[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 11, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1642-S1644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Trump Administration
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yesterday afternoon, Elon Musk confirmed
what many of us have been warning about for a long time: Republicans
are getting ready to gut Social Security and Medicare.
Let me repeat that. Elon Musk confirmed what many of us have warned
about: Republicans are getting ready to gut Social Security and gut
Medicare.
Here is what he said during an interview with FOX Business. The
richest man on Earth repeated again a bevy of lies that entitlement
programs that tens of millions of people rely on are riddled with fraud
and abuse. That is a pretext to slashing, but it is false.
He added that ``most of the Federal spending is entitlements''--that
is true--``so that is the big one to eliminate,'' meaning Social
Security.
Let me quote Elon Musk again: ``That is the big one''--Social
Security--``to eliminate.'' It is rare to hear Republicans tell the
truth about their plans so directly.
What Elon Musk is saying is that sooner or later, Republicans are
going to target people's Social Security and Medicare benefits.
The outrage that the richest man in the world would tell millions of
seniors who depend on those checks each month that it is fraud, that it
is waste, is outrageous. He doesn't have any idea the harm it would do,
and it isn't fraud. Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans know that
the math on their billionaire tax cuts will not work without going
after these benefits, and all they care about is cutting their taxes
further--outrageous.
As America begins to hear this, America is going to realize what a
bad bargain Donald Trump was in the election. It is another awful
reminder that under Donald Trump and Elon Musk and Republicans,
billionaires win, American families lose.
There is something truly rotten about the Republican agenda when a
multibillionaire--the richest man in the world--is allowed to lie so
casually about one of America's most sacred programs in order to
justify taking benefits away from hard-working Americans. Few programs
have done more good, have helped more people, have been more popular
than Social Security has for nearly a century. Few programs are as
beloved by Americans as Social Security. Americans, