donald Trump, to the people paying $4 a gallon.

And then look at what Kevin Hassett, Donald Trump's top economic adviser, said on live television. He said:

Americans' pain is the least of our concerns.

What an outrage. Hassett, take that back because it sure is one of the biggest concerns of the American people.

``The least of our concerns right now.'' What kind of bubble are they living in when the average American has to figure out how to pay for gas to get to work or pay for lunch?

America, every time you fill up the tank know this: Donald Trump and his advisers don't care that you are hurting. It is the least of their concerns. They do not care that Trump's war is taking money out of your pocket. They do not care that rising gas prices are making it harder to pay rent, pay for groceries, pay for healthcare.

They do not care. Shameful, disgraceful, coldhearted, and so out of touch.

But it doesn't stop there. This morning, Reuters reported that Donald Trump is thinking about deploying thousands more troops to the Middle East as the Pentagon prepares for the next stage of the war.

You know what that sounds like to most Americans, what Trump said? It

sounds like Trump is getting closer and closer to putting boots on the ground. It sounds like Donald Trump is thinking of expanding this war-- mission creep on a massive scale.

It seems like an oxymoron, ``mission creep on a massive scale.'' But they are creeping and creeping and creeping every day and bungling us into war. Boots on the ground, of course, will inevitably mean a surge in casualties, a surge in costs, a surge in chaos.

It is not what the American people want, and Republicans know it. They know this war goes against the wishes of the American people, and they refuse--Republicans here in the Senate--refuse to stand up to Trump, even though they know the war is wrong, wasteful, and putting lives at risk.

Last night, we gave Republicans another chance to assert Congress' constitutional authority to tell Donald Trump he cannot drag this country into war without authorization. Once again, Republicans opposed it when they opposed Senator Booker's motion.

Where is their courage? Where is their loyalty to the Constitution? Where are the public hearings with Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth under oath? You want to spend $200 billion and you don't want to even let their Cabinet people show up at hearings to answer questions?

What an outrage:

Americans' pain is the least of our concerns.

Do you hear that, America, that $4 gas?

Americans' pain is the least of our concerns.

This is not the end of the matter in the Senate. This issue ain't going away. Republicans can try to wash their hands of Donald Trump's war with Iran, but they will not escape responsibility. The American people and Democrats will hold Republicans accountable for willingly supporting Donald Trump's reckless, aimless, chaotic war in Iran.

SAVE America Act

Mr. President, on the SAVE Act, Republicans want to waste yet another day on a radical piece of legislation that hardly anyone outside the MAGA fringe even cares about, the SAVE Act.

Democrats' position has not changed. If Republicans want to waste the Senate's time debating this bill, so be it. We will continue to debate it. That is what the rules allow the Senators and Senator Thune to do.

But we will continue to expose just how radical and ugly it is. That is what Democrats will do over and over again. The longer the SAVE Act stays before the Senate, the more obvious it becomes it is not a voter ID bill. It is a voter suppression bill. It is a voter purge bill.

The SAVE Act says no more vote-by-mail, no more driver's licenses to register, no registering online or on campus or at church.

Republicans want to make Americans pass through the eye of the needle just to exercise their fundamental right to vote. The SAVE Act would force every State in America to send its voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security, an Agency that has nothing to do with administering elections and everything to do with Musk and DOGE and incompetence at the top.

Those voter rolls would then be screened by an algorithm designed by Musk and DOGE to supposedly root out noncitizens from the rolls.

But in reality, it could kick millions of American citizens off the voter rolls just like it kicked off many American citizens when a screening was tested in Missouri.

Now, MAGA Republicans keep talking about the SAVE Act in terms of protecting elections. This is a load of nonsense.

Kristi Noem was more honest. She said it was about--Kristi Noem said--the SAVE Act is about making sure only the right people get to vote--the right people get to vote.

So anyone who thinks this is just some benign effort to tell the small number of illegal immigrants--make sure they are not on the rolls. No one disagrees with that. Oh, no. It is an effort to make sure the right people get to vote.

Who are the right people according to Republicans and Donald Trump? Well, the SAVE Act gives us some clues. Deep in the SAVE Act, there is one blanket exception for the SAVE Act's draconian restrictions, only one--one exception. Guess what it is.

It is for the State of North Dakota. North Dakota is ruby red. It is overwhelmingly Republican, and it is the only State that right now does not require any form of voter registration. So it gets a free pass from all the rules every other State would have to follow.

How convenient.

Look, MAGA claims of voter fraud are utter garbage, but according to the ultraright Heritage Foundation, North Dakota had 12 instances of improper voting. Twelve is not a lot. It is tiny. But it was still more than other States that would be forced to impose draconian barriers to vote. North Dakota gets a pass again.

How convenient.

It is almost as if the goal of the SAVE Act has nothing to do with securing elections. This is how you write a bill designed to give Republicans a naked, partisan advantage, and it is what the SAVE Act does.

It is not a voter ID bill. It is a voter suppression bill.

Department of Homeland Security

Mr. President, finally, on TSA and ICE, today, this afternoon, Democrats will be giving Republicans another chance to do the right thing by TSA workers and pay them for the important work they do while we continue to debate how to address issues at ICE. The Democrats have maintained the same position for weeks. We need to rein in ICE and stop the violence, and the American people are on our side.

But rather than negotiate commonsense reforms, Republicans have stonewalled funding and held critical Agencies--like TSA--hostage. We Democrats don't want to do that.

Republicans, we are willing to fund TSA now. Just don't stand in the way. Support us, just don't stand in the way. Support us. TSA agents will be funded. We are willing to fund TSA now. Now. No ands, ifs, or buts.

Last night, Warnock went to the floor to offer a UC to pay our TSA workers. For the fourth time, Republicans blocked the bill. Today, Senator Slotkin will try it again and give Republicans another chance to fund TSA right away, shorten the lines at the airport, and bring the chaos to an end.

The only question Republicans must answer today is this: Has enough been enough? Will they finally fund TSA or keep holding those workers and our travelers hostage?

I yield the floor.

Madam President, pursuant to the notice given by me on March 16, 2026, I move to suspend paragraph (n)(1) of rule XXV.

Madam President, I have a cloture motion at the desk.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, in accordance with rule V of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby provide notice that I intend to move to suspend the operation of rule XXV, paragraph (n)(1) to permit the Committee on Rules and Administration to consider the following motion with respect to the message to accompany S. 1383:

Motion to refer with instructions: That the Message to

accompany S. 1383 be referred to the Committee on Rules and

Administration with instructions that the Committee considers

legislation that funds the Department of Homeland Security,

except for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S.

Customs and Border Protection, through fiscal year 2026.

Mr. President, I understand that there are four bills at the desk due for a second reading en bloc.

In order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceeding en bloc.

Mr. President, there are so many issues Senate Republicans could be working with us on this week that Americans actually care about. Republicans could focus on whether Americans can afford groceries or on lowering healthcare premiums or bringing down childcare costs or fixing our power grid.

But what have MAGA Republicans chosen to focus on this week? Voter suppression. That is what the Republican Senate is wasting our time on, pushing a voter suppression bill that most Americans do not support--a bill that appeals to only the most fringe element of the MAGA base.

If this is the path our Republican colleagues want to take, Democrats are ready. We will hold the line to ensure the forces of voter suppression do not win the day. We will debate this bill for as long as Republicans want because the more time we spend on this bill, the more Senate Democrats will expose it for what it really is.

I heard our Senator from Utah last night talk on the floor, and he talked--the times I heard him--about having an ID when you go to vote. This SAVE Act is not about voter ID. In fact, the original bill didn't even have a sentence about voter ID, and they had to put it in at the last minute so it could meet their subterfuge argument.

Democrats support commonsense voter ID, but this bill is not that-- not at all. So don't lie and make it seem like that is the purpose of this bill, because it isn't. It is just a sentence that was added at the last minute so they could engage in this subterfuge.

