Floor Statements

Mr. President, the VA workforce--Donald Trump and Secretary Collins are manufacturing a cynical staffing crisis at the Veterans' Administration.

Earlier this year, we learned that Secretary Collins announced plans for a wide-scale, 80,000-plus employee reduction of the workforce at the VA, putting the well-being of our veterans at immediate risk. There was never any transparency for these plans, and many of the decisions were clearly done haphazardly, without thinking through the consequences.

Yesterday, the VA released another alarming announcement, saying they are on pace to lose 30,000 staffers without having to resort to a reduction in force--as if that made things better. They proposed 80,000, and because of huge pressure--mainly from our veterans and our veterans groups--they backed off. But make no mistake about it, a cut of 30,000 will decimate the ability of the VA to provide good healthcare to our veterans, who have risked their lives for us.

Secretary Collins is making the VA so toxic that workers are leaving on their own. The workers--I have talked

to so many of them--are dedicated to helping our veterans, and when they see the administration just slashing and burning the VA without any concern for the consequences or why people were fired--the bottom line is still this: Thanks to Donald Trump and Secretary Collins, tens of thousands of highly skilled workers are exiting the VA, and our veterans are the ones that suffer.

I have heard this from veterans over and over again. One story sticks out in my mind. A woman who served in Afghanistan got PTSD and was treated at the VA hospital near Buffalo, and then, because she saw the dedication of those VA workers, she became an employee. She worked really hard. She was dedicated to the veterans. She knew she could probably make more money in another job. But she got home one Friday night and saw on her computer ``You are RIF'd''--which means you are fired--with no reason why and not even a chance to come back into the office to pick up her mementos she had there--pictures of her loved ones.

Donald Trump likes to pretend that he cares about our armed services members and veterans, but actions speak louder than words, and Donald Trump's actions when it comes to sabotaging the VA are disgusting. And the worst part about what is happening at the VA is the timing. While Donald Trump creates a staffing crisis at the VA, his big, ugly bill will jeopardize Medicaid coverage for veterans as well as shut down hospitals that serve veterans and thereby put even more strain on the VA. It is a vicious cycle, a cynical double whammy where veterans pay the ultimate price for Donald Trump's cruelty.

The administration should immediately reverse course and refill these positions and make sure the VA operates at full capacity.

Mr. President, finally, on the nomination of Bedford to the FAA, later this evening, Senate Republicans will vote to advance Donald Trump's nominee to lead the FAA, Bryan Bedford.

To say that Mr. Bedford is a deeply flawed nominee would be putting it mildly. Throughout his career as an airline executive and during his hearing, Mr. Bedford has shown a callous disregard for the 1,500-hour rule and even refused to commit to protecting the rule if confirmed.

I worked long and hard with the families of Flight 3407, years ago, to establish the 1,500-hour rule after they lost all their loved ones on a tragic plane crash that occurred on a winter's night in Western New York. They have worked so hard, and they are so proud of their accomplishments. In the face of unspeakable loss, they worked relentlessly to change America's aviation laws to prevent a tragedy like that that happened to their families.

Today, the 1,500-hour rule is the gold standard for pilot training. So affirming the 1,500-hour rule should be the easiest thing in the world for someone nominated to oversee the FAA, but Mr. Bedford failed again and again to do so.

Weakening the 1,500-hour rule is dangerous and could cost lives. With aviation safety top of mind, Americans don't want pilots with less training, which would happen if the 1,500-hour rule were not extended, were repealed or not enforced.

Americans don't want the FAA weakening safety standards, but I fear that is precisely what Mr. Bedford will do: weaken the 1,500-hour rule, weaken safety standards, and prioritize profits over passenger safety.

The American people deserve far better than an FAA Administrator who isn't fully committed to their safety. The Senate should reject Mr. Bedford's nomination.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today, Senate Republicans have to decide: choose the American people or bow down to Donald Trump and his coterie of billionaires because this bill, as we have said for months, steals people's healthcare, jacks up their electricity bills, takes away their jobs--all to pay for tax breaks for billionaires.

All month, Senate Democrats have put this bill on trial in the court of public opinion. We have exposed how it steals Medicaid for more than 16 million Americans. We have exposed how it takes away food benefits from millions of hungry kids. We have exposed how this bill increases the debt by $3.5 trillion to bankroll billionaire tax breaks. We have shown how this bill increases the debt $1 trillion more than the House bill. We have shown how this bill cuts Medicaid even more than the House bill. We have shown how this bill kills climate jobs even more than the House bill.

With every rewrite, Senate Republicans have made their bill more extreme, pro-billionaire, and more hostile to people's healthcare and livelihoods. Why do they do that? There is a small group on that side of the aisle--the MAGA hard-rightwingers--who is dictating what has happened, and all the rest of the Senators on the Republican side, who know it is wrong, go along. It is a small group. They don't represent more than 10 percent of the American people, but they are dictating what this body does, A, because of the rules we have--a simple majority--but, B, because our colleagues on the Republican side lack the courage of their convictions to do the right thing for the American people.

It is outrageous cutting people's healthcare, causing people to get sicker and to even die; cutting people's healthcare so that it is certain, almost, that more people will die--just to give tax breaks to billionaires. It is so destructive for Republicans to pass a bill like this at a time when people pay more for groceries, when people pay more for rent, pay more for childcare, pay more for medication. It makes no sense to reward the billionaire class and special interests at the expense of everyone else.

Look, there is nothing wrong with being wealthy, but they don't need another tax break, and they certainly shouldn't get a tax break by taking food from the mouths of hungry children--how outrageous, how cruel, how mean, how heartless, how uncaring--all to help the billionaires, whom they are enthralled to.

No surprise about it, many Republicans themselves don't seem all happy about the bill in front of them. We heard what our colleague from North Carolina had to say about this bill. My guess is about half-- maybe even more than half--of the Republicans in the Senate totally agree with him, but he had the courage to speak the truth--the backbone to speak the truth--but not our other colleagues. Senator Tillis spoke candidly. He was one of

the few truth-tellers on the other side as the bill devastates his State.

But make no mistake about it, it will devastate the States of most every Republican here. Week after week, month after month, year after year, when this bill passes, the destructive treatise will be all over their States, with people losing jobs, with people's costs going up, with people not getting healthcare, with hungry kids not getting food. It is a piece of legislation that Tillis can't sell back home, and you won't be able to either, my Republican colleagues.

How can any Senator go home and tell their constituents, ``I am sorry. I took away your healthcare because I wanted to give tax breaks to billionaires''?

Yet, Republicans are dead set on walking off a cliff by passing a bill they know will be ruinous to their own constituents.

That is why Democrats--Senate Democrats--forced this Chamber to read the bill cover to cover. That is why we debated all day yesterday, and now it is the Republicans' turn to vote.

Later this morning--very soon--we will begin the vote-arama process. Senate Democrats will bring one amendment after the other--again and again and again--to put Republicans on the record. We will begin this morning with a motion to appeal the ruling of the Chair to try to reverse Republicans' brazen attempts to deceive the American people about the true costs of the bill.

Republicans are doing something that has never been done before in the Senate by deploying fake math and budgetary hocus-pocus to make it seem like their billionaire giveaways don't cost anything. That is obviously outrageous, and it is absurd that the Budget chair is taking the Senate down this fact-free road. He is helping erode and even destroy the Senate. Every Senator will soon have an opportunity to reject this nonsense.

Every Senator will soon have an opportunity to reject this nonsense and vote for commonsense budgeting. Americans will be watching.

Later this morning, I will offer a very simple amendment to send this bill back to the Finance Committee so that we can get rid of any provision that raises healthcare costs for families and small businesses to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. My colleagues will offer many other amendments here too. We will see, once and for all, if Republicans really meant all of those nice things they have been saying about strengthening Medicare and about protecting middle-class families or if they were just lying. The American people will find out in a few hours.

Republicans have said they don't want to cut Medicaid. Today, we will give you the chance.

Republicans say they want to prioritize the middle class. Today, we will give you the chance.

Our amendments will give Republicans so many chances to defend Medicaid and SNAP and good-paying jobs and clean energy that, if they say no, they will regret it long after this debate is done.

Finally, to my Republican colleagues, let me offer a warning in good faith. You all know that Donald Trump makes things up. He has no regard for the truth. When he talks about this bill, he is lying. When Donald Trump says this bill won't cut Medicaid, he is lying. When he says this bill will grow the economy, he is lying. When he says this is the best thing Congress could pass for our country, he is lying.

So what are my colleagues on the Republican side going to do--listen to someone who just makes things up? listen to someone who peddles lies and fantasies? follow Donald Trump off a political cliff by passing a bill that will be disastrous for the people back home or will my colleagues stand up for the American people--stand up to protect healthcare, good-paying jobs, and middle-class families?

The American people will not forget what Republicans do in this Chamber today.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, well, we are about to vote on something that we have never seen before in the Senate, and rather than be honest with the American people about the true costs of these billionaire giveaways--and, by the way, I didn't hear Trump campaigning on tax breaks for billionaires, which is the main thrust of this bill. He wouldn't tell them about that.

But Republicans are doing something the Senate has never done before: deploying fake math, accounting gimmicks, to hide the true cost of the bill.

Look, Republicans can use whatever budgetary gimmicks they want to try to make the math work on paper, but you can't paper over the real- life economic consequences of adding tens of trillions to the debt, and that is what this does, make no mistake about it. And it is the way we have always calculated things.

So to vote yes on this--make no mistake about it, my colleagues--will in a dramatic way further erode the Senate. I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. President, I have a motion to commit at the desk.

I ask that further reading of the motion be dispensed with.

Mr. President, this amendment, the first we will offer, is simple. It undoes the travesty that is at the core of the Republican bill. Their bill, the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which is really a big, ugly betrayal, cuts taxes for billionaires by taking away healthcare from millions of people. My amendment simply says that if people's healthcare costs go up, the billionaire tax cuts vanish.

