Floor Statements

Mr. President, I make a point of order that a motion to proceed to Executive Calendar No. 1, S. Res. 377, is not in order because legislation that provides for the en bloc consideration of individual nominations on the Executive Calendar is legislative business; therefore, such a resolution should be required to be considered in legislative session.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, on Friday, we learned the U.S. economy added only 22,000 jobs for the month of August, a paltry number, an abysmal number, worse than even the already low expectations. Donald Trump has steered our economy straight into an iceberg, and the ``SS Trump'' is sinking before our eyes.

And I warned my Republican colleagues: The longer you remain aboard, the greater the danger you face of sinking with the ship--because if one thing is certain, it is that the American people don't want to be paying more for things as simple as coffee and beef, fruits, vegetables. They don't want to see their electric bills go up. They don't want to see their rent go up. And they don't want to see it harder to find a job. But that is exactly--exactly--what is happening right now. Senate Republicans remain on board this ship, the ``SS Trump,'' at their own peril. It is sinking.

And Republicans know perfectly well what Donald Trump is doing is without precedent. Oh, their favorite comeback is: Well, that is what the American people voted for. They shrug their shoulders; they can't do anything about it.

Well, that is nonsense. This summer, big American companies--Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Ace Hardware, and so many others--have said they are raising prices or that costs will go up because of the tariffs. Americans didn't vote for that. Oh, no. Americans are about to see their health insurance go up by the highest amount in 15 years. Do you think they voted for that? No. They didn't vote for more Americans to get sick, although that is what the Trump healthcare plan will do. They didn't vote for more Americans to die, and that will happen as a result of this Big Beautiful Bill.

Americans sure didn't vote for any of that. Americans want us to pass legislation that lowers healthcare costs, expands people's coverage. They do not want us to vote to boot millions off their health insurance. They do not want the closing of hospitals, particularly in rural areas where the hospitals don't have much cushion. They don't want the laying off of doctors and nurses and healthcare workers so they get less good coverage and it takes much longer to get it. Americans didn't vote for that, but that is what happened.

And here is what the data shows: Americans are fed up with Trump. NBC News Decision Desk Poll, September 7: 57 percent disapprove of Donald Trump's job performance, 43 percent approve; 60 percent believe America, under his leadership, is on the wrong track; 61 percent disapprove of the way he is handling inflation. CBS News, September 3 to 5: 56 percent disapprove of Donald Trump's job performance; 62 percent oppose new U.S. tariffs on imported goods.

So it is no wonder that Democrats are winning in State special elections, even in districts that Trump previously won by as many as 10 points, from one end of the country to the other. These

local elections show Americans reject Donald Trump just several months after he got into office.

To put this all together, the story is clear: Donald Trump is sabotaging our economy; he is sending healthcare costs through the roof; Americans are sick of his failures, which brings us to the work of Congress this month. It is less than 20 calendar days until government funding runs out, and a shutdown will happen if nothing is done.

How Congress proceeds is up to our Republican colleagues. They are in charge. They run the House. They run the Senate. They have the Presidency. Well, if our Republican colleagues know what is good for the country and good for them, they will realize that they should no longer remain aboard this sinking ship that Trump is commanding. The greater danger that they will face is sinking with their ship if nothing changes.

What Republicans should do, then, is commit to working on bipartisan legislation to undo some of the terrible things Donald Trump has done during his time in office. Working on bipartisan legislation that has real input from Democrats--that is the way to avoid a shutdown.

Of course, there is another path, a far uglier path. Republicans can continue to go at it alone. They can continue to bow down to Donald Trump. They can continue to surrender Congress's constitutional powers over to the Executive and enable Donald Trump and his evil minion Russell Vought as they illegally cancel and steal congressionally approved funding.

So if Republicans choose the path of ``do what we say or go to hell,'' then they will be the ones paving the bitter road that leads toward a government shutdown. And we Democrats will not accept that. We will not enable Republicans' carnage of this country. We won't bail Republicans out as the cost of healthcare, groceries, school supplies, rent, electricity, and automobiles all go up and up. We still have some time to avoid that dismal outcome.

