    [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2025)]
    [Senate]
    [Pages S1318-S1321]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                              Trump Administration

      Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, over the last month, it has become clear
    how Donald Trump and Republicans govern. Donald Trump and Republicans
    have focused on things most Americans don't care about or don't like
    while refusing to focus on things Americans actually do care about.
      Donald Trump and Republicans have focused on things most Americans
    don't care about or don't even like while refusing to focus on things
    Americans actually do care about.
      Exhibit A of these things that Americans don't like is what is
    happening today in the House of Representatives. As soon as today,
    House Republicans will advance a budget resolution clearing the way for
    perhaps the most draconian cuts to Medicaid in American history, all so
    Republicans can cut taxes for their billionaires club and have the
    American people pick up the tab and pay the price. This is in the

    [[Page S1319]]

    category of things Americans really don't like.
      There is only one proper way to describe the Republican plan that is
    moving through the House this week: radical. Radical. The Republican
    plan radically hurts American families while radically helping the
    billionaires club. Republicans are so eager to cut taxes for
    billionaires that they would increase the deficit by a trillion dollars
    or more to make room for their sweetheart-deal tax cuts for
    billionaires like Elon Musk.
      Republicans are also pushing for trillions in cuts for working- and
    middle-class Americans, endangering everything from Medicaid to
    nutrition programs, to housing assistance, and so much more. The
    Republican bill could cut as much as $880 billion from Medicaid alone.
    That means 80 million Americans--kids, veterans, people with
    disabilities, rural Americans, the elderly--are all at risk.
      And why? Why are Republicans putting these people at such risk and
    hurting things that benefit them--not waste; things that actually go to
    people and help them? They are doing it to make life easier for the
    billionaires club. They are doing it to cut taxes for the ultrawealthy.
      Last week, here in the Senate, during vote-arama, I pushed an
    amendment that said we should have no tax breaks for billionaires. I
    pushed an amendment calling for no billionaire tax breaks if even one
    dollar of Medicaid spending was cut. What is more important: helping
    people get healthcare, helping the elderly stay in nursing homes,
    helping our veterans--especially those who may be out of work--get the
    healthcare they need? What is more important--that or a tax break for
    someone who is very wealthy already?
      Well, on both amendments--the one that said no tax breaks for
    billionaires and the one that said no tax breaks for billionaires if
    even one dollar of Medicaid spending was cut--both times, Republicans
    overwhelmingly said no.
      Let us hope--let us hope--it may be a distant hope, but let us hope
    that House Republicans show more courage, more compassion, and more
    common sense to reject these horrible, harmful, radical cuts.
      This is not what the American people signed up for in this election.
    Billionaire tax cuts is a clear example of things Americans don't like.
    Just look at all the backlash Republicans are seeing in their
    townhalls. And Republicans know this. Republicans know that cutting
    taxes for wealthy billionaires is something most Americans don't like
    at all. They didn't campaign on it. Oh, no. I didn't hear any of our
    Republican colleagues who were running go home and say ``I want to cut
    taxes for the billionaires,'' although that is the first thing they are
    doing when they get here. Yet Republicans seem to be full steam ahead
    all the same.
      This, of course, is part of the pattern I am talking about. Over the
    last month, Donald Trump and Republicans have spent their energy
    focused on things Americans don't like while refusing to focus on
    things Americans actually do care about--like inflation, rising prices.
      We already see that Americans are upset with the Trump administration
    because prices continue to rise, as they have over the last many years.
    Donald Trump promised to bring down costs on day one. He said that the
    first day he is elected, he is going to start bringing costs down, but
    instead, inflation has gone up, grocery prices are up. Chicken, pork,
    steak--all more expensive. Eggs are up 15 percent from last month. All
    the while, Republicans are focused on things that Americans either
    don't like or don't care about.
      Americans don't like, for instance, pardoning violent
    insurrectionists. It was one of the least popular things we have seen;
    a recent poll in the Washington Post is clear. But that was the first
    major decision Donald Trump made as President, the first major
    decision.
      Most Americans don't care whether you call it the Gulf of Mexico or
    the Gulf of America or something else. Most Americans don't care about
    building hotels in Gaza or annexing Canada. Yet these are the things
    that Donald Trump is focused on to distract people from the fact that
    he doesn't actually have real solutions to the things Americans really
    worry about.
      Of course, there are things that Republicans are focused on that make
    things actively worse. Most Americans don't think it is a great idea to
    get into a trade war with our closest allies. That is going to make
    trips to the grocery store even more expensive than they are now.
      Of course, most Americans do care about making government more
    efficient. While everyone certainly supports cutting waste, Americans
    don't like the harmful chaos that Elon Musk and DOGE have unleashed.
    They don't want to see a rich billionaire treat Federal workers with
    immense disrespect. And make no mistake, Americans did not sign up for
    DOGE to endanger their Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid
    benefits. That is not government efficiency; that hurts the American
    people.

      What DOGE is doing is chaos, and Americans know that the chaos being
    unleashed by DOGE is causing a lot of harm to the country. Americans
    don't want to see their air traffic safety personnel fired in droves,
    no questions asked. That is not government efficiency; that is chaos
    and danger at the airports and in airplanes, at security checkpoints.
      Our veterans don't want to see the VA starved of resources. Someone
    came over to me the other day and said: My brother is in a VA hospital.
    He has a rare disease. Seven of the people were let go. Who is going to
    take care of him?
      They don't want to hear about cuts to the Veterans Crisis Line, where
    veterans who may have come back from Iraq or Afghanistan with PTSD or
    other problems have a place to go and a place to call. That is not
    government efficiency, cutting the Veterans Crisis Line; that is just
    more chaos, more harm, more hurt. Can you imagine the callousness of
    firing personnel who operate the veterans suicide crisis line, as was
    reported by the staff at the VA? It is a cruel and vindictive way to
    treat America's heroes.
      Of course, our 9/11 families did not sign up for DOGE trying to cut
    the 9/11 survivor health program--the people who rushed to the Towers,
    the brave heroes, police, fire, first responders, and others who rushed
    to the Towers in the days after that horrible day of 9/11 and got
    illnesses in their lungs and gastrointestinal tracts and now are
    getting some help. The 9/11 families didn't sign up to cut that, but
    that is precisely what DOGE tried to do. We pushed back, and I am glad
    that President Trump and DOGE reversed themselves on that issue. They
    should be reversing themselves on many other issues also that hurt
    people so badly.
      But the takeaway is they are very clear: What DOGE is doing is not
    making government more efficient; it is creating more chaos. And if
    there is one thing Americans don't want in these turbulent times, it is
    more chaos.
      Rather than actually cut waste in government in a smart way, a
    careful way, an efficient way; rather than putting the needs of working
    people first, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republican Party have
    plunged basic government services into chaos and taken a meat ax at
    programs that help workers, middle-class families, and low-income
    Americans, all for the sake of cutting taxes for billionaires and mega
    corporations.
      Republicans are focused on the wrong things. They are helping the
    wrong people, and they are ignoring the vast majority of Americans they
    promised to serve.
      Under Donald Trump's Republican Party, billionaires win, American
    families lose.
      So let me say it once again. Over the last month, it has become clear
    how Donald Trump and Republicans govern. Donald Trump and Republicans
    have focused on things Americans don't care about or don't like while
    refusing to focus on things Americans actually do care about.
      I yield the floor.
      I suggest the absence of a quorum.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
      The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
      Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
    for the quorum call be rescinded.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
      Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I have just come to the floor, having
    listened to the minority leader, the

    [[Page S1320]]