Republicans--you can tell in the speeches already--are on the defensive. They know how bad this bill is for the American people. They know that Donald Trump is lying when he says it won't cut healthcare.

I salute my colleague from North Carolina. We all heard what our colleague from North Carolina had to say yesterday about this bill. My guess is about half--maybe even more than half--of the Republicans in the Senate agree with him. But he had the courage to speak the truth. He said it himself: The bill devastates his State. But make no mistake about it, it will devastate the States of almost every Republican here.

It is outrageous--outrageous--to take food out of the mouths of hungry children, to take healthcare away from people who need it to survive--

--just for tax cuts for billionaires, and the American people know it.

To my colleagues--

To my colleagues, in conclusion, I say you know what the right thing is. Say no to cutting healthcare. Say no to gutting jobs.

Say no to this shameful, backwards bill and vote yes on my amendment.

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

Six months.

Mr. President, I raise a point of order against page 1, lines 3 to 5, of the pending amendment, which violates section 313(b)(1)(A) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Mr. President, today, Senate Republicans betrayed the American people and covered this Chamber in shame. In one fell swoop, Republicans passed the biggest tax breaks for billionaires ever seen, paid for by ripping healthcare away from millions of Americans and taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids.

This is not a big, beautiful bill at all. That is why I moved on the floor to strike the title. It is now called The Act, but it is really a big, ugly betrayal.

Because of this bill, tens of millions will lose health insurance, millions of jobs will disappear, people will get sick and die, kids will go hungry, and the debt will explode to levels we have never seen--all so that billionaires and corporate special interests will get a permanent tax break. This is not what the country needs. This is not what the American people want.

And I must say this: Republicans bent and twisted and pushed the rules and the norms of the Senate to get this bill done, and they did grave damage to this Chamber when they did it--all just so they could pass tax breaks for billionaires.

Today's vote will haunt our Republican colleagues for years to come as the American people see the damage that is done. As hospitals close, as people are laid off, as costs go up, as the debt increases, they will see what our colleagues have done, and they will remember it, and we Democrats will make sure they remember it. The American people will not forget the betrayal--the betrayal--that took place today.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I want the American people to understand exactly what is happening right now with Senate Republicans and their so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Senate Republicans are trying to pull a fast one on the American people. For weeks, they have struggled with the reality that most people hate this bill. Leadership has struggled to secure votes among their own ranks who know how bad the bill is, and now they have scrambled to meet an entirely arbitrary deadline.

So what did Republicans do late last night? It is hard to believe. This bill is worse--even worse--than any draft we have seen thus far. It is worse on healthcare. It is worse on SNAP. It is worse on the deficit. At the very last minute, Senate Republicans made their bill even more extreme to cater to the radicals in the House and Senate.

Republicans are about to move forward with a radical, thousand-page bill, just made public in the last several hours, without knowing how many trillions it will cost. They don't even want to know the CBO score. They are afraid to show how badly this will increase the deficit--on this bill, a major bill that affects every part of American life; hiding the bill, hiding the CBO scores--in defiance of their own promises to cut the debt. Deficit hawks out there on the Republican side in the House and Senate: This bill makes the debt worse and the deficit worse--even worse than before.

Future generations will be saddled with trillions in debt. Debt is abstract, but what does it mean for the average American: raising your costs--raising your costs to buy a home, raising your costs to buy a car, raising your costs on credit card bills.

And why are they doing all this? Why are they doing the biggest Medicaid cuts in history? Now it is getting close to a trillion dollars just in Medicaid alone. All to cut taxes for the ultrarich and special interests. And they did it while most Americans were asleep.

It is astounding that this is the product Senate Republicans have come up with because, for weeks, they kept saying they were somehow going to strengthen Medicaid; that they would ``moderate'' the House clean energy cuts; that nobody would lose benefits. Well, all of that has gone out the window. Those supposed moderates on the other side are falling like dominos, ready to move on a bill that does precisely the opposite of what they claim.

Many Republican Senators have admitted they are not happy with this bill. One said it will take away healthcare from working people, and yet they are still a yes on this bill. If Republican Senators are not happy with this bill because they know how badly it hurts their constituency, they should vote no. After all, they are U.S. Senators. They have the power to vote however they want. Did they forget that was an option? Are they all so afraid that they can't do what they know is the right thing for the American people? Just incredible. Incredible.

After weeks of hemming and hawing from Republicans, the bill that they are ready to proceed with is the most extreme version of their bill yet. I guess, when push comes to shove, leave it to Republicans to cave to their hard-right flank.

Under this draft, Republicans will take food away from hungry kids to pay for tax breaks to the rich. All the data shows Democrats don't like it; Independents don't like it; and Republicans don't like cutting SNAP, taking food away from kids, all to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy. The SNAP cuts--and I am sure we will hear from Senator Klobuchar shortly--are every bit as bad as in the House, the worst in history, ever. Those cuts are cruel. Those cuts are un-American. But it is what Republicans are getting ready to do.

