Floor Statements

Mr. President, in an additional matter, this morning, I am proud to be joining Senators Wyden, Kaine, as well as Senators Shaheen, Welch, and Senator Paul to introduce another resolution that would put a halt on all of Donald Trump's global policies. The resolution we passed dealt with Canada. This deals with all of the global tariffs. I am very proud to cosponsor this legislation.

The Senate has the power and authority to stop this madness, and we have a duty to act in a bipartisan way to repeal these tariffs.

As you know, the previous resolution by Senator Kaine got four Republican votes here in the Senate. Our resolution, this resolution, would terminate the emergency that Donald Trump has declared in order to slap tariffs on 49 percent of products Americans buy from other countries. It would terminate that.

Again, instead of picking a fight with the entire world, Donald Trump should be focused on going after America's actual adversaries.

The Senate has the power and authority to stop Donald Trump's tariff madness. We Senate Democrats intend on making sure the Senate gets the chance to exercise that power.

Senator Wyden's resolution is privileged and will be able to go to the floor of the Senate.

Mr. President, now on the budget, we are not even 100 days into Donald Trump's second term, and his Presidency is already a dumpster fire. His tariffs were one of the largest tax hikes on American families in half a century since the Vietnam war. His bumbling trade war wiped trillions of dollars from American retirement savings.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk is crashing the Social Security website, shutting down local offices, and disconnecting phone services. All these closures and firings show his real desire is to decimate Social Security.

In March, employment for U.S. small businesses with 1 to 9 employees decreased by 98,000 jobs. Consumer confidence is at a 4-year low. Outlook for the economy is at a 12-year--a 12-year--low. The odds of a recession are at 60 percent. Some have argued--Larry Fink--that the recession has already started, according to the CEOs he has talked to.

What are Republicans in Congress doing about all this chaos, all this mess, all this severe harm to American families? Here is their answer: Cut taxes for billionaires. And why are they doing that? How are they going to pay for that? By taking away Americans' healthcare, making it harder for working families to put food on the table, slashing veterans' assistance and help for rural communities, kids, and Americans with disabilities.

With the threats of a recession on the rise because of these tariffs, do House Republicans really want to sign their name on a bill that adds $37 trillion to the deficit? They should tread carefully.

I said last Friday that for all the hand-wringing so far, the hard part for Republicans remains in front of them.

The Republican agenda suffers from a fatal flaw. Its various pieces are all unpopular on their own, but when pieced together, it is even worse. That is why the Republicans are having such trouble coming together. It is not even to deal with Democrats, the House and Senate Republicans are at loggerheads.

Members within each Republican caucus are at loggerheads. Why? Because the two policies are both unpopular. Slashing Medicaid, reducing taxes on billionaires--Americans don't like it so the Republicans are tying themselves in a knot in trying to get this done, against the will of the American people.

Republicans in Congress want to cut taxes for billionaires and pay for it by taking away Americans' healthcare, making it harder for working families to put food on the table. This is incredible.

With the threats of a recession on the rise because of these tariffs, do House Republicans really want to sign their name to this bill, as I said before?

The bottom line is, sooner or later, Republicans are going to have to face the music. There aren't enough procedural gimmicks in the world to change the reality. The Republican agenda on both sides--slashing programs like healthcare people need, tax cuts for billionaires, it is unpopular on both sides. It is not going to get any more popular moving forward, and the Republicans will have to tie themselves in lots of pretzel knots to even get a bill passed--such a highly unpopular bill passed.

Mr. President, on Social Security, a few days ago, Vice President JD Vance claimed that 40 percent of people calling to get their Social Security ``are committing fraud''--40 percent. First, it was Elon Musk calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme. Then Donald Trump spent 10 minutes in his congressional address talking about checks to 150-year-olds, which we all know is a lie. And now the Vice President has picked up the ax and is coming for Social Security too.

We need to be very clear: What the Vice President said was malicious disinformation. His statement is factually incorrect. In the words of the Washington Post, it is ``absurdity on its face--the kind of twisted logic that turns up at the end of a long game of telephone tag.''

Well, we all know what game they are playing. Donald Trump and his inner circle are howling about fraud with the hopes of discrediting Social Security entirely. Never mind there is no rampant fraud within Social Security; they just want to cut people's benefits. Never mind that it is popular--overwhelmingly popular--with Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, rural people, suburban people, urban people.

Why are they doing this, then? Why are they going after something that has been as sacred as Social Security since Franklin Roosevelt put the program together? Why? It is simple: So they can cut taxes for the rich.

This is a heist. If JD Vance had any intellectual honesty, he would acknowledge he was wrong when he said ``40 percent of the people who are calling are actually committing fraud,'' but I am not holding my breath.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, make no mistake about it, Donald Trump is teeing up a nationwide recession.

Less than a week after Donald Trump started the largest, dumbest trade war in American history, all the signs say America is heading toward calamity.

A report by JPMorgan entitled ``There Will Be Blood,'' warned these policies, if sustained, would likely push the United States and possibly the global economy into a recession this year. An update of our probability scenario tree makes this point, raising the risk of a recession this year to 60 percent. That is the conservative, cautious JPMorgan--60-percent chance of a recession.

Barclays, meanwhile, said Donald Trump's tariffs will cause inflation to nearly double as America enters a recession.

HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of America all said the same thing--the tariffs have made a recession more likely. And now, today, Goldman Sachs is the one saying ``danger.''

Some analysts say the damage is already done; $6 trillion of value has been wiped out. Any community in America that relies on trade or tourism or farming or energy or any wide range of industries is at risk of a recession.

My State of New York, my city of New York, certainly, are at that risk and heading right in that direction, unfortunately.

Consumer activity is going to go down. Demand is going to suffer. Unemployment is going up.

And maybe worst of all, Donald Trump's tariff tax is the largest tax hike since before the Vietnam war. Families will pay $5,000 extra a year for groceries, appliances, for drugs, for clothes, for cars, for gasoline, and so, so much more. Everywhere they look, Americans are going to see prices going up, going up.

Donald Trump campaigned on the fact there was too much inflation, and yet he is going to cause--he is causing already--a ton of it. So let me say it again: Donald Trump is teeing up a nationwide recession. If a recession does happen, it will be known as the Trump recession.

I urge the President to back off from his disastrous tariffs immediately. He should put down the golf clubs and pick up the papers because the disaster he has created is anything but great.

On the contrary, ``Liberation Day'' is quickly turning into Donald Trump's infamous ``Mission Accomplished'' moment. Congress must immediately take back power from Donald Trump before he causes more damage to the economy.

Leader Thune has a responsibility to listen to American families worried about the price of groceries, worried about their retirement, worried about keeping their jobs, and worried about the future. The Republican leader should make passing tariff legislation the top priority of the Senate this week.

At his press conference a few minutes ago, Donald Trump just said he is not looking at a pause. Now the only hope the American people have to avoid calamity rests on Senator Thune's shoulders. So Senator Thune has a decision to make: Side with Donald Trump or his destructive policies or side with the American people.

I was deeply disappointed last Friday night when Senate Republicans rejected my measure last week to halt

any tariffs since January 20 if prices for groceries, medicines, and other essential goods went up.

I hope Republicans reconsider their opposition the next time we vote in reconciliation or else they will continue to get an earful from their constituents back home.

Talk about canceled townhall meetings that Republicans had to do in the House, they are going to have to cancel a whole lot more unless they start listening to the American people.

This shouldn't be a partisan issue. Most Senators know deep down these tariffs are a disaster for the country.

Mr. President, on Social Security, while markets plunge and retirement accounts reel from Donald Trump's tariffs, Elon Musk and DOGE are taking a blowtorch to Social Security.

This morning, the Washington Post reported that the Social Security website is facing widespread and repeated outages. People can't log on and see their benefits. Millions of low-income Americans even received messages saying they are ``not receiving payments'' at all, causing widespread panic.

First, DOGE shut down local Social Security offices. Then it shut down phone services. Now seniors can't even go online. What the hell are they supposed to do?

Anyone who thinks Elon Musk isn't trying to destroy Social Security should look at how they are crashing the website, how they are shutting down offices, how they are closing phone lines. Now they are even proposing another round of massive layoffs.

Make no mistake--no mistake; it is clear as a bell--Elon Musk is cutting Social Security benefits. When he said that it was a Ponzi scheme--so ridiculous, so false, and so mean--he really meant it. He believes it. When offices close down, when websites crash, when phone lines shut off, that is no different than cutting benefits. So when Elon Musk says that Social Security should be eliminated, he is finding ways to make that happen. It is horrible, horrible for our seniors and for all Americans, including the millions who have been putting money in week after week, month after month so they might have a decent retirement.

Last week, Senate Republicans voted against three amendments by Democrats to protect Social Security from DOGE, including an amendment by Senator Ossoff reversing the mass layoffs and office closures. What did Republicans do? They said no. Shameful.

Social Security is the greatest crisis ever. Senate Republicans are now complicit. The longer Republicans allow Elon Musk to threaten people's benefits, the greater the political blowback is going to be.

And with these issues--the tariffs, the Trump tariff tax--destroying so much of Social Security, the American people are learning that Donald Trump is betraying them. Everything he said in the campaign--so much he said in the campaign, he is just doing the opposite. It helps the billionaires and hurts the American people.

Mr. President, that is the third thing I want to talk about, the Republican billionaire tax breaks.

In less than 3 months, Donald Trump has unleashed more chaos upon the American people than any previous President. His tariffs have hit families with the largest tax hike in half a century.

Elon Musk and DOGE are sabotaging Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare from within with massive layoffs, funding cuts, and crashing websites. The market is having its worst day since the COVID crisis, sending 401(k)s reeling.

And what are Republicans in Congress doing? They are cutting taxes for billionaires and paying for it by cutting Medicaid.

Now the billionaire tax breaks will add $37 trillion to the debt. Adding $37 trillion to the debt was bad enough without having to take into account President Trump's tariffs. But now that these tariffs are making a recession more likely, it would be malpractice--malpractice-- for Republicans to move forward.

The ball is in the House Republicans' court. They can see for themselves just how fiscally reckless and ill-conceived the Senate bill is. They should reject it. Republicans' obeisance to Donald Trump's increasingly unpopular agenda will cost them dearly in the future.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, the Republican bill that now sits before the Senate is poison. Last night, Senate Republicans began the process to pass legislation eviscerating Medicaid, crushing the healthcare of the young and old alike, and squandering their future and our future.

First thing this morning, we will talk about why they are doing this, so they can achieve tax cuts for the ultrarich. Slashing Medicaid so cruelly and callously would be bad enough, but as Americans learn that Republicans are doing it simply to give tax cuts to the ultrarich, an electric shock is going to go through the American people, and they will cry out: What the hell is going on? Donald Trump is betraying us.

This is the Republican agenda, plain and simple: Billionaires win, American families lose. Republicans have failed to be honest with the country about the true nature of their cuts. Today,

this morning, Senate Democrats will come to the floor to put the Republican agenda on trial before the court of public opinion. Democrats will expose the dark corners of the Republicans' plan.