This is suppression, a MAGA power grab that could disenfranchise more than 20 million American citizens--because what is the core of the bill? The core of the bill is handing the voter rolls over to DHS, putting them through an algorithm designed by DOGE and Musk that supposedly knocks out illegal immigrants from voting.

But the evidence is almost no illegal immigrants vote, and on an experiment in a county of Missouri, more than half the people knocked out were American citizens, using this algorithm.

Is that what the Senators from Missouri or any other State want-- their legitimate citizens being knocked off the ballot, being purged, and then not knowing about it until you show up to vote on election day, and you say to the person at the election facility: Well, I voted at this booth for the last--I have voted at this place for 20 years. I have used the same ID.

Well, you were knocked off.

And to get back on is very onerous and very difficult. It is harder to reregister under this bill than it is to purchase a firearm. It is absolutely crazy.

And it is all based on one fact: that Donald Trump has lied that our elections are rife with voter fraud. We know that is bull. Even the Wall Street Journal--no friend of Democrats; certainly, no friend of mine--said in an editorial yesterday--the Wall Street Journal said the President's voter fraud claims ``aren't backed by hard evidence.'' And yet that is what this bill is supposedly all about.

I hope every single Republican, yesterday, read the editorial in the Wall Street Journal because they may not listen to us from this side of the aisle, but maybe they will listen to the Journal. The SAVE Act makes voting harder and makes registration much harder for U.S. citizens--for U.S. citizens.

The Journal notes: ``Many driver's licenses wouldn't'' comply-- ``wouldn't qualify.''

So I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Do you want to tell your voters--your citizen voters--that if they move and have to reregister, it is much harder? I don't think so.

The Journal makes another important point. It says the SAVE Act ``can't save Republicans from voter anger at unpopular policies.''

Let me say that again, the Wall Street Journal editorial page says: ``It can't save Republicans from voter anger at unpopular policies.''

Even the Wall Street Journal seems to recognize why Donald Trump and MAGA radicals are so obsessed with this bill. They think it will save them from what otherwise looks like a bad November--a November where voters are fed up with Trump's policies. That is what is going on here.

If Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are so worried about November, the answer shouldn't be to take away the vote. They should try to come up with policies that are popular, rethink their awful policies that have made life more expensive and painful for working people.

If Donald Trump and Republicans are worried about November, then maybe they should focus on lowering costs instead of kicking millions of people off healthcare. Maybe Donald Trump should not have started an unpopular war in the Middle East, with no plan on how to get out.

Maybe MAGA Republicans should stand up to Donald Trump's tariffs. A lot of them didn't like them.

A headline from AP reads:

Trump's tariffs are hurting American manufacturers instead

of helping them.

Of course, Trump would say we should get rid of the AP when they don't agree with him. That is another issue.

Maybe Republicans should fight against Donald Trump's corruption, his lavish gifts, his pardoning of ultrarich fraudsters, his administration's crypto get-rich-quick schemes.

But instead of doing any of these things, instead of doing what Americans want Republicans to do, MAGA radicals, instead, are trying to tick away the vote. They want to short-circuit the mechanisms of accountability that underpin our democracy.

If MAGA Republicans want to waste this week and beyond on voter suppression, we are happy to have the debate. We are happy to show the American people how radical the SAVE Act is and how out of touch Republicans have become by wasting time on this bill, instead of lowering costs like people want; how they are going to, with this bill, disenfranchise millions of their own voters--Republican voters in red States--by doing this bill.

Iran

Mr. President, on Iran, well, we are 3\1/2\ weeks into Donald Trump's Iran war, and, today, the price of Brent crude hit nearly $110 a barrel. Experts say that even if the war ended tomorrow, it would take a long time for prices to come back down. We know oil prices are sticky for going down. When oil prices spike quickly, they tend to fall very slowly.

And now central banks are worried that Trump's war is driving up costs not just for energy but for transportation, for shipping, and other key goods that pass through the Middle East.

Mortgage rates, after inching down, are moving back up, and the worst part is there are no signs the war is going to end tomorrow, next week, or any time soon.

Donald Trump, the old saying is: If you break it, you buy it.

Donald Trump is breaking the Middle East, but now he is trying to dodge the cost and leave the American people with the bill.

So I will affirm again what Democrats have been saying for days. We need Cabinet officials to testify because the story from the administration does not add up.

This morning, before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard insisted in her prepared remarks that Donald Trump's operation from last year, Midnight Hammer, did, in fact, obliterate Iran's nuclear enrichment program.

She noted that ``there has been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.''

So what gives now, Tulsi? Why did Donald Trump strike Iran again if you say that Midnight Hammer did, in fact, obliterate the nuclear enrichment program?

And, of course, nobody wants a nuclear Iran.

Why do the American people still not have any clear answers on the goals and timeline of this war?

Secretary Rubio needs to publicly testify under oath. He must answer tough questions from both sides of the aisle--which there will be--in public.

Hegseth needs to testify publicly under oath.

The American people deserve to directly hear from them. They deserve answers. They deserve accountability, and they need to hear from the administration about how we are going to get out of this before it is too late.

Nomination of Markwayne Mullin

Mr. President, finally, on Senator Markwayne Mullin, he has been testifying before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs as President Trump's nominee to be the next Secretary of Homeland Security.

I will not be supporting Senator Mullin's nomination, should it come before the Senate. The problems at DHS, especially at ICE and CBP, run far deeper than who is in charge. What Americans need far more than just a change in leadership is a change in policy. Americans demand legislation to rein in ICE and end the violence.

But the White House is still refusing to engage on some of the most pressing demands that Democrats have called for since day one.

We are going to continue to engage the White House and congressional Republicans, but we need them to get serious about responding to the chaos we have seen in too many American cities. If ICE is not reformed and reined in, sooner or later, another American citizen is at risk of getting killed.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, in a moment, my good friend my colleague from Georgia will offer a resolution that is very simple: It says fund TSA. Period. No ands, ifs, or buts, no excuses, no secondary reasons.

If Senators want to fund TSA, they should simply support the resolution of Senator Warnock. No ands, ifs, or buts.

Who is blocking TSA money from being approved? Republicans.

On several occasions, Democrats have gone to the floor and said: Let's just fund TSA. We know that there are discussions about ICE and Border Patrol that we haven't resolved, but why hold TSA hostage? Why hold passengers at our airports who are waiting on long lines hostage?

All the Republicans have to do is say: Yes, and those lines will be greatly reduced or go away, the waiting will be greatly reduced, and people will be much happier.

So to hold our airport travelers and our TSA workers as hostages is so much the wrong thing to do, and the American people don't like it.

But the American people should know, if they get up and block the Warnock resolution, it is Republicans blocking funding for TSA, creating those long lines, and standing in the way of funding our hard- working TSA workers.

Democrats are giving Republicans another chance. We can fund TSA workers today. We can make sure our airports are secure today. We can make sure the workers are paid today. They just need to get out of the way and stop blocking TSA officers' paychecks.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Booker for leading this important measure.

Thirteen U.S. servicemembers have been killed since the start of the Iran war. Another 200 have been injured. Thousands more across the Middle East have been killed or injured. We pray for all those killed and hurt. We pray for their families.

Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz traffic has crawled to a halt. The price of Brent crude has risen to $110 a barrel. Americans are now paying an average of $3.80 or more at the pump. And when Donald Trump was asked last week if we were toward the beginning of this war or toward the end, he said both. He said both.

Enough is enough. Trump's war in Iran is turning into a disaster, and there is no end in sight. We do not know Trump's goals. We do not know Trump's timeline. We do not know what victory even looks like in his eyes. Enough is enough.

A few weeks ago, Senator Kaine, Senator Schiff, Senator Paul, and I brought a simple resolution to the floor affirming that Donald Trump cannot send our servicemembers into war without coming to Congress first. Republicans voted no.

Today, we are pushing another War Powers Resolution led by Senator Booker, and I want to thank him for his leadership.

To my Republican colleagues, the American people are watching. They oppose this war. They expect us to do our jobs.

No more senseless wars in the Middle East, no more gas prices shooting through the roof, no more U.S. servicemembers fighting and dying in endless wars--enough is enough. The Senate will put a stop to it tonight.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, this afternoon, Republicans will move to bring a pernicious, radical bill before the Senate, the so-called SAVE America Act. At a moment when war is consuming the Middle East, when costs are rising, when ICE agents are terrorizing our communities, and when job growth in America is weakening, MAGA Republicans have chosen to focus on voter suppression.

We all know why Donald Trump wants this bill. He is afraid Republicans will lose in November. Trump says: Pass the SAVE Act, and it will ``guarantee the midterms.'' Imagine manipulating the electoral process to try to make himself the winner when he thinks he is going to lose--not surprising, I suppose, from Donald Trump.

The senior Senator from Utah says:

Republicans will lose power--likely for a long time--if we

don't get SAVE America passed.

It is funny. I don't remember MAGA Republicans screaming about stolen elections and voter fraud after the 2024 election that they won. Well, the same rules that governed the 2024 election are going to be the ones that govern the 2026 election. The only difference is that this time, MAGA Republicans know they are in trouble politically, so now they are suddenly saying that the system is compromised and broken and that it needs to be changed.

It is all lies--all lies. And they want to drag down the entire Senate for who knows how long in a vain attempt to pass this bill.

Let's be clear. Senate Democrats will never allow the SAVE Act to pass this Chamber. If a small band of MAGA Senators wants to drag this out on the Senate floor, keep us here through the night, through days, or longer, while stalling all other important business, they can try. It will not work.

MAGA Republicans, Senate Democrats will hold the line as long as necessary because with this bill, democracy is at stake.

I want to be very clear. The SAVE Act is not about voter identification; it is about voter suppression. Under the SAVE Act, every single State would be required to share its voter rolls with the Department of Homeland Security--something even many Republican States do not want to do.

Those rolls would be reviewed by a system designed by none other than Elon Musk and his DOGE, using an algorithm that has already been shown to be deeply flawed.

Millions would be kicked off the rolls for no reason. This means American citizens--many, millions--would be booted off the rolls wrongly. If you are kicked off the rolls, you may never be told. There is no requirement to let you know. Then when you show up on election day ready to vote and a poll worker tells you ``Sorry, you are not registered; you are not in the system,'' what do you do? You can't reregister that day, especially with the onerous requirements for registration in the SAVE Act.

As I said, it is not just as simple as reregistering. Under the bill, Americans would have to run through an obstacle course of redtape unlike anything we have ever seen in voter registration. A driver's license would no longer be enough. A military ID would no longer be enough. You would need something like a passport, which most Americans do not have, or a birth certificate, which many Americans cannot easily find. If you cannot produce these documents, you could be out of luck, even if you are an American citizen with every right to vote. That is almost certainly the majority--the vast majority--of who would be thrown off the rolls.

Meanwhile, say goodbye to some of the safest, most convenient, and most effective ways to register to vote. No more registering online. No more registering in churches. No more registering at college campuses. No more registering at the DMV. No more registering by mail. No more vote-by-mail. Many red States love vote-by-mail. Yet MAGA radicals want to eliminate it almost entirely.

I ask my Republican colleagues: How does it protect our elections to stop people from registering at church or at the DMV? How does it make our democracy safer to tell seniors, people with disabilities, or working Americans they cannot register online and must find their way to an election office, which is something only a fraction of Americans do today--5.9 percent, to be more precise. How does getting rid of vote-by-mail--something red States do, something blue States do-- strengthen democracy? The answer is, it does not.