Meanwhile, Medicaid, where they have had so much controversy and back-and-forth--Medicaid will be fed to the sharks under this bill. In fact, we just got the news that CBO said the Medicaid cuts in this version are worse than any version of the Republican bill to date-- nearly $1 trillion in cuts just to Medicaid alone. And there are more cuts for ACA and Medicare.

Let me repeat: This version of the bill cuts nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid alone, worse than any version we have seen so far--$930 billion, to be precise--and that does not count the many billions and billions and billions more in cuts to ACA and Medicare, far worse--far worse--than anything we have seen so far.

The tiny tweaks that Republicans made to the provider tax will still decimate State budgets and do nothing to protect hospitals in the coming years. And what about the rural hospital fund Republicans have spent the last few days touting? It is a drop in the bucket. This rural hospital fund is a figleaf. It is like putting a bandaid over an amputation and sending the patient home. When the rural hospitals start closing, just remember--the residents of those hospitals, the people who work in those hospitals--it is because of these cuts and no other reason. Rural hospitals, many of them, will close. This bandaid ain't enough to cover even a small percentage of them.

And healthcare costs will go up for everyone. Even if you don't have Medicaid, even if you don't have ACA, even if you don't have Medicare, your private insurance will go up dramatically--dramatically. Every month, people hate paying those health insurance premiums. They are going to pay a lot more under this bill.

And why are they doing all this? Why are they doing all this? We know why: tax breaks for billionaires--tax breaks for billionaires.

And now let's talk about another subject: the clean energy changes Republicans made last night. Frankly, I don't think even most Republicans realize just how radical these last-minute changes are. They are drafted to do one thing: to kill all wind and solar, all wind and solar. Solar: the cheapest--the cheapest way to produce new energy, the quickest way to produce new energy. We need more energy. AI is going to take up a lot of energy. If we don't have new sources of energy, all new sources--guess what--people's electricity bills will go up and up and up.

When it comes to clean energy, the Republicans basically reverted and somehow exceeded the extreme policies that came out of the House. For days, they worked to modify those previsions, many Republicans, to make them less bad. Now, they have made them even worse. And these are policies, by the way, plenty of Senate Republicans said they were going to change under this new draft.

Clean energy projects in wind and solar will now need to be placed in service--in service, not be done--in less than 2 years from now in order to qualify for a tax break.

And the provisions related to Chinese involvement--which, of course, we want to fight against China, but the best way to fight against China is have a robust solar industry. China is going to run the whole solar industry for the world, and if you think they are not going to make Americans pay more as Chinese customers pay less, forget it.

But anyway, on the provisions related to China, they made them almost unmanageable. It is going to kill nearly every wind and solar project out there because the standard is laughably unrealistic. What does it mean? Projects already in the works will shut down. It means that people will lose their jobs--it is estimated 840,000 jobs. Add that to the healthcare jobs. Wow. Americans will pay hundreds of dollars extra a year on electricity as soon as the next year.

Thanks to the Senate Republicans caving in to Big Oil, it will be China, not the United States, that likely becomes the world leader in energy production in years to come. Self-destructive. Needless. Harmful to both our economic and national security. It just shows how tight Big Oil's grip is on Senate Republicans.

Remember, 80 percent of these clean energy investments, my colleagues, have gone to Republican districts. The investments support, as I said, over 800,000 jobs. Republicans are so beholden to the fossil fuel industry that they would rather kill jobs in their own communities than upset the Big Oil lobby. Disgusting, shameless, and done, of course, while most Americans were asleep.

Again, Republicans are trying to pull a fast one on the American people. Republicans are pulling a fast one even on their own Members and certainly on their own constituents. This will hurt the reddest of States badly.

If Republicans proceed, Senate Democrats will hold them to account. We will gear up for another night of vote-arama very soon. We will expose this bill piece by piece. We will show how it cuts healthcare, raises costs, rewards the ultrarich.

We welcome this debate, and if Republicans proceed and follow Donald Trump over the cliff with this bill tied to their ankles like an anvil, they will not only doom their own communities, they will doom their political fortunes--their own political fortunes--and have no one to blame but themselves.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Reserving the right to object--and I will object--Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass a radical bill, released to the public in the dead of night, praying the American people won't realize what is in it. If Senate Republicans won't tell the American people what is in this bill, then Democrats are going to force this Chamber to read it from start to finish.

I object.

Mr. President, I appeal the ruling of the Chair, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, first, let me thank everyone who stayed overnight to take part in the reading of this bill--my colleagues, the cloakrooms, the floor staff--everyone who made it possible.

I would say this to the cloakrooms and, particularly, to our great floor staff: You are all amazing. You are the unsung heroes of what goes on here. Without you, none of us could do our work. So thank you for your dedication, your excellence, your perseverance, your strength.