We will explain the devastating consequences and highlight the many injustices that the Republicans will inflict on people's health, on their financial security, on their children's future, and, in fact, on their very dream, the very future of the American dream itself.

I spoke--many of us spoke--on the issue of Medicaid last night. And I thank my colleagues who did the same: Senators Merkley and Durbin, Baldwin, Hassan, Kim, Reed, Cortez Masto, Slotkin, Klobuchar, Welch, Warnock, and Bennet. We will continue today, this morning, exposing Republicans' morally bankrupt tax breaks on billionaires, and then Donald Trump's dumb and costly tariffs.

They have tried to hide Medicaid cuts. They have tried to hide their billionaire tax giveaways. If Republicans won't be straight with the American people about their agenda, Democrats are glad to do it for them.

Today, Senate Democrats will come to the floor to put the Republican agenda on trial before the court of public opinion, as I said before.

So we continue today; first, by exposing the Republicans' morally bankrupt tax breaks for billionaires and then Donald Trump's dumb, costly tariffs. We will proceed to then talk about the need to stand up for our veterans and national security. Donald Trump has made even the more conservative Republican veterans organizations angry.

We will then talk about the unprecedented corruption and self-dealing that Donald Trump has unleashed in our government. He and Musk seem to want to make themselves richer using their government position, and their families as well, to gain even more wealth, and, finally, on the existential fight to protect Social Security from the chain saw of Elon Musk. We will speak on all of these issues as the day goes on.

Democrats will expose the dark corners of the Republican plan. We will explain the devastating consequences and highlight the many injustices the Republicans will inflict on people's healthcare and financial security and on their children's future.

This is a fight the American people need to see because people's lives and livelihood are at stake. The healthcare that protects our kids is in danger, the benefits that keep our seniors whole are at risk, the investments that unlock America's future are hanging by a thread, and Republicans are about to cut it. Why? Why do they do all of this? What is the purpose of all this nastiness?

It cannot be said enough: Republicans are trying to give the ultrarich another tax break--another tax break. They have got plenty of money. Taking away someone's Social Security, cutting their Medicaid, telling veterans they don't get healthcare, all to give tax cuts for the wealthy, what an awful scheme.

Why are they doing this? Frankly, they are in a billionaires' bubble. It is a small group of billionaires that run the whole Republican Party. A lot of them have been plotting to do this for over a decade with their think tanks and their rightwing media voices and their taking over other media and social media. But they have been trying to do it for a long time, these superrich, supergreedy billionaires. And with Donald Trump, they have succeeded. These billionaires are running the show, plain and simple.

These billionaires who don't have any understanding of what the average family goes through when they sit at the dinner table and say: How are we going to buy the new car? How are we going to go on that little vacation to visit grandma? How are we going to give our kids the best school supplies and education they need?

They have no understanding of this; exemplified in Howard Lutnick, one of these billionaires. When told his mother might not get another Social Security payment, he said, ``She doesn't need it.''

Well, of course, if your son-in-law is a billionaire, Mr. Lutnick, yeah, it is easy. What about everybody else? These billionaires are so limited. They only talk to each other. They don't even think of the harm they are doing to average people or they don't want to know about it.

So they listen to one another and refuse to understand working people, and that is sickening.

When Democrats expose all these cuts to healthcare and veterans and nutrition, the American people will think it is sickening too. That is the fight we Democrats will have on the Senate floor.

Today, tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, Democrats will fight every which way against this vicious attack on American families where billionaires win and families lose.

We will fight this awful bill and shine a light on these terrible cuts for all the American people to see. And when the American people see it, they won't like it; they will despise it. Senate Republicans, your embrace of the billionaires' agenda puts you on a path of despair and defeat--despair among the millions of Americans you cruelly flay and defeat for you and your agenda.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Oregon for his outstanding words on this issue--on tax issues and so many other policies, trade, and everything else. He is one of our real experts in the entire Congress, so I thank him.

Now, I thank my colleagues for speaking this morning. We now continue to talk about Donald Trump's assault on American families. Last night, we talked about Medicaid; this morning, about taxes.

Now we move on to Donald Trump's dumb and costly tariffs--the Trump tariff tax. After that, we will proceed to talk about the need to stand up for our veterans and national security.

Then, on the unprecedented corruption and self-dealing that Donald Trump has unleashed on our government, helping his billionaire friends make money off the government to become richer, and, finally, on the existential fight to protect Social Security from the chain saw of Elon Musk.

Tariffs

Mr. President, now on tariffs, the Trump tariff tax. This week, Donald Trump made one of the dumbest decisions he has ever made as President--and that is saying a lot. Instead of fixing inflation, which he promised to do, Trump unleashed a wave of tariffs that will make inflation much worse. How do Senate Republicans respond to Trump's tariffs? By cutting Medicaid and giving billionaires a tax cut. That is why he is doing this.

Why would he raise the cost on American families by $5,000, as it is estimated? Simply because his very wealthy billionaire friends want greater tax breaks.

Here is what Chairman Powell just said about the Trump tariff tax. Powell said:

It would increase inflation and slow growth.

And then Donald Trump responded in his billionaire bubble, he asked Powell to lower interest rates. What planet is he on? The nonpolitical, bipartisan, nonpartisan Chairman of the Fed says it is going to raise inflation and slow growth, and Trump says lower interest rates. It is going to do just the opposite. That is what the Chairman of the Federal Reserve said.