The SAVE Act is not about election integrity; it is about voter suppression, plain and simple. MAGA Republicans would rather take democracy down than back away from their own rightwing, extreme policies that have killed jobs, started wars, and exploited working people to benefit the ultrarich. Senate Democrats will not let them succeed.

I tell my Republican colleagues: Hear me--we will hold the line for as long as it takes.

Mr. President, on Iran, each day brings more evidence that Donald Trump has no idea what he is doing in Iran. Yesterday, the President effectively admitted his administration badly miscalculated Iran's responses to his attacks.

As he put it:

They hit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Kuwait. Nobody

expected it. We were shocked. They fought back.

Comments like that show that Donald Trump is in over his head.

The old saying goes: If you break it, you buy it.

Well, Donald Trump, you broke it badly, and now you are trying to get out of paying the price.

The Strait of Hormuz is effectively shut down. Oil prices continue to rise. Yesterday, we learned that about 200 American troops have now been injured in this conflict. Thirteen servicemembers have made the ultimate sacrifice. We pray for them, their families, and for everyone in harm's way.

But, again, I repeat to Donald Trump: If you break it, you buy it.

Donald Trump broke it badly, and now he is trying to get out of paying the price.

Donald Trump promised this would be over in a matter of days or weeks. Well, we are now in week 3. There is still no sign this war is close to ending. In fact, despite severe blows, most reporting suggests Iran's regime remains intact and has hardened rather than collapsed.

This war needs to come to an end. In the meantime, I repeat what I said last week: Donald Trump's Cabinet must come before the Senate. We need public hearings. We need to hear from Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and others under oath, and answer tough questions. They need to answer some very basic questions: Why are we at war? What is the objective? Will there be American boots on the ground? How exactly do they plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz? What is the exit strategy?

Right now, we do not have answers to questions that should be easy for any competent administration to answer, and that should alarm every one of us.

Mr. President, if MAGA Republicans want to bog down the Senate over a debate on voter suppression, Democrats are ready. We are ready to be here all day, all night--as long as it takes--to ensure the powers of voter suppression do not win the day.

Let me be very clear: The SAVE Act is not a voter ID bill. It is, in every sense, a voter suppression bill. It could purge millions of American citizens from the voter rolls through a screening algorithm designed by Elon Musk's DOGE squad. It could disenfranchise over 20 million American citizens. It would kill online voter registration. It would kill vote-by-mail. It would kill voter motor registration.

What does any of that have to do with election security? It doesn't. It is a naked attempt to rig our elections.

The SAVE Act also rejects the most common forms of ID for anyone trying to register.

The way this works is that you don't have to be notified if you are kicked off the rolls. You show up on election day. They say: We are sorry, Mr. Smith or Ms. Jones. You are not on the rolls anymore.

Then they make it impossible to reregister. Certainly, on that day, you would lose your right to vote.

Driver's licenses are no longer enough. The most common ID forms for anyone to register are rejected in the SAVE Act for the first time in just about every State. Not even military IDs would be enough.

Can you believe that? That would be radical. It would force Americans to register only in person--something only 5 percent of Americans do today.

It punishes married women who change their last names.

The SAVE Act is not about protecting the vote. It is about making it harder to vote and easier to steal an election.

We know what the deal is here. Donald Trump said, if Republicans pass the SAVE Act, it will guarantee his midterm. The senior Senator from Utah said Republicans will lose power, likely for a long time, if they don't get the SAVE Act passed.

That is the whole game. It is cynical. It is beneath the Senate. It is beneath democracy.

Senate Democrats will never let this rotten bill move through this body.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I understand that there are four bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Madam President, I now ask for a second reading, and I object to my own request, all en bloc.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, Americans are watching in horror as Donald Trump bumbles this country into war. The latest job numbers show our economy is even weaker than we thought. But what are MAGA Republicans prioritizing in the Senate this week? They are conspiring with Donald Trump to undermine democracy and disenfranchise millions of Americans by pushing the SAVE Act.

MAGA Republicans want to drag this Chamber down and waste time on a bill that not too long ago was considered fringe but now is part of the Republican mainstream. Not a single Democrat will support the SAVE Act. It is a radical bill, and if Republicans try to burn time on this legislation here on the floor, we will oppose them for as long as it takes.

Donald Trump and Senate Republicans know their numbers are sinking badly. They know the American people are souring on their agenda. They know that with each passing day, their prospects for November get worse. So what do they do? Do they change course? Do they try to work with Democrats to lower grocery costs, stop the Iran war, help lower people's energy bills? No. Instead, MAGA Republicans try to rig democracy and disenfranchise American citizens. That is exactly what the SAVE Act is all about.

Remember, all the election laws that govern how the 2026 midterms will operate were in place during the 2024 election--the election of Donald Trump again. The laws that will be in effect in 2026 were the same laws during the 2024 election. That was the election that Donald Trump won. You don't hear Donald Trump and Republicans complain that the 2024 election was rigged.

But now the main difference is that Donald Trump and Republicans are horribly unpopular. So, suddenly, they want to change the rules. Donald Trump said it himself. He said if Republicans pass the SAVE Act, ``it'll

guarantee the midterms.'' He is saying: Fix the election so that we can win.

This isn't the first time he has tried to do that, albeit in a different way this time.

Think about that. The President of the United States is saying out loud that making it harder to vote will help his party win. That is how an autocrat talks. That is how a thug talks. That is how someone who knows they are about to lose talks.

Now, MAGA Republicans keep calling this voter ID, but the SAVE Act is not a voter ID bill; it is a voter suppression bill. The SAVE Act would make it easier to buy an AR-15 than to register to vote. Republicans won't tell Americans, for example, that under the SAVE Act, States would be required to hand over voter records to be screened through a DHS system rebuilt by Elon Musk's DOGE squad. Do you think that is on the level? No way.

This is not about protecting democracy; this is about giving Trump and his allies more power to decide who gets to vote and who does not. If, God forbid, this bill passed and your State turned over its election rolls and it went through the system that DOGE has imposed at DHS, you could be very easily purged from the rolls through no fault of your own and nothing you have done. But once you are purged, you may not even know that you were purged until you show up to cast your ballot on election day.

Republicans won't tell Americans that their bill would wipe out the most common ways Americans register to vote. No more registering by mail. No more voter registration drives at churches or on college campuses. No more registration when you get a driver's license.

Under the SAVE Act, Americans would be forced to register in person even though only 6 percent of Americans registered in person to vote in 2022, and Republicans want to make this the only option. They won't tell Americans that a driver's license or State-issued ID would no longer be enough to register.

Indeed, many Americans would need additional paperwork like a passport or a birth certificate. Fewer than half of Americans even have a passport. Millions of Americans do not have easy access to a birth certificate. If you changed your name after marriage, you could run into problems too.

And now, Donald Trump says he doesn't even want vote by mail. Tell that to seniors, tell that to disabled Americans, tell that to Americans who live in rural communities far from an election office. Put simply, the SAVE Act is designed to make it harder to vote and easier to steal an election.

Once again, let me just repeat: You can be purged from the rolls. There is no requirement that you be notified that you were purged. You did nothing wrong. You were the same person who voted that way 2 years earlier.

And guess what. You show up at the polling place, and they say: Sorry, Mr. Jones, sorry Ms. Smith, you are not on the rolls anymore. You had no way of knowing, and then you can't vote because you are just finding out when you show up to the polls to vote on election day. It is outrageous. It is cynical. It is un-American. It is autocratic.

Donald Trump knows that if the election is fair, he could lose. So instead of changing his policies, he and the MAGA Republicans--now, all we see are so many Republicans, too many, seem to be going along, want to make it harder for Americans to vote.

That is who Donald Trump is. He is a bully. He does not know how to persuade. He threatens. He coerces. And now he is trying to do that to American democracy itself.

Senate Democrats will not let Donald Trump ram this bill through the Senate, not this week, not next week, not ever.