Senate Democrats will now commence with four parliamentary inquiries to show the hypocrisy of what Republicans are trying to do here in the Senate and to expose how they are trying to hide the true costs of their billionaire giveaways to the American people. I thank my colleagues who will speak momentarily, as well as all of my colleagues who have come to the floor, as we debate this bill before vote-arama.

Before I yield to them, I just want to hammer home exactly what is going on here in the Senate for the people back home.

Republicans are about to pass the single most expensive bill in U.S. history to give tax breaks to billionaires, while taking away Medicaid, SNAP benefits, and good-paying jobs for millions of people. The CBO, just this morning, said it will explode the debt by $3.3 trillion, and they said it will likely cost more than that over time--closer to $4 trillion. Rather than being honest with the American people about the true costs of their billionaire giveaways, Republicans are doing something the Senate has never, never done before: deploying fake math and accounting gimmicks to hide the true cost of their bill.

Look, Republicans can use whatever budgetary gimmicks they want to try and make the math work on paper, but you can't paper over the real- life consequences of adding tens of trillions to the debt--sky-high interest rates, higher borrowing costs for cars, for homes, for credit cards. Americans are going to feel this, unfortunately, everywhere they look. Americans' household wealth will be permanently hobbled. There aren't enough budgetary gimmicks in the world to change that fact. And for what? Why are Republicans doing this? So that billionaires can pay less in taxes while tens of millions lose their healthcare benefits and pay more for everyday expenses.

I yield to my colleague from Oregon for the first parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. President, I rise for a parliamentary inquiry.

Has the Senate ever used a baseline other than the current law baseline under 257 for the enforcement of budget points of order, including under section 313 of the Budget Act, during the consideration of a reconciliation measure?

Has it ever been used?

Mr. President, I ask that debate time come off the bill unless otherwise advised.

I yield to the Senator from Rhode Island.

Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for coming to the floor all day today. I thank them for speaking so fiercely and so clearly about what is at stake for the country. And the American people deserve to see this debate. That is why we, last night, forced a reading of the bill.

Republicans don't want people to know what is in the bill. They want to hide it. They know it is not popular. We all know it is not popular. We all know it is totally against what people want. But a small cabal of very wealthy people and hard MAGA people run that show, to the detriment of the party itself and, of course, the American people.

So we forced a reading of the bill last night and allowed people to catch up because the bill was just put on the floor right before the reading started--the amended bill.

So we are here today to continue to shine a light on how bad this bill is, and this debate will continue. Soon, we will turn to vote- arama and bring amendment after amendment after amendment to the floor so Republicans can defend their billionaire tax cuts, so they can try to explain their massive cuts to Medicaid to people back home--why kids who need healthcare shouldn't get it so there can be tax breaks for billionaires; why middle-class families who have someone in a nursing home who is now going to be removed from that nursing home because it is going to close, what they are going to do; and to try and sell to parents and kids why they are making unprecedented cuts to SNAP.

Taking food from hungry babies for a tax cut for wealthy people. What kind of world do these Republicans live in? It is a slanted world. It is really a corrupt world. Kids will get $5 a day to feed themselves. You can't buy a dozen eggs for $5.

And then they are killing millions of good-paying jobs. It is estimated--and, by the way, the clean energy cuts are even worse. Before this, it was estimated 850,000 jobs would be lost in America on clean energy alone, over a million jobs in healthcare. So 2 million jobs, approximately, lost--at least 2 million lost--because of this bill. That could create a recession.

So this has been a long few days in the Senate, but the hardest choices for Republicans are still in front of them because we know that so many of our colleagues on the other side aren't happy with this bill. Tillis is not an exception. There are many others who think the same way he does. Well, they ought to vote their principles, their conscience, and what is good for their constituencies.

Our side is going to give our Republican colleagues a chance to do the right thing in front of this Chamber and in front of this Nation. The American people deserve to know exactly--exactly--what is happening right now in the U.S. Senate because, right now, Republicans are concocting the ultimate rush job. They are trying to pull off a sneak attack on this Chamber and on the American people themselves.

The bill before the Senate is utter poison. Some Republicans are trying to rush through a bill that they released less than 2 days ago, under the cloak of darkness, written behind closed doors, molded in order to appease Donald Trump and the very special powerful interests.

Earlier today, my colleague from South Carolina came to the floor with a pretty interesting looking floor chart, where he claimed that his bill somehow reduced the debt by $500 billion. What a joke. The Budget chair, respectfully, needs to check his math because somehow Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Budget Committee, said that his bill reduces the debt by $500 billion.

The Budget chair, respectfully, check your math, Chairman Graham, because not 1 hour ago, the JCT confirmed this bill does not reduce the debt; it explodes it. It explodes it. That is what it does.

Here is what his chart should have looked like: $4.45 trillion deficit explosion.

According to the JCT, the Republican bill explodes the debt by $4.5 trillion, as this chart, drawn slightly better than Lindsey's, shows.

For those keeping score at home, my colleague got his math wrong by a whopping $4 trillion. All this--all this--just so billionaires are rewarded while millions lose their healthcare, a $4.5 trillion deficit explosion.

And that is not just an abstract concept. What does that mean? The average American will pay more to buy a home. The average American will pay more to buy a car. The average American will pay more on their credit card debt--on issue, after issue, after issue. Prices will go up because of this deficit because of taxes for the billionaires. That is $4.45 trillion, all so some people--wealthy people--God bless them. They made a lot of money. OK. They don't need a tax break.

Let it be known that this bill is the death knell of the supposed party of fiscal responsibility. We always knew that this was a sham, and now this bill ends the charade of Republicans caring about the debt for all time coming. When they say they have to cut healthcare on any bill or food stamps on any bill because it reduces the deficit, we will know it is utter hogwash

because of the $4.5 trillion they are doing now for tax breaks for the wealthy.

So Republicans want to move quickly. That is why we are here on the weekend. That is why they released a bill in the dead of the night--all because they want to hide the truth from the American people.

You know, it is hard to believe, my colleagues; this bill is worse-- even worse--than any draft we have seen thus far. Every time the bill comes to the floor--a new bill, a new amendment--the hard-right handful over on the Republican side: We are not voting for it unless you hurt kids more, you hurt people who need healthcare more, you hurt rural hospitals more, you hurt clean energy more.

And the Republican leadership folds and does it. And the handful of more mainstream Republicans who know how bad this is right now haven't had the backbone to oppose those changes. We hope they find it.

So this bill is worse on healthcare, worse on SNAP. It will kill 900,000 good-paying jobs in clean energy. Folks, you don't like paying your electricity bills, you will pay 10 percent more on your electric bills because of this ``Big Ugly Betrayal.''

It will also kill a million healthcare jobs. You put it all together, and there is no other way to put it; at the very last minute, Senate Republicans made the bill more extreme to cater to the radicals in the House and the Senate. Republicans want to hide the truth so badly, in fact, that they are even ready to blow up the Senate rules to get it done.

Senate Republicans are doing something that has never been done before in this Chamber--never, by Democrats or Republicans--using fake math and budgetary hocus-pocus to make it seem like a gargantuan tax break for billionaires is going to cost virtually nothing. That is insane. It is delusional.

Current policy baseline doesn't take into account that actual budget numbers show these cuts expiring. So when you put them back up again, the deficit increases. It is simple math--second grade math.

But our colleagues just--again, in a frenzy to help the billionaires--are willing even to do that. Republicans know it. That is why they are squirming. You can see sort of the faces come on the floor. They don't look very happy because they know how bad this stuff is.

They can use whatever budgetary gimmicks they want. Republicans can use whatever budgetary gimmicks they want to make their math work on paper, but you can't paper over the real consequences of adding trillions and trillions to the debt in one fell swoop.

CBO, nonpartisan--everyone who looks at this says it is going to increase the deficit. Not the so-called party of deficit hawks. That is out the window.

So what is going to happen when they pass this bill, if they do--hope they don't--our children and grandchildren are going to be faced with a lifetime of higher borrowing costs. As I said, mortgage costs, costs to buy a car, costs for a credit card, harder to start a business--every one of these will get worse.

And the economic ceiling of this country will close in on itself. The American engine that has been the driver of American innovation and growth and optimism for so many generations will sputter and ossify with this $4.45 trillion deficit explosion.

It is deeply irresponsible to future generations, to our children, to our grandchildren to pass this bill. That is not just Members on this side of the aisle saying it. Independent experts across the political spectrum--many of them very conservative Republicans but who are, at least, honest about what they are doing--say it too. And plenty of Republicans in both the House and Senate say it.

It remains to be seen if their words and their actions will align.

The question has to be asked: Why is this even happening? Why is this nightmare of a bill moving forward? Why are Republicans forcing our country down this ruinous road when they know the fiscal harms, when they know this is a rush job?

Well, we know by now: tax cuts to billionaires and corporate special interests. And not just another round but, in fact, they make them permanent.

Our children and our grandchildren are going to be saddled with these cuts so that a handful of billionaires get a big break while working people lose their Medicaid, while hungry kids lose access to food funding, while clean energy jobs that support so many Republican communities are taken away.

I say to my Republican friends: When that plant that makes batteries or wind or solar or when a person who is employing hundreds of people to put panels on people's roofs all fold and the people lose their jobs, don't shrug your shoulders and say: I don't know why that happened.

You made it happen with a nasty bill.

It just makes no sense. We need more energy, AI. Everyone says we need more energy. And to take away the cheapest, quickest way to put more electrons on the grid--solar--makes no sense, except we know Donald Trump has an irrational, infantile, mania against clean energy; so they all listen to him. It makes no sense.

This bill is sabotaging America. It is the sabotaging of America. It is antithetical to what the country needs. It is antithetical to what the American people needed last fall. And our Republican colleagues don't even want to tell the American people the truth. That is why Democrats are here on the floor today, sounding the alarm, setting the record straight.

I also must say this: The way this bill is being passed so deeply violates the spirit of the Senate. The majority forgets that this Chamber is unlike any other institution in government. It is meant to facilitate debate, careful consideration, sound judgment, honest numbers.

We are supposed to resist the passions of the radical extreme. We are supposed to hold the line against policies that would devastate our country. We are supposed to resist the gravitational pull of extremists like Donald Trump who gets these little bugaboos in his head and wrecks America because of it. And they all go along.

Senate Republicans are turning their back on the Senate's longstanding tradition of debate deliberation. By rushing this bill, by upending the rule of the Chamber, by engaging in what amounts to accounting magic to hide the cost of their bill, Republicans, simply put, are accelerating the erosion of the Senate to the nth degree.

Senate Republicans are turning their back on what makes this institution great. More importantly, they are turning their back on the people--their own constituents--in their own communities, people struggling to afford going to see a doctor. You have a child with cancer, and you don't have healthcare? How can we put people in that position?

Or families who have to choose between paying for groceries or paying for prescription drug costs or families who are watching their electricity bills going up and up; families who are paying more and more costs--this bill--America, you don't want to pay higher costs? We don't want you to on our side of the aisle. The Republicans are making it happen. You will pay more and more and more.

And about the future, they are not worried about our kids' livelihood. They are not worried that kids won't be able to find good- paying jobs. Families are worried about the future of this country; but the Republicans are not. And they are worried--Americans are worried about the continued radicalization of leaders in government. And here is the shining example.

So the bill is the wrong answer for the American people. By every objective standard, it is deeply irresponsible. It is not only a violation of how the Senate is supposed to work, it is a violation of the promises that Republicans and Donald Trump--when they campaigned-- made to the American people to look after their issues, not those at the very top.

So I implore my Republican colleagues, there is still time. Abandon these terrible policies. We will continue to have this debate in a real way, not jamming it through in the dark of night. My Democratic colleagues and I will continue exposing the truth. And if Republicans go down that road, we will continue to make sure today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, that the American people know exactly what happened here.

I assure my Republican colleagues--I assure them this vote will not be forgotten. Their betrayal will not go unanswered. This bill must not stand.

I yield the floor.

Does the Senator yield?

All you have to do is look at their faces. They know what they are doing. They know it is unpopular. They know, as Senator Murkowski said, that they are all afraid. But it is time for them to stand up, isn't it?

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

Madam President, it has been a pretty rough week for Donald Trump's so-called Beautiful Bill. As everyone watching can tell, things haven't gone according to plan. The bill has been bucking under its own weight, the delays have piled up, and it is obvious large chunks of the Republican conference don't like their own bill.

But, of course, we are hearing that Republicans may still try to bring this legislation to the floor as soon as tomorrow. That is not real legislating. This is a total rush job. This is Donald Trump bullying Senate Republicans to get a bill passed no matter what is actually in it, and this is Republican leadership perhaps daring their own members who are deeply worried about this bill to oppose it on the floor.

So if Republicans do, in fact, proceed very soon, let me remind them about the consequences of passing this bill. It will be a disaster for families, for the economy, and even for Republicans themselves. It rips healthcare from 16 million people. It is the biggest cuts ever to food funding. It raises energy prices and surrenders American energy leadership to China. And it rewards the ultrarich.

Republicans should abandon these destructive policies. But, of course, they aren't doing that. Instead of fixing their bill, Republicans want to rush it because they don't want the American people to find what is in it. And their fears are certainly justified because the more and more that Americans look at this bill, the more and more they despise it. It steals their Medicaid. It jacks up their premiums. It takes away their jobs. And it gives trillions away to billionaires and special interests. This is a nonsense and destructive piece of legislation, and it makes no sense for Republicans to scramble to pass it.

There is nothing inherently critical about July 4. Even Donald Trump, 2 hours ago, admitted the July 4 deadline is a fake. And yet, here they are, rushing, scrambling, and twisting themselves into knots to try and salvage a bill they know will hurt both their constituents and their own political futures. Republicans aren't just lying to their constituents, frankly; they are lying to themselves because this bill is wholly toxic.

Here is what Republicans should do. They should not let Donald Trump bully them. They should hold firm and tell Donald Trump his Big Beautiful Bill is a disaster, a betrayal of the American people. Republicans should keep their own promises not to cut Medicaid. They should listen to the critiques of some of their own colleagues like Senator Tillis, who reportedly said behind closed doors, ``This will be devastating to my State,'' or Senator Justice, who said, ``our rural hospitals are going to have a tough time . . . you may have to hold your nose and vote for disagreeable policies.''

Senate Republicans should listen to their own words. They should ignore fake deadlines and stop the rush job.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I just left the classified all-Senators briefing with the administration on Iran strikes.

One thing is very, very clear: The briefing raised more questions than it answered. It is why we need to enforce the War Powers Act.

I have always been clear: Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon. A few days ago, President Trump claimed that Iran's nuclear program was ``totally and completely obliterated.'' I asked what information exists to verify the President's claim, and I did not receive an answer to that question.

What was clear from today's briefing is that there is no coherent strategy, no endgame, no plan. What are we doing?