And what Donald Trump has created with these tariffs is a brutal pincer move with American families trapped

in the middle. Trump's tariffs raise costs on one side, and Trump's budget cuts rob people of healthcare, nutrition, and Medicaid on the other and squeezes them in a pincer.

There are smart ways to use tariffs, and there are dumb ways to use tariffs. Donald Trump is using tariffs in the dumbest way possible.

In fact, Trump slapped tariffs on penguins but not on Putin. Yep, that is true. He sanctioned the Heard and McDonald Islands, only inhabited by penguins, but he left Putin's evil Russia alone. That is what happens when you have no clue as to what you are doing.

You fire air traffic controllers and dismantle disease outbreak monitors, sabotage Social Security, the VA, and censor climate data, defund public schools, and now declare a trade war on penguins.

These tariffs are a massive tax hike, pure and simple. JPMorgan, themselves a conservative banking organization, called them equivalent to the largest tax increase since 1998.

Everything is going to go up, my colleagues. This is 10 percent across the board, plus a whole lot of other tariffs; fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, more expensive; clothing and shoes, more expensive; gasoline and new cars, more expensive; electronics, like iPhones and TVs, more expensive. Donald Trump has singlehandedly started a financial forest fire.

Yesterday, the markets reported their worst day since the pandemic. The Dow, S&P, and NASDAQ dropped 4, 5, and 6 percent. Today is getting even worse because, quite naturally, other countries, including China-- and I have no love for China and its policies--well, they put on a retaliatory tariff. We could be going into the greatest trade war in history.

We all know that the Great Depression was caused by a trade war like this when Herbert Hoover slapped on these tariffs and the whole world responded, and the Great Depression, which had started, was greatly worsened.

Donald Trump seems to have never--he doesn't even know history. He hasn't learned history. But we could be on the edge of the greatest trade war the world has ever seen, and who will pay the price? The average American family because not only will prices go up, but the economy will decline. Already, estimates that the recession is more likely than before are upon us. Today's actions by China make a recession even more likely, and the American people suffer all because he wants to give tax breaks to the billionaires.

What bubble do these billionaires, including Donald Trump, live in? How could they not understand how this affects American families? He is imposing these tariffs, raising the costs on American families, an average of about $5,000--the number is probably going to go up after what China did today--all to give tax breaks to billionaires.

The American people are learning this. They are realizing Trump doesn't--he is not on their side. They are realizing that Donald Trump is not keeping any of his campaign promises, such as prices go down on day one. They realize Donald Trump is betraying the working class all for his billionaire friends.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, we have discussed already how this budget has such horrible effects on American families by slashing Medicaid--we did that last night--giving tax cuts to the rich--we did that earlier this morning--and now how the tariffs are such a huge Trump tariff tax on American families.

We continue to show how bad this budget is for American families--in this case, veterans, led by Senator Blumenthal.

Mr. President, Senators have just come to the floor to show how the Republican agenda would be a gut punch to our Nation's veterans and so dangerous to our national security, as the Senator from Colorado so eloquently outlined. I thank them for speaking passionately.

Our next topic that we will be speaking about--each one is so dangerous to America, and each one is Donald Trump betraying America and just totally going back on what he said when he ran the campaign. And now, again, he is with those bubble of billionaires and doesn't care about the middle class and how he is hurting them.

Now Senators will turn to an issue especially alarming to so many people--the deep, deep corruption that Donald Trump and Elon Musk and DOGE have unleashed on their watch. The amazing amount of self-deals as they are trying to enrich themselves on the backs of the government, which mean on the backs of the American people.

One of our great experts in this area who has been talking about this a very long time is Senator Whitehouse.

I yield to him.

Mr. President, for the past 2 days, Democrats have turned the Senate into a tribunal, and Donald Trump's agenda is on trial.

I thank the close to 40 of my colleagues who came to the floor and made so many points about that.

So now, Donald Trump's agenda is on trial. It is time now for Republicans to answer. Tonight, Democrats will bring amendment after amendment to the floor, one right after the other, again and again and again. Our amendments will give Republicans the chance to join us in hitting the kill switch on Donald Trump's tariffs, on DOGE, on the attacks against Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.

Now, Republicans are in the majority. The choice is theirs. They see what Americans see: Donald Trump's policies are a disaster. DOGE is a horror. Republicans could snuff it out instantly, tonight, if they wanted. Will Republicans join us tonight and stand up to Donald Trump before he craters the economy? Or will Republicans spend all night trying to defend the mess Donald Trump is making? And he made a lot more of it today.

Will Republicans defend Donald Trump's tariff tax--the Trump tariff tax--which would cost families $5,000 a year? Will they defend Elon Musk as he takes a blowtorch to Social Security? Will they defend cutting Medicaid and imperil the healthcare of 70 million Americans, from newborn kids to seniors to rural communities and veterans?

Will Republicans spend all night--all night long--trying to explain to the American people why billionaires deserve a massive tax break, but working people don't deserve basic healthcare?

The choice is theirs. Donald Trump has betrayed the American people. Will Senate Republicans join him in this betrayal?

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 1884, and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. President, President Trump's tariff tax is one of the dumbest things he has done as President, and that is saying something.

Markets are plummeting. Six trillion dollars in values gone. The odds of a recession, JPMorgan says is 60 percent. The dumbest most avoidable recession in American history, but the Trump recession is headed our way, and Donald Trump, meanwhile, is golfing.

The families are panicking. Their costs for food and drugs and clothing and cars and gas, $5,000. So my amendment would stop President Trump's tariffs from crushing families financially. It would rescind any tariffs put in place after January 20 that have increased the cost of groceries, medicines, and everyday goods, and it would leave in place tariffs on adversaries like China, Russia, and North Korea.

On behalf of Ms. Klobuchar and myself, we are for this.

And one other thing: How stupid they are the way they did it, to set tariffs to tax penguins but not Putin. Yes. The Heard and McDonald Islands, which only have penguins on them, are taxed. Russia is not.

This is the worst, worst tariff imposition we have ever seen. It is going to create a recession. If you vote for it, it is going to be on your hands.

Do I have any time remaining?

A ``yes'' vote means a recession, folks.

Vote on Amendment No. 1884

Madam President, Donald Trump has betrayed the American people. Tonight, Senate Republicans joined him in that betrayal.

In voting for this bill, Senate Republicans sided with billionaires against the middle class in total obeisance to Donald Trump. The odds of a recession in America are surging because of Donald Trump's tariffs, and Senate Republicans have gone along.

In fact, they are aiding and abetting it. It is a brutal Republican pincer move: Donald Trump's tariffs raise costs on the one side, and Senate Republicans are cutting Medicaid and pushing billionaire tax breaks on the other.

Tonight, Senate Democrats gave Senate Republicans the chance to hit the kill switch on Donald Trump's tariffs, on DOGE, on the attacks against Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. At each opportunity, Republicans refused.

If Republicans ever chose to snap out of their Trump hypnosis for even a minute, they could immediately use this Senate procedure to halt the tariffs, halt DOGE, halt all of Donald Trump's chaos. They know deep down his policies are a disaster. Instead, Senate Republicans are chaining themselves to the MAGA anchor and leaping into the ocean.

But for all their difficulty in passing this bill over the past week, the hardest part for Republicans is still in front of them. They are going to even have more trouble in the weeks ahead.

Republicans' obeisance to Donald Trump's increasingly unpopular agenda will cost them dearly in the future.

Madam President, I would like to thank the staffs for the great jobs they have done, all the incredible staff for making this possible.

Thank you to the floor staff who has been with us many hours. Thank you to the cloakrooms. Thank you to the doorkeepers, the Capitol Police, the pages, the custodian and maintenance staff and everyone else.

I want to thank, particularly, Nate Oursler in the Democratic cloakroom who has been the hero of the past couple of days, working relentlessly to keep things moving for Senate Democrats from the moment we gaveled in to the moment we have adjourned.

And a particular thank-you to my great staff. They have done an amazing, amazing job and made this very difficult effort run smoothly as our Members depart at an earlier hour than they are used to, and we accommodated as many amendments as we possibly could.

I would like to thank them all and a particular shout-out. It is a great staff. I could name so many, but to Meghan Taira because she is the chief cook and bottle washer on our side who gets this all done so smoothly and so effortlessly.

This will be--and I am sure she is happy about this--her last reconciliation, her last budget reconciliation--but we know what a great job she has done not just for me, not just for Senate Democrats, not just for the whole Senate but for the country over the decades. So, Meghan, we wish you the best.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, yesterday, Donald Trump made one of the dumbest decisions he has ever made as President, and that is saying something. The tariffs Donald Trump approved yesterday are far, far worse than we thought. It is the largest tax hike on families since World War II.

Yesterday was not ``Liberation Day''; it was tax day. ``Middle class, pay more taxes,'' Donald Trump is telling you. That is what the day is all about.

This morning, naturally, the markets are plunging. The Dow is down 800 points, and the S&P is already on track for its worst day in years. Donald Trump has singlehandedly created a financial forest fire.

Trump called yesterday ``Liberation Day.'' Nobody was feeling even close to liberated--quite the opposite. American families are learning the hard way that Donald Trump has them right in the middle of a pincer and is squeezing them on both sides.

On the one side, Donald Trump is pushing tariffs that will cost working families an extra $5,000 a year, and by his own admission, he ``could not care less.'' On the other side, Donald Trump is working with Republicans to gut vital programs working families rely on, like Medicaid, Social Security, veterans programs.

So there is a pincer: Trump's tariffs raise costs and pick people's pockets on one side, and Trump's budget and his

budget cuts are taking away healthcare and benefits and veterans' care on the other side.

Now, there are smart ways to use tariffs, and there are dumb ways to use tariffs. Donald Trump is using tariffs in the dumbest way imaginable. In fact, Donald Trump slapped tariffs on penguins and not on Putin. Trump sanctioned the Heard and McDonald Islands, only inhabited by penguins. That is what happens when you don't have a clue as to what you are doing. You fire air traffic controllers, dismantle disease-outbreak monitoring, sabotage Social Security and VA operations, censor climate data, defund public schools, and declare a trade war on penguins.

What is going on? Prices on groceries, prices on electronics, appliances, metal, beer, furniture, fertilizer, and so much more will go up. People's retirements are in peril as markets are in turmoil across the globe. And Donald Trump says, ``I couldn't care less.'' That is his quote, America. You are getting squeezed on both sides by his tariffs and his budget, and he says, ``I couldn't care less.''

The American people are learning quickly that Donald Trump is breaking all the promises he made in the campaign and he is not on their side. He couldn't care less. It is truly unbelievable to watch the sheer destruction Republicans are inflicting on Americans.

We aren't even 100 days into President Trump's second term, and the Republicans this week will plow ahead to take away people's Medicaid. They are letting Elon Musk sabotage Social Security. He says it is a Ponzi scheme. He says he is OK if it is eliminated. What do these rich people know about how middle-class people struggle? It is a little coterie of billionaires that is running policy.

As I said, the middle class is getting squeezed by the pincers on both sides.

What are they doing firing tens of thousands of epidemic responders, healthcare workers, food inspectors, abandoning veterans? And now, on top of all of that--it has been bad enough before ``Liberation Day,'' which is tax day--Americans are going to pay $5,000 a year through his tariffs. For what? Why are they doing all this? Why would they do all this? Why would they hurt people, so many people in so many ways? Why would they have that pincer squeeze them? I will tell you why. One thing. One reason. Tax breaks for the billionaires. As I said, this is a coterie of billionaires running the government--Trump and Musk and Lutnick and so many others. You heard the net worth of his Cabinet; it is incredible. Cutting taxes for billionaires makes them squeeze the American people. It is utterly disgusting.

President Trump should reverse course on his disastrous tariffs immediately--immediately--or else he risks plunging America into a recession. Some of the leading banks, the leading financial analysts with no ax to grind, have greatly increased the odds that we will have a recession because of what Trump is doing.

What President walks mindlessly into a recession, which means it is harder to get a job, harder to keep a job, harder to pay the bills? What President does that?

So I am calling on the House and Speaker Johnson, given how bad Trump's tariffs are--they now know it--to come back into session and vote on the Senate's bipartisan bill undoing the tariffs on Canada, the bill we passed yesterday with bipartisan support because a few Republicans had the courage of their convictions and voted against the President and for Senator Kaine's very, very timely and needed bill. If the Speaker really cares about the American people and the costs they would bear by these tariffs, he should call back the House and take up the Senate bill immediately.

The American people care about one thing above all--and they care about a lot of things, but at the top of the list is inflation. That is the No. 1 thing on people's minds. We heard that over and over again on last November's election day and ever since. And Donald Trump said in his campaign that he would reduce prices on day one when he got elected. He is doing just the opposite. He is not reducing prices; he is dramatically raising them $5,000 a year on the average American family. And by his own omission, Donald Trump said ``I couldn't care less.''

Government Funding

Mr. President, on the budget, this week, Donald Trump and the Republican Party are hitting Americans with a brutal one-two punch.

On one side, Trump has hit Americans with a massive tax hike through his extremely dumb tariffs. On the other side--they are unfocused, just unfocused. On the other side, Senate Republicans are getting ready to take away vital programs, throw people off Medicaid--all so they can give massive tax breaks to billionaires. It is a brutal Republican pincer move, with American families trapped in the middle.

Trump's tariffs raise costs and pick people's pockets on one side, and Trump's budget cuts are taking away healthcare and benefits and veterans' care on the other side.

If Republicans pass their agenda, 80 million Americans will be at risk of losing coverage. Rural hospitals, community health centers, and nursing homes will be at the risk of closure.

If Republicans proceed this week, Senate Democrats will expose their agenda for the American people to see. We will pick their bill apart. We will put them on record. We will force Republicans to explain in multiple ways again and again and again why they want to cut taxes for the rich at the expense of working people.

Senate Republicans are so hell-bent on cutting taxes for billionaires, they seem ready to detonate the rules of the Senate and break their word to get it done. Republicans spent years preaching about preserving Senate rules and protecting regular order, but now that their billionaire tax cuts are on the line, the rules don't seem to matter for them.

We all know what is going on here. We know. Senate Republicans don't want to admit that their plan to make these tax cuts permanent will add $37 trillion to the debt--$37 trillion. That more than doubles the totality of our national debt today--more than doubles it. It is reckless, and it is dangerous.

So Republicans in essence want to pretend like their trillion-dollar tax cuts are free, like magic, or, as Chip Roy, one of the most conservative Republicans around here, said, like ``fairy dust.'' A middle school math student could tell you this is ridiculous.

House Republicans must tread carefully. I say that to them over there, particularly the ones on the hard right. If they go along with this dangerous gimmick hatched by Senate Republicans, they will pave the way to add $37 trillion to the debt. Republicans will forever incinerate any credibility they have to complain about debt and deficits.

When you go home, Senate Republicans, don't tell your constituents that you want to cut the debt--$37 trillion. And far worse than that, these billionaire tax breaks and the gargantuan deficit that they will create will haunt our children and our grandchildren with sky-high interest rates, a hobbled economy, and rampant inequality. It is not the world I want my grandchildren to grow up in.

House Republicans must not go along with this dangerous plan by Senate Republicans.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, a few minutes ago, for the second time this year, Senate Republicans began the process to pass legislation eviscerating Medicaid, abandoning our kids, failing our veterans, and squandering our future--all for the sake of tax cuts for the ultrarich. This is the Republican agenda: Billionaires win; American families lose. Billionaires win; American families lose in the Republican plan.

Republicans have failed to be honest with the country about the true nature of their plans. They have tried to hide their Medicaid cuts. They have tried to hide their billionaire tax giveaways with budgetary gimmicks and distractions. They are tying themselves in knots. They don't want the American people to know what their agenda is. Well, if Republicans won't be straight with the American people about their agenda, Senate Democrats are glad to do it for them.

Tonight, my colleagues and I will begin to put the Republican agenda on trial before the court of public opinion here on the floor of the Senate. It is going to be a long few days for Senate Republicans. Democrats will expose the dark corners of the Republican plan. We will explain the devastating consequences, highlight the many injustices that Republicans will inflict on people's healthcare, on their financial security, on their children's futures, and on the very future of the American dream itself.

We begin tonight with a topic close to home for all of us: Medicaid.

It is my honor to join my fellow Democrats to lay the case before the American people for how Republicans plan to destroy Medicaid as we know it and harm millions and millions and millions of Americans. We will share the stories of people back home. We will illustrate the full scale of the destruction these cuts would do. And we will make it clear to the American people that while Republicans work like hell to eliminate Medicaid to cut taxes for the rich, Democrats are fighting to protect the healthcare the American people deserve and need.

Medicaid will be the first--the first--of six different themes that we will focus on here on the floor.

Tomorrow, we will be focused, likewise, as we debate this bill, on Republicans' morally bankrupt tax breaks for billionaires and on Donald Trump's dumb and costly tariffs, on the need to stand up for our veterans and our national security, on the unprecedented corruption Donald Trump has unleashed in our government, and finally on the existential fight to protect Social Security from the chain saw of Elon Musk. These are the themes we will cover today and tomorrow.

This is the fight the American people need to see because people's lives and livelihoods are at stake. The healthcare that protects our kids is in danger--our children. Their healthcare is in danger. The benefits that keep our seniors whole are at risk. Senior citizens, in their golden era, could have Medicaid--the rug--pulled out from under them, leaving them in dire straits. The investments that unlock America's future now stand on the edge of a knife.

Why? Why? Why are Republicans doing this? Why are they being so cruel? so callous? so thoughtless? Why are those in the billionaire bubble who seem to run Donald Trump and Elon Musk--why are they doing this? It is very simple. They are trying to give the ultrarich another tax break. The Republicans are enthralled with these very wealthy, very greedy people, and all they want is a tax break.

When Donald Trump became President, they got control of the Republican Party, and Elon Musk and Donald Trump are in the billionaire bubble. And when Democrats expose all of these cuts to healthcare and veterans' aid and benefits for the American people to see, the American people will think it is sickening.

So, tonight, let us begin with Medicaid.

Seventy million--seventy million--people rely on Medicaid in one way or another to provide medical care, and tens of millions more are their families and friends. That includes not just seniors who are within the 70 million but also newborns, parents, Americans with disabilities, rural communities that have access, perhaps, to a single hospital or clinic if they are fortunate. Medicaid--Medicaid--makes all these things possible.

I want to focus on a truly sobering experience I had earlier this week when visiting two nursing homes in New York: the Silver Lake Specialized Care and Rehab Center on Staten Island and the Carillon Nursing and Rehab Center on Long Island. These institutions alone-- there are just 2 of them--serve over 600 residents together and employ 600 people. They are the lifeline to local communities. They help seniors with dementia, with postsurgical rehab, with physical disability support, and so much more.

My visit to these communities was clouded by a shadow of fear and anger. I talked to senior citizens who knew that if Medicaid were cut, they would lose their healthcare. In fact, the owner of Silver Lake-- one of the most esteemed healthcare facilities on Staten Island--told me that if the cut were even half what the Republicans are proposing, his home would close. Hundreds of senior citizens would have no healthcare, and 300 people would lose their jobs. They were frightened. They were scared. They were angry.

There is no question about it: Even if Republicans pass a fraction of the cuts they are pushing, it will devastate these communities.

We have the heads of major hospitals there--many of them not the same party as mine--telling us what would happen if these devastating cuts to Medicaid went through.

On Staten Island, we estimated 18,000 people would lose their jobs. Tens of thousands would no longer get healthcare. It would cause a recession on Staten Island--like that. Seniors at the centers--new seniors who are getting out of hospitals or have a new illness that they are just encountering--would be turned away. There would be no funding. There would be no beds. There would be no place for them to go.

It is not just the residents at these nursing homes; it is their children who now can breathe easy for their parents who helped raise them and worked so hard through the years to provide for them.

Staten Island is a middle-class community, and so is Long Island--the two places I visited--but their kids would not be able to care for most of them. Most of them need more healthcare than just going back to their kids' homes. It is not adequate healthcare for so many of them. Others said their children had no extra room for them. What are even the kids going to do? On both Staten Island and Long Island, these are middle-class communities. They are going to be devastated by these cuts.

Some of the residents said their children might be able to take care of them, but the burden would be immense. These families don't have the financial means to take care of their parents in their advanced ages. They don't have space at home. They don't have the medical know-how to meet the needs like a nursing home does.

For any of you--of the millions of Americans who have a parent who has struggled with dementia or physical disabilities--to those people, we know that our parents need the help of medical professionals to care for them properly. That is why Medicaid is so vital, so important, such a lifeline to tens of millions of families across America. The Republican Medicaid cuts would be a gut punch to these families.

It was the same story on Long Island. Senior citizens are scared, nervous, angry about what these budget cuts would do to them that the Republicans are proposing, that Trump and Musk are proposing. Workers worried they might lose their jobs--and they have worked so hard in these facilities because they care about the patients they are caring for--are told ``No, no more funding'' for no reason. They are doing a great job.

It is the same on Long Island as on Staten Island, and it is the same across all of America in poor communities, which, of course, depend on Medicaid.

For so many people, Medicaid is their only lifeline to healthcare-- for middle-class communities and even well-to-do communities. All of them are nervous, scared, angry, furious at what these cuts would do to them.

Why? people ask. Why are they doing this? Why are they being so mean? Why are they being so cruel? Why are they being so callous?

We have to answer: For one reason--they want to give billionaires a tax cut. They want to take the money away from working families. They want to take things that working families need. They want to take them away so there are more tax cuts for the billionaires.

It angers me. It is infuriating that something so wrong, so callous, so detrimental to America could be right here on the Senate floor with the support of so many Republican Senators.

I say to the Republican Senators: Listen to your constituents. Listen to your constituents. They don't want this. You know that. Are you going to get up on the floor and make a speech that says you are cutting Medicaid because you want to give tax breaks to billionaires? That is what you are doing. Get up and have the courage to say it. Get up and have the courage to say it.