We Democrats don't want to see a government shutdown, but avoiding one means Republicans have to show they are serious about having real, substantive, serious negotiation. This week, we need to see signs from Republicans that they are serious about avoiding a shutdown, or time will run out. And the American people will know Republicans will be responsible if a shutdown happens.

Mr. President, now on judicial nominations, this one is hard to believe. It is hard to believe that the nominees for the Federal bench have gone so low, but under Donald Trump's leadership--his lack of morality, his total egotism, his total self-servingness--they have. Listen to this one, this nominee Mr. Artau. And this is why the Democrats are demanding historical levels of scrutiny, because that scrutiny reveals all of the corruption going on behind the scenes, just like what we learned about Mr. Artau, today's nominee. It is one of the most blatant cases of quid pro quo I have ever seen.

While Artau was begging Donald Trump and Republican Senators for a judgeship--he was begging them to make him a judge--he was, at the same time, part of a panel of judges in Florida hearing Donald Trump's defamation case against the Pulitzer Prize Board.

This guy sues everybody. That has been his MO for decades. He tries to scare people with idiotic lawsuits that have no basis in law. Well, in this case, he was suing the Pulitzer Prize Board in a case of defamation. Well, Artau was on the panel of judges to hear the case.

What would a normal person--you don't need a high degree of honesty, you don't need to be an Eagle Scout to know that this is a direct conflict of interest, and any judge with an ounce of integrity would recuse himself.

But, of course, Artau stayed on the case, didn't even tell anyone about the conflict of interest, and surprise, surprise, surprise, Artau ruled in favor of Trump.

These are the kind of sleazy people Donald Trump wants on the bench. He has no principles. He has no regard for the rule of law. He picks people with blind obeisance to him that will bow down to the King. That is not what judges are supposed to do. That is not what nominees to Departments are supposed to do.

He didn't care if the people he picks are corrupt. He doesn't care if they are biased. He doesn't care if they lack any principles, sense of integrity, fidelity to rule of law. One quality only: Are they pro- Trump? Will they do whatever he wants?

That is good enough for a gavel and a robe in this Trump world, and it is good enough for our Republican colleagues who just go along with all of this, knowing how wrong it is and shrugging their shoulders out of fear, obeisance, or some other untoward emotion.

The Senate should reject Mr. Artau today.

Reserving the right to object, first, let the public know what they are talking about as obstruction: 2 hours of debate and a vote on some of the worst nominees we have ever seen. They want to pile them all together. Some of these nominees are--the people who know them in their States are appalled that they would be nominated.

Trump has chosen his U.S. attorneys for one reason only: blind obeisance to him. That is it. No rule of law. No independence.

So of course our friends are afraid of 2 hours of debate and a vote because so many of these nominees are so bad. Historical bad nominees deserve a historical response.

So we wanted to come to an agreement with our colleagues to let some of the better ones through, but we couldn't--not because of our Senate colleagues. Senator Grassley was involved, and Senator Thune was involved. We were close to an agreement, and what happened? Donald Trump, who wants these horrible nominees--so many of them--said:

Go to hell.

That is what he said. So instead of our Republican colleagues telling Donald Trump ``No, we can work out an agreement that is fair,'' they said ``OK.'' They pedaled back.

Now what is their alternative? They are ready to detonate Senate precedent altogether and go nuclear on all the nominees. So much for oversight. And before they even do that, now they want to rubberstamp another round of nominees--no scrutiny, no debate.

Two hours of debate and a vote for someone as powerful as a U.S. attorney. Most Americans would agree that is the least we could do--the least we could do. So no scrutiny, no debate, and no consent from us.

I want to be very clear. If my colleague from Iowa, who is a good man, wants to resume our negotiations, which we were ready to do--and he knows it. He was part of it. If he is willing to back off threats to go nuclear, we will be open to having a conversation about a nominees package, including the ones on his list. We will be open to negotiations, just as we were at the end of July when we were in that room right across the hall from here and ready to have an agreement, when all of a sudden, Donald Trump says ``Go to hell'' and the Republican leadership says ``OK. We won't do it because he doesn't like it'' even though he has historically bad, reprehensible nominees.

So if Republicans are dead set on going nuclear, we will not grant consent today.