Anybody who sat in that meeting and is honest with themselves would recognize that we need to enforce the War Powers Act and force the administration to provide answers to some very important questions about Iran and our national security.

When the administration is forced to answer questions, we will get more clarity, and maybe they will get more clarity too. So it is an important thing to do.

Mr. President, let me talk about reproductive care and SCOTUS. Three years after Dobbs, the MAGA Supreme Court has once again doubled down on its war on women. The Court handed down a decision that immediately endangers funding for Planned Parenthood--one of the biggest organizations for affordable women's healthcare across the whole country. It is not just about reproductive care; it endangers women's healthcare altogether.

Clinics will close. Women will lose access to cancer screenings, contraceptives, physical exams for common illnesses, and so much more. For many women, Planned Parenthood is their only resource to get healthcare services at an affordable rate.

Make no mistake. Senate Republicans own the consequences of this loathsome decision. They packed our courts with extremists. They are the chief architects of the dismal state of women's healthcare in America. Senate Democrats will never, never relent in our efforts to ensure all women in America have high-quality healthcare.

Access to healthcare is a basic right, no matter what the radicals on the MAGA Court may think.

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

Mr. President, the Trump administration has failed miserably--miserably--in its responsibility to inform Congress about what is happening right now in the Middle East. Before the strikes, leaders in Congress got virtually no heads up. Then the administration delayed the briefing scheduled yesterday. It was scheduled a week ago. Now they are trying to get away with sending only the Secretary of State and Defense for tomorrow, instead of the usual intelligence officials that attend the briefings.

Let's be very clear: A briefing from only the Secretaries of State and Defense would be woefully insufficient. If they are the only ones in attendance, they will only parrot whatever the President wants them to say.

Sending intelligence officers to briefings in Congress is a longstanding bipartisan practice, and Congress is entitled, as the representatives of the American people, to hear from the administration about matters of national intelligence and national security.

Refusing Congress like this would be egregious, troubling, and a violation. It would make Americans wonder: Why would Donald Trump prefer to send two talking heads to meet with Congress instead of intelligence analysts and policymakers.

Intelligence officials have an obligation to seek the truth, to speak the truth. Perhaps that is why Donald Trump does not want to send the intelligence officials to talk to us. Maybe Donald Trump doesn't want Congress or even America to know the truth about what is going on.

We know there have been a lot of confusing reports--some from intelligence sources--over the last days, suggesting the strikes in Iran were not as successful as the President initially claimed. There may be questions about the accuracy of these reports. I have no idea if these reports are accurate.

And, today, the President said, earlier this morning, that ``the intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says we don't know.''

All of this only underscores the need to hear from intelligence analysts and to hear from them directly.

What is the administration hiding? Were the strikes successful? How much enriched uranium does Iran still have? How many months will it take them to make a nuclear device? Are they locating centrifuges in a new place, and what is our knowledge of that? Are our troops safe? Are Americans in the region safe? Is the conflict contained? What happens next? And how will the administration achieve the critical national priority of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon?

Both parties, by and large, agree that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I do. But if the President is misrepresenting the impact of our military strikes and these reports have some accuracy--we don't know if they do--and if the President is turning away from diplomacy with Iran, as his recent post suggested, then what the hell is going on? What is Donald Trump's plan?

We really don't know the answers to any of these critical questions. The administration refuses to be transparent. All we get are talking points and tweets. We know that Donald Trump makes things up, day to day, and then has to retract and turn around.

And tomorrow, all we are going to get are talking points from Rubio and Hegseth, because that is what we know they are trained to do.

On top of that, today, it was reported the administration may actually start limiting intelligence sharing with Congress. The administration should immediately undo this decision, if it is true.

Are they afraid of the truth? Do they want to hide the truth?

The intelligence Agencies are known to tell the truth. Is that why they are so afraid to get their information out--the information of the intelligence Agencies out?

As I said yesterday, the administration's stonewalling of Congress is outrageous, evasive, and derelict. The administration has no right to stonewall Congress on matters of national security. Senators deserve information, and the administration has a legal obligation to inform Congress precisely about what is happening right now abroad.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I would like to just briefly talk about the postponement of our hearing that was supposed to be occurring at this time. This last-minute postponement is outrageous, evasive, derelict. Senators deserve full transparency, and the administration has a legal obligation to inform Congress precisely about what is happening.

What is the administration so afraid of? Why won't they engage with Congress on the critical details--the results of the recent strike, the scope and trajectory of this conflict, the administration's long-term strategy to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and, of course, the potential risks facing American citizens and our brave servicemembers? Such obstruction undermines the very principles of accountability and oversight that guard our democracy.

So if the press reporting about the impact of last weekend's strikes in Iran is true--and I cannot confirm them--then that might be the reason why the administration postponed our classified briefing today at the very

last minute and deprived Senators of their right to know what is happening.

So I ask again, What is the administration hiding? It is time for answers.

I thank my colleague from Delaware for her courtesy.

I yield the floor.