    Democratic Senator from New York, say something to the effect that he
    thought that President Trump's policies were not popular with the
    American people.
      As he was saying this, I recalled a poll, a Harvard-Harris poll,
    conducted just this past week. Trump's policies--the key thing why he
    won election as President of the United States--huge popularity of what
    the President is doing today: promises that he made prior to the
    election, promises kept now that he is in the White House.
      Let's take a look at No. 1--deportation of illegal immigrants who
    have committed crimes. Mr. President, 81 percent of the American
    people--and that includes a lot of Democrats--say that is a very
    popular position taken by President Trump and now being enforced by
    President Trump.
      Eliminating fraud and waste in government expenditures--76 percent of
    Americans agree. What have we seen happen with DOGE? What we have seen
    is actually pointing out fraud and waste in government. The American
    people are supportive.
      Then, of course, closing the border. Again, 76 percent of Americans--
    Republicans, Democrats, Independents--all across the board support what
    President Trump is doing.
      President Trump ran for office against a party that was a party of
    high prices and open borders, and it is because of those things that
    President Trump won and Republicans won the House and the Senate.
      So now the minority leader comes to the floor and says that what
    President Trump is doing is not popular. Well, they sure are in terms
    of wasteful Washington spending and closing the border, which were the
    two reasons that President Trump and Republicans won the elections in
    November.
      Let's talk about the things the American people care about.
    Republicans, President Trump--all of us promised to get America back on
    track. That is what we said we would do. That is what we are doing
    right now. We committed to cutting Washington's wasteful spending. We
    committed to reducing the size of a bloated government. This is going
    to make life more affordable for all Americans.
      President Trump and Republicans are now doing exactly what we
    promised we would do. We are rooting out waste, we are rooting out
    fraud, and we are rooting out abuse by a bureaucracy, all across a
    bureaucracy. We are ripping it out root and stem.
      The Department of Government Efficiency has already uncovered more
    than $55 billion in savings. Who benefits from the savings? The
    American taxpayers.
      U.S. taxpayers were spending $2 million--take a look at this list--$2
    million to develop ``sustainable recycling models'' in the Balkans.
    Well, we have canceled that.
      U.S. taxpayers were spending $19 million on ``biodiversity
    conversation'' in Nepal. Well, that has been canceled.
      U.S. taxpayers were spending $47 million to improve ``learning
    outcomes in Asia.'' We canceled that.
      U.S. taxpayers were spending $1.5 million on ``voter confidence'' in
    Liberia, Africa. Well, we have canceled that.
      U.S. taxpayers were spending $21 million for voter turnout in India.
    Canceled.
      More savings are on the way.
      Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, who we
    recently confirmed to that post, uncovered $20 billion--with a ``b''--
    $20 billion in taxpayer money that the Biden EPA shoveled out the door
    on their last days before leaving office.
      This was a slush fund, and it was funneled to eight leftwing climate
    groups. Now, all of this was in the service of the left's extreme,
    radical climate agenda--an agenda that makes energy more expensive and
    life less affordable for American families.
      Who received these taxpayer-funded, undeserved gifts? Does anybody
    remember Georgia Democrat Governor candidate Stacey Abrams? Well, she
    was one of them. Her leftwing organization got a $2 billion kickback
    from the Biden administration. I am so glad that Ambassador Zeldin
    caught this scam and is working to claw back the money for the
    taxpayers of this Nation.
      I heard the minority leader admit just this morning--he said: Of
    course there is some wasteful spending. He didn't mention any of those
    things. He didn't actually point out what it is. But I don't hear him
    say what wasteful spending he wants to cut. In fact, I haven't heard
    any Democrats say what wasteful spending, if any, should be cut. What
    about that $2 billion that was sent to Stacey Abrams?
      Democrats added almost $5 trillion to our debt in 4 years. Joe Biden
    and Democrats' reckless spending caused painfully high prices.
      Cutting wasteful Washington spending is long overdue. President Trump
    and Republicans are uncovering massive evidence of wasteful Washington
    spending, and we are stopping it.
      Democrats seem more upset that the waste they support is now being
    exposed than about the massive waste itself. Instead of defending the
    indefensible and the obscene level of spending, what are they doing?
    What do the Democrats do? They are demanding that the courts intervene.
    Hey, let's get the courts involved. This is the next chapter of
    destructive Democrat behavior.
      Democrats have now filed over 80 lawsuits in 1 month against the
    Trump administration. Now, often, they go judge shopping. What are they
    looking for? They are looking for partisan, activist judges.
      So how does that work? Well, last month--and it is unbelievable--last
    month, the State of New Jersey wanted to sue the administration, so
    they filed suit not in New Jersey but in Massachusetts. They sued in a
    district where 11 of the 13 district judges were appointed by Democrat
    Presidents. They didn't think they could accomplish what they wanted to
    accomplish in their own home State, so they go to Massachusetts, one of
    the most liberal States in the country. That is not a coincidence. It
    is intentional. It is premeditated. What is the aim of it? It is to
    obstruct President Trump's popular cost-cutting efforts.
      Let me tell you how far the Democrats are taking this. Earlier this
    month, a Federal judge in New York issued a knee-jerk order that
    forbids political appointees from accessing records within the Treasury
    Department. The judge actually went so far as to block the Secretary of
    the Treasury, Scott Bessent, from accessing important data within the
    Agency that he runs, that he has been confirmed to serve as the
    Secretary of the Treasury by this very body, by the U.S. Senate, and
    you got a judge saying he doesn't have access to the Treasury records.
      So a Federal judge blocks a Senate-confirmed Secretary of Treasury
    from getting the information he needs to run the U.S. Department of the
    Treasury. That is where the Democrats are headed.
      District courts should not get to micromanage the executive branch.
    Yet that is what Democrats want to do with the courts, and that is why
    they have filed 80 lawsuits so far. It is not based on the law. It is
    not based on policy disagreements. This is based solely on political
    disagreements.
      This is the real crisis we are facing in America. It is what I hear
    about in Wyoming. I heard about it this past weekend. It is unelected,
    unaccountable, heavyhanded Federal bureaucrats who have taken America
    off track. We are getting America back on track.
      The American people are being strangled by Washington's wasteful
    spending, by burdensome redtape. According to a poll last month from
    the Associate Press, almost two in three Americans say government
    inefficiency is a major problem.
      The bureaucracy must be accountable to the American people, and they
    are there to serve the American people. Americans voted in November for
    more accountability. They voted to drain the swamp. This is the swamp I
    am talking about, and that is exactly what President Trump is doing.
      Working with President Trump, Senate Republicans are going to deliver
    on our mandate, and it is going to involve massive change in Washington
    because it is time, Mr. President, to get America back on track.
      I yield the floor.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
      Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, did you see over the weekend Elon Musk,
    the richest man in the world, dancing on a stage with a chain saw? Did
    you see that? Most Americans did. That was his approach to DOGE
    government efficiency--take a chain saw to it, put an