I object.

Reserving the right to object, I would with respect remind my colleague that all three of these people were on our list that we were negotiating and could have been passed with our agreement.

Donald Trump said:

Go to hell.

You and the Republican leader backed off. So you could have it done with an agreement, a bipartisan agreement--not a partisan agreement where the Republicans just choose whoever they want, no matter.

So the bottom line, once again, is simple: You want to get these things done? Negotiate an agreement in a bipartisan way. Don't bow down to Donald Trump, who, as I said, has nominated for U.S. attorney in many other places some of the worst nominees, the most conflicted nominees, the least qualified nominees we have ever seen.

I object.

Reserving the right to object, once again, negotiate in a fair, bipartisan way with us, and many of these things could be resolved. Do it in a partisan way. Bow down to Donald Trump--no way.

I object.

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

Mr. President, this morning, I spoke with Revolution Wind, informing me that they are suing the Trump administration over their attacks on offshore wind projects. The suit is a regrettable but necessary step, illustrating the deep damage Donald Trump's administration is causing to American energy and to U.S. jobs.

Donald Trump has made no secret he detests offshore wind strategy-- and for no good reason. He doesn't like the way the windmills look. Someone built windmills off the coast of his golf course in Scotland, and he thought it was ugly. So what Donald Trump will do because of these whims is raise everybody's electricity prices dramatically. When your electric bill goes up, it is because of Donald Trump's whims. This one is ridiculous as 80 percent--or over 80 percent of it has been built. Billions of dollars have been sunk into the ground--and they call up, and they say stop, and they don't even give them a reason.

How can so many people go along with his idiotic behavior? How can so many people go along when Donald Trump simply has a whim that is just dumb, stupid, and harmful to the American people and no one does anything about it? Then he has all his minions in the various Agencies shut it off. People's electric bills are spiking. Our energy grid is strained. Everyone admits we need more energy, particularly as AI sucks up so much of it, and Donald Trump is making things worse based on no logic--based on a ridiculous whim.

So we are going to lose thousands of jobs; prices will go up; we won't expand American power; China will gain on us. So it is good that Revolution Wind is taking this step by going to court. But the idiocy of this policy has not been rebutted by anyone in the administration. They just go, ``Yes, sir,'' and go along. It is a disgrace.

Mr. President, on the appropriations process: Well, yesterday, Senate Democrats had a very good meeting about the appropriations process. All of us--myself, Leader Jeffries, Senate Democrats, House Democrats, Senator Murray, Ranking Member DeLauro--we are all on the same page. The only way to avoid a shutdown on September 30 is to work in a bipartisan way; but Republicans are, once again, threatening to go at it alone, which will lead our country straight into a shutdown--a Republican-caused shutdown--because they refuse to work in a bipartisan way. Democrats don't want a shutdown. We want bipartisan negotiations and a bipartisan bill, where we can have some real input in undoing a lot of the damage that has been done by this administration.

If Republicans want to keep the government open, they have to work with Democrats in a bipartisan way. That is the only way to get it done, but if Republicans choose to continue going at it alone, if they refuse to be reasonable, if they close the door on negotiations, then any shutdown is going to be on them. Time is short.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 1 minute.

Well, in a few moments, Mr. President, Senate Republicans will vote to advance another Donald Trump loyalist to the Federal bench, Edward L. Artau of the Southern District of Florida.

Mr. Artau's nomination is a textbook example of a quid pro quo if there ever was one. Listen to this: While Artau was actively lobbying the White House for a Federal judgeship in the aftermath of Donald Trump's election last

year--while he was begging Donald Trump for a nomination to the bench while he was meeting with Republican Senators to angle for their recommendation--he was, at the same time, part of a panel of Florida State judges hearing Donald Trump's defamation case against the Pulitzer Prize Board earlier this February.

Did Mr. Artau do the right thing and recuse himself from the case? Of course not. Did he inform anyone about this potential conflict of interest? Of course not. Instead, Artau stayed on the case and-- surprise, surprise--ruled in favor of Donald Trump. That is no coincidence; that is no accident. That is Donald Trump rigging our courts with his loyalists. Donald Trump gave Artau the chance to prove his fealty to him. Artau eagerly obliged, and Donald Trump rewarded him with a nomination for a Federal judgeship.