The senior centers I visited were represented, actually, by Republican Members of Congress on both Staten Island and Long Island.

There, I told every patient, every doctor, every nurse, every employee who works in these institutions to call their Congress Member and tell them that their jobs are at risk and, if they are a resident, to tell them their healthcare is at risk. If they are a child of a parent in one of these nursing homes, call.

I told them to make it clear to their Congressmen that the Republican Congressmen and Senators have the power in their hands to stop these cuts because there are narrow margins in both the Senate and the House.

A handful of Senators and a handful of Congressmen, if they have the courage to do the right thing--and most of them--or some of them, at least, know that it is the right thing even though they are afraid to vote yes--they are afraid to vote no and stop this, but they should have the courage to do it.

So I told them. I told everyone I encountered in these two nursing homes and in many other places in New York.

I went to a hospital in the Bronx--one of the biggest hospitals. It serves 1.3 million people in the Bronx. It is the only cancer care treatment for all of those 1.3 million. The leaders of that hospital told me the hospital would probably close if there were a 20-percent cut to Medicaid, and the Republicans are proposing a deeper cut than that in this budget bill. Close. The only hospital. One of the biggest employers. It employees 18,000 people itself. This story could be repeated. The Bronx has poorer communities. Staten Island and Long Island have more middle-class communities. But every one of them will be affected terribly by these cuts. So I told them to call. I tell everyone: We have to stop this. Public sentiment is everything.

Every American in a similar position to those I spoke to should do the same. Call your Congressman. Call your Senator. Tell them you don't want Medicaid to be slashed. Tell them you don't want nutrition assistance to be eliminated. Tell them you don't want our seniors to be abandoned. Tell them you don't want to see these cuts--these cruel, heartless cuts--just so the wealthiest Americans can get another break they don't need.

That is what the next few days are about: fighting these awful cuts done to help the wealthiest Americans get a tax break. That is the fight Democrats will have here on the Senate floor. That is the fight we will have tonight. That is the fight we will have tomorrow and beyond.

Democrats are fighting every day in every way against these attacks against American families, against this plan, which says billionaires win; families lose.

Democrats stand united. We are unified in fighting this awful bill. We will fight the Republican anti-family agenda. We will shine a light on these terrible cuts that Republicans are trying to pass. The American people will be horrified at what they see.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, last night, the people of Wisconsin sent a clear message to Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and DOGE: Democracy is not for sale. There is only one way to interpret what happened last night. It was a political warning shot from the American people. Just 70 days into Trump 2.0, Americans are tired of the chaos. They are tired of Elon Musk attacking Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare.

And I want to be clear about something else. Yesterday was a sign Democrats' message is resonating. When Democrats shine a light on the fact that Republicans are taking vital programs away from the middle class simply to cut taxes for the ultrarich, the

public doesn't like it. When we shine a light on Republican attacks on Medicaid, on Social Security, on veterans' healthcare simply to cut taxes for the rich, Americans listen, and they are aghast at what they see. That is one of the main reasons that the results in Wisconsin came in as resoundingly as they did.

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

Mr. President, there are a lot of topics I wish to discuss today on the Senate floor, including the news from Wisconsin, Donald Trump's tariffs, Republicans' awful attack on the Senate rules, and, of course, the ghastly undercutting by RFK on 9/11 families.

Mr. President, on tariffs, today, Donald Trump takes a sledgehammer to the American economy and even to the American dream. With the flick of a pen, Donald Trump is set to unleash the most reckless tsunami of tariffs Americans have seen in over half a century. Prices will rise on virtually every kind of product--produce, medicines, cars, homes, appliances, metals, paper products, beer, lumber, fertilizer, and more.

But is Donald Trump worried? Not even a little bit. In fact, he said the other day he couldn't care less if prices go up. You hear that, America? Life is about to become far more expensive, and Donald Trump, the billionaire who promised to bring down inflation on day one, says he could not care less if you have to pay more.

Maybe tariffs aren't such a bad deal if you are rich like Donald Trump and the people running this MAGA government. They are in such a bubble. To have billionaires and wealthy, wealthy people running the show, which is what has happened in this Trump administration, they are in a bubble.

They don't understand that when tariffs raise the average costs the American family pays by $5,000, the plans to buy a new car, maybe put a new room on your house, go take a vacation, or fly to see grandma are out the window, and life becomes much tougher.

But these billionaires living in their bubble don't know, don't care, don't give a hoot. For average families, Donald Trump's trade war is a financial gut punch. The average household is going to pay, on average, $6,000 extra a year. And why is Donald Trump so dead set on starting this ill-conceived trade war? Simply to pay for tax breaks for their billionaires.

They talk about all the money they are going to gain, and what are they using it for? Reducing taxes on the very wealthy. The money they gain out of the pockets of middle-class working families who are paying more for almost everything because of the tariffs goes to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. It is disgraceful.

Fortunately, the Senate has a chance to slow this trade war down today if Republicans join us. Later this afternoon, the Senate will vote on a resolution from Senators Kaine, Klobuchar, and Warner to undo Donald Trump's emergency declaration with respect to Canada.

I am proud to support this resolution because we should be lowering costs for American families, not sending them skyrocketing like Donald Trump is doing. I know Donald Trump is pushing my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to vote it down, but my Republican colleagues should tune Donald Trump out. They need to stand up to the President when he is hurting American families so badly. Our Republican colleagues know deep down in their hearts, these tariffs are wrongheaded, harmful, and chaotic. I hope they do the right thing.