    [[Page S1321]]

    Agency like USAID in the ``wood chipper,'' in his words. Does this
    sound like a thoughtful approach to making government more efficient or
    does this sound like a meat-ax approach from a man who has no business
    being there, an unelected individual who somehow has been given
    authority by this President to lop off tens of thousands of jobs day in
    day out?
      Yes, we have gone to court. Many of the Agencies in the government--
    the employees and their representatives--have gone to court to question
    this ham-handed approach to making this government work, and they have
    been successful in the overwhelming percentage to receive temporary
    restraining orders and the like because on its face, serious questions
    are raised as to the authority of this President.
      We have time-honored traditions when it comes to things like
    impoundment of Federal funds. The President cannot make that decision
    unilaterally. The power of the purse happens to be with the article I
    agency of the government, the legislature, not with the article II
    agency, the executive. As a consequence, when the President decides to
    do this unilaterally, he is being challenged in court, and he should be
    challenged in court.
      This is not just a political issue, as one Senator just described; it
    is more importantly a constitutional issue and a legal issue, and it is
    going to be resolved ultimately by the court. Perhaps the President
    will win some of his cases and lose others. But this is a legitimate
    exercise of the authority in the Constitution.
      I might add that this notion that we are going to start lopping off
    air traffic controllers and people who are responsible for aviation
    safety--I would just say to those who are for that and believe that is
    draining the swamp: Pay attention to what is happening across America.
    These terrible aviation disasters like the one that happened here in
    Washington, DC, should be taken seriously by us every day, and putting
    people in charge of these Departments who don't have adequate staff to
    monitor the flights of our Nation is active irresponsibility, as far as
    I am concerned.
      The same thing is true with avian flu. Yes, the price of eggs is
    terrible. One of the reasons is avian flu is killing off the flocks of
    laying hens. As a consequence, we have fewer eggs and higher prices.
      It is a very real concern because the avian flu is going to jump from
    these birds and fowl into the human chain, and we will face another
    pandemic. Do we want that? For God's sake, no. But the notion that we
    are going to lop off employees that are responsible for public health
    one after the other and somehow make this a safer nation is
    irresponsible on its face. Should it be challenged in court? Of course
    it should be, and I stand by that.
      I just want to say to the Senator and others who make these comments:
    Think about what you are inviting here, to give the President the
    authority this Congress has, the authority under the Constitution--to
    just give it away. Are we going to give away our responsibility under
    the Constitution because of the popularity of this President with some
    Members? I pray that we won't.
      (The remarks of Mr. Durbin pertaining to the introduction of S. 710
    are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills
    and Joint Resolutions.'')
      Mr. DURBIN. I yield the floor.
      I suggest the absence of a quorum.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). The clerk will call the roll.
      The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
      Mr. MULLIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
    the quorum call be rescinded.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.