This nomination is just another example of Donald Trump making a total mockery of our Federal judiciary. And it proves the point that the only thing--the only thing--Trump cares about when it comes to judges is unyielding fealty to him and why we need to vote on these judges and be able to speak about these judges--because there is so much--so much--bad stuff and corruption going on.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, let me begin by reading a few headlines showing what Donald Trump's so-called golden age really looks like. These are headlines from the past few weeks from the Wall Street Journal:

``Factory Activity Shrinks for the Sixth Month''; ``Tariffs

Remain a Key Worry.''

Hello.

Or how about this headline also from the Wall Street Journal:

``Stagnant Job Market Is a Rising Risk for the U.S.

Economy.''

Or how about from Bloomberg:

``Economists See Slow U.S. Growth, Stubborn Inflation Well

Into 2026.''

Finally, from CBS News:

Families are paying more for back-to-school supplies and

waiting longer to finish shopping, data shows.

So I guess this is Donald Trump's idea of a golden age: Parents pay more for school supplies, a job market on the brink, more and more and more inflation that hurts people's pocketbooks every week, factories slowing to crawl month after month. That is certainly not what the American people have signed up for.

This morning, the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and other senior White House officials will hold ``briefing sessions'' with GOP members about how to rebrand the ``Big Ugly Bill'' in hopes they can make it play better with the American people. They are squirming. They know this bill is unpopular. So now what do they want to do? Change the name. Changing the name isn't going to open rural hospitals that are closing. Changing the name is not going to give healthcare to the millions who will lose it. Changing the name is not going to prevent healthcare premiums from going up and up and up.

Donald Trump says he wants to change the name of this Big Beautiful Bill because, as it turns out, it is terrible. It is a terrible name for the biggest healthcare and nutrition cuts in history.

Americans know damn well that these Medicaid and ACA cuts are not big and beautiful. They are hideous. They are cruel. They are destructive.

The fact that Donald Trump says Medicaid cuts are big and beautiful shows just who he is and just what his values are. The American people are learning who he really is.

The fact that Donald Trump thinks that Medicaid cuts are beautiful reveals to America who he cares about and who he doesn't give a damn about. And the average American he doesn't care a bit about. He cares about giving tax breaks to his billionaires, and he cuts healthcare to do it, and then he calls that beautiful. Well, maybe it is beautiful for a few billionaires. It sure ain't beautiful for tens of millions of Americans who are hurt by it.

Let's be very clear, folks. The Republicans don't have a branding problem; they have a substance problem. What they did is horrible. They can call their bill whatever the hell they want; it is not going to change the fact that millions are going to lose healthcare, tens of millions are going to have their premiums go up, rural hospitals will close, and research funding that saves kids from cancer will be slashed.

When hospitals close, when people get sick and die, they don't give a damn what Donald Trump's bill is called; they want the Republicans to stand up to Trump--Republicans here in the Senate--and reverse these cuts even though just about every one of them voted for them.

If Republicans think that a bunch of branding briefing sessions can change the American people's views of what this bill is all about, they are colossally out of touch.

I spent a month in August traveling from Niagara Falls to Glens Falls. I met with parents. I met with doctors. I met with nurses. I met with hospital

people. I met with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. People detest this Big Beautiful Bill. It is cruel.

If you don't believe me, look at the data. Republicans, Donald Trump, look at the data. Look at what the American people think of this so- called Big Beautiful Bill. Americans hate the Republican ``Big Ugly Bill.''

Pew Research: 46 percent disapprove, 32 percent approve.

Navigator: 52 percent unfavorable, 33 percent favorable about the ``Big Ugly Bill.''

CNN: 61 percent oppose, 39 percent approve.

These are not just marginal differences. Overwhelmingly, just about every Democrat, two-thirds to three-quarters of Independents, and a large chunk of Republicans hate this bill. That is what the data shows. That is what the data shows.

The Republican problem is not difficult to understand. Why Leader Thune, Speaker Johnson, the White House, and the Republican Senators are squirming and on their back foot is not difficult to understand. These numbers say it all. What they did is despised. The No. 1 achievement that they are going home and they think they can brag about, people hate. That is why they are not having townhall meetings. That is why when Republican Senators and Congressmen go to their townhall meetings, they get booed--not because people are mean but because people are struggling to deal with the consequences of the Big Beautiful Bill.

The American people know Donald Trump is dead wrong. That is why his numbers, his popularity, have declined significantly.

Republicans can't magic-talk their way out of this ``Big Ugly Bill'' because the real-life impacts back home are inescapable and are devastating.

Government Funding

Mr. President, now on avoiding a Republican shutdown, in less than a month, Republicans will face their greatest test under the Trump administration: whether or not they will work in a commonsense, bipartisan way to keep the government open and funded.

The only way--the only way--to avoid a shutdown is to work in a bipartisan way with a bill that can get both Democratic and Republican votes in the Senate.

As I have said for months, Democrats want to keep the government open in a bipartisan, commonsense way. That is why we supported bipartisan appropriations bills in July. But the ball now is in the Republicans' court--in Leader Thune's court, in Speaker Johnson's court.

Republicans cannot expect Democrats to go along with a partisan bill that they concoct without any input, without any changes that America wants and the Democrats are fighting for. Republicans cannot expect Democrats to go along with a partisan bill. We are not going to bail Republicans out of their own chaos, out of their own failed policies.

If Republicans choose a go-it-alone approach, if Republicans continue to pass legislation that raises costs and devastates the American people, if Republican Senators keep bowing down to Donald Trump even though they know what he is doing is unpopular and they know he is in a bubble, talking to rich people and nobody else, thinking he can bamboozle everybody else, they will be responsible if a shutdown happens.

As everyone knows, the clock is ticking. We have fewer than 13 legislative days to go. But so far, Republican leaders have been MIA. They just don't know what to do.

At the start of the August recess, Leader Jeffries and I wrote to the Republican leaders, saying: Let's have a sitdown. Let's talk about how to keep the government open.

We heard nothing--nothing.

Leader Jeffries and I last week reached out again--again--to sit down to talk, to plan a strategy for keeping the government open. Again, crickets--nothing. We heard nothing from them, and time is short.

So what are the Republicans going to do? I know they are struggling. I know they are divided in their caucuses, both in the House and the Senate. The House and Senate Republicans are divided, while we Democrats are unified. Leader Jeffries and I and our two caucuses are in lockstep that we want bipartisan negotiations and a bipartisan bill--a truly bipartisan bill.

So what are the Republicans going to do? Do they want to continue their ``our way or the highway'' approach? Are they going to continue to go at it alone? Are we going to continue to hear nothing from them? Are the Republicans going to keep giving the finger to everyone in Washington who wants to seek a commonsense, bipartisan governance and solution? I hope not because that is the path that leads to a shutdown--a Republican shutdown, a Trump shutdown.

Republicans can't just say they want to avoid a shutdown; they have to prove it. They need to sit down with us and work with us on something Democrats can support. And actions speak a lot louder than words. We need to see some action from Republican leaders showing they are serious about preventing a shutdown at the end of the month.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Well, Mr. President, today, we are starting an important work period in the Senate. Every work period is important but this one especially so because this month, Congress

needs to step up and fix all of the disasters that Donald Trump has created since he became President.

Donald Trump has been President for 225 days, and each one has been worse than the last. Every time Trump creates a new crisis, each new controversy, each new lie, every time he sends armed troops to U.S. cities, each new attack on the courts, on the rule of law, on the Constitution is a disgrace--a disgrace--to the Presidency. That is what Donald Trump's Presidency has been--a disgrace, a failure, an exercise in pathetic leadership.

I just spent a month traveling from one corner of New York to the other, talking to families, businesspeople--Democrats, Republicans, Independents--and the trend is clear: American families are poorer because of President Trump, American businesses are less optimistic because of President Trump, and American communities are less safe because of President Trump. America is more isolated, less respected, and wields less influence over world affairs because of President Trump. The picture of Modi and Putin and Xi standing there together as allies--it was Donald Trump who ended up making that happen.

A recent survey showed that the United States is now the only country--we are the only country--among 184 that shows a drop in international visitors. People don't want to come to America anymore because Donald Trump has so tarnished what our country is all about and what has made our country so great. And it is not just about reputation; it is going to cost our economy billions that come from tourism and kill jobs.

It will freeze entire communities. I was just in Niagara Falls, in the Finger Lakes. Twenty to twenty-five percent of our tourists each summer are usually Canadian but not this year. Canadians don't want to come here. And they are angry. The people--not just the government but the people are angry about what Trump is saying about their country and saying about them. When folks as friendly as the Canadian people suddenly don't want to have anything to do with America, that is when you know that Donald Trump is like a disease to America's greatness.

It is incumbent upon Republicans in Congress to join us to fix these disasters through the appropriations process, through commonsense legislation.

The question still is, Will Senate Republicans keep bowing to Donald Trump and enabling his lies every step of the way? When will they have the guts to stand up to him? Because they know he is lying because that is what Donald Trump is. Donald Trump is a liar through and through. It has been his MO his whole life. I have seen that in New York. He has lied to the American people, lied about the economy, about fixing inflation, about peace in Europe and the Middle East. He lied about Epstein and the Epstein files. He lied about elections. He lied about Social Security and Medicaid. One lie--one lie--after another and another.

Let's start with the economy and Donald Trump's tariffs. Donald Trump said his tariffs would bring liberation to America. This has turned out to be one big, fat lie. Companies are losing revenue, shedding jobs, and raising costs.

Just look at companies--great American companies--like John Deere and Caterpillar. They are strong; they are solid; they have always been a rock of America. But last month, they reported losses in the hundreds of millions and layoffs in the hundreds. Why? Donald Trump did it-- nothing to do with farm conditions; the tariffs did it. Look at retailers like Target and Walmart, not to mention every grocery store chain in America. They are all raising prices. Hormel? They are raising the price of pork and beef. J.M. Smucker, which owns Folgers and Dunkin' Donuts and other coffee brands, said prices for its products will keep going up. Why? Trump's tariffs, plain and simple--no ands, ifs, or buts.

But, of course, Donald Trump will lie to the American people about his failures. As we have said, that has been his MO all along. Here is what he said on Monday. He said on Monday--he tweeted--that prices are way down in the United States, with virtually no inflation. Every single person in America knows that is a lie. Anyone who buys anything knows it is a lie. Every one of the 77 million Americans who voted for Trump knows he is lying. They know it when they go to the supermarket or try to buy something. They see higher prices at the grocery store, when paying their electric bills, and higher prices when buying school supplies. Yet the MAGA bots and FOX News propagandists, who always seem to want to cover up for Donald Trump, will pretend he is right just so they can keep on sucking up to him. It is pathological. It is delusional. It is more lies.

Nowhere is the Trump psychosis more evident than in gas prices. Listen to this: President Trump claims that gas prices are under $2 when every single American driver knows that is a lie. Maybe for the MAGA extremists, this is the point, unfortunately. Maybe this is their idea of success. Maybe MAGA radicals are perfectly fine having Americans pay more for produce, for meat, for gas so long as masked agents can arrest Uber drivers right off our streets, so long as billionaires get their tax cuts, so long as Medicaid recipients lose their coverage and Social Security gets privatized. Maybe that is MAGA's idea of a golden age, but for the rest of America, this is chaos.

When Donald Trump is not running America's economy into the ground, he has been busy incinerating America's reputation on the world stage. He is rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin. He brags about stopping wars that still rage on. He has failed to stop the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, failed to end the war, and failed to bring the hostages held by Hamas home.

He creates problems so he can pretend to solve them. That is what he does. He creates a problem, he creates a real mess, and then he says ``Oh, I have solved it,'' when nothing like that has ever happened in so many areas.

The only foreign policy accomplishment Donald Trump has under his belt is bringing India, China, and Russia closer together thanks to his unbelievable, stupid tariffs and his lack of understanding of how diplomacy works and how to get along with people in countries.

Listen to this: He is even obsessed, for some strange reason, with winning the Nobel prize, and he has even phoned foreign leaders, asking them to recommend him for the award. Have we ever had a President so pathetic? so pathetic?

Frankly, does this sound like someone who is firing on all cylinders? I think we know the answer to that. Everyone listening today knows the answer to that deep down in their hearts, including my colleagues on the other side of the aisle even if they won't dare say it aloud. They are afraid of him. They know he threatens them and brandishes everything over them.

Egos are often part of the territory in politics, but I have never seen a bully in the Oval Office with such a nakedly fragile ego. Earlier today, I got to see that ego in all its ugly glory while I was driving to the Capitol. In driving past the Department of Labor, I got to see, as many others have, the massive banners that have Donald Trump's face airbrushed on them. A number of these banners are going up all across Washington. For generations, Americans have looked at these kinds of images and laughed at them, snickered at them, because they are such obvious signs of deep insecurity.

Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Putin, Kim Jong Un, and other bullies throughout history have depended on these images because they were desperate to seem powerful and important and untouchable. Yet here we are in 2025 America, and we have an insecure bully in the Oval Office who orders his sycophantic Cabinet Secretaries to grovel to him at Cabinet meetings. Have you ever watched one of these meetings? It is embarrassing. Who can suck up more to Donald Trump, as he beams, even though what they are saying has very little truth?

How about adorning the faces of buildings in our city with his picture? It is laughable that Donald Trump says he wants to make Washington more beautiful; yet, at the same time, he plasters his face all over our buildings, these beautiful buildings that have been built for so long and have stood for so much to so many.

Do you know what else is even more pathetic about this President? Pulling a power grab in red States and trying to redraw maps. And why is he doing it? Because he knows the American

people reject his agenda. He knows that the American people are ready to punish his party at the ballot box because his proposals are so harmful to people. No President--no President--who thinks he can win by virtue of his ideas alone would feel like he must rig the rules and pick his own voters instead of the other way around--the voters picking him. Yet that is what Donald Trump is doing right now--pushing Republicans in Texas and in other red States across the country to gerrymander their way into power, to rig the game because they can't win the game fair and square.

I ask again: Have we ever had a President so pathetic, so pathological as Donald Trump?

Finally, no discussion of Donald Trump's incompetence and lies would be complete without talking about healthcare.

Now, what is Donald Trump's signature domestic accomplishment? Tell me. What is it? He would say it is, undoubtedly, the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, but Americans are learning--every day, more and more Americans learn that it is nothing more than a big betrayal--a big betrayal--the biggest cuts to healthcare and food assistance and good- paying jobs in American history.

Donald Trump's signature feat in office is throwing people off Medicaid--can you imagine?--to make life better for those at the very, very top. He is destroying the ACA marketplace and sending costs skyrocketing for millions of Americans. They are going to learn about this as early as next month. And who are we kidding? We know that Medicare is next. We all know his Treasury Secretary gloated that they found a way to hurt Medicare in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.

I was in New York last month, and I spoke with countless New York doctors and hospital managers and nurses and parents and patients who are frustrated and worried that hospitals will close, that costs will go up, that people who need coverage won't be able to get it--the mom who has a daughter with cancer and can no longer get help and watches that child suffer, and the mom suffers too.

Thanks to Donald Trump and Senate Republicans, healthcare costs are going to increase for every American in the country, and it is not just--you know, you say: Well, I am not on Medicaid. I am not on Medicare and the ACA.

Even people with private insurance will see their costs go up and go up significantly. Rural Americans will see their hospitals close. It is happening already in States like Nebraska and Maine. And this isn't theoretical; it is real.

Meanwhile, while all this devastation is going on, we have an HHS Secretary--instead of looking out for the healthcare of the American people, he is firing thousands of Federal workers, he is canceling medical research, and he is promoting cod liver oil supplements to treat diseases like measles. This is crackpot nonsense.

My Senate colleagues know that what R.F.K., Jr., is doing is dangerous. The damage R.F.K., Jr., is causing right now will be felt for generations, and so many of our kids and grandkids will suffer. More of our kids will die from preventable diseases. The damage will be long-lasting. Donald Trump should fire R.F.K., Jr., immediately. Republicans should come out of hiding and demand Trump fire R.F.K. too. They see the damage. They read the insane things he says day after day after day after day. They know the immense harm R.F.K. poses to our kids the longer he stays in place.

Every second that R.F.K. is running our healthcare system is a healthcare crisis of its own, and he cannot be allowed to continue to lead this Agency.

So, in conclusion, the challenges I have mentioned today are just a few that plague America. They are a result of Donald Trump's pathetic leadership and his incessant lies.

I lay all of this at the feet of my Republican colleagues. They could stop it. I ask my Republican colleagues: Will you join us in making things right, in putting a stop to Donald Trump's madness, in protecting our kids, in lowering costs, in setting America back on the right track, and making our neighborhoods safe, or will you keep bowing down before the throne of Donald Trump?

We ask you not to turn your back on the vision of our Founders, not to let America slide down the road to autocracy--and that is an expensive autocracy for that matter--where Americans pay more and more for rent, electricity, groceries, and things like that. Senate Republicans can't pretend they are helpless against Donald Trump. The majority in this Chamber--the majority--could very easily undo what he does. They have the power to rein in his worst impulses. Republicans just need to make the decision for themselves to act, to stand up, to put the needs of people back home ahead of Donald Trump's narcissistic wishes.

We have an opportunity this month--this month--to start setting things right by advancing commonsense legislation to protect our healthcare, to hold the line against Trump's abuses, and to reverse the immense, harmful Medicaid cuts that Trump and Republicans pushed in the summer.

Will Senate Republicans continue to kowtow to a leader they know is dragging the country down, they know is a pathological liar, or will they--as the Founding Fathers intended--stand up to him? Will they help us fight America's slide into authoritarianism? Will they help us give the American people some hope in the future and prevent their costs from continuing to rise? This month--this month--will tell us in which direction they choose.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I just listened to my friend, the majority leader, speak. Let me say, historically bad nominees deserve historic levels of scrutiny. I saw the majority leader bring out a chart again today comparing the situation right now to past nominees from past administrations. What he fails to mention is we have never seen nominees as flawed, as compromised, as unqualified as we have right now. And the Republican Senators know that.

So, once again, historically bad nominees deserve a historical level of scrutiny.

Mr. President, on approps, we did get appropriations bills done last night, and now I would like to say a few words on what needs to happen with appropriations moving forward. Last night was another clear example of Democrats working in good faith to put the needs of families, veterans, moms, kids, and rural communities ahead of the special interests. Donald Trump and DOGE have run roughshod on hundreds of billions of dollars in funding that so many communities depend on, including funding to care for parents, to care for rural Americans, and to care for those, our veterans, who have served this country.

But last night's appropriations bills were a rejection of the Trump- Vought agenda. We took a good step in reversing those DOGE cuts and fully funding many critical programs last night, including funds to care for our veterans and our farmers. Specifically, we provided our Nation's veterans with the benefits and medical care they have earned, while countering the awful DOGE cuts at the VA. We provided for rural veterans' care, expanded access for telehealth, and fully funded benefits through the PACT Act to cover those suffering from toxic exposure, and so much more.

And that is not all. We are fully funding WIC, which cares for women and children's nutrition and healthcare. We protect rural funding, too.

These numbers are all much higher than what House Republicans are pushing in their legislation, and it is bipartisan agreement here in the Senate, unlike the House.

So last night's legislation wasn't a perfect bill but a step in the right direction. And it is an example how the funding process could work--could work--if the other side is willing to work in good faith, instead of listening all the time to Donald Trump and Russell Vought and the extreme right.

Democrats want the bipartisan funding process to work. We believe that when we have legislation before us that takes real steps-- important steps--to help the American people in many ways, we should take it seriously. That is why we worked on these bills over the past week in good faith.

But we have a long way to go. We know that. We all know that. Democrats aren't going to take things for granted and some difficult bills remain ahead of us. The onus is on the Republican majority to determine how this Chamber is going to operate when it matters most during the appropriations process. They must do more to ensure that process stays bipartisan in the fall. They cannot just keep caving to Donald Trump and Russell Vought when they try to kill bipartisan cooperation, push illegal impoundment of funds or rescission packages. We have seen that already, and it is unacceptable. The process isn't easy, but we are showing today that it is possible.

I yield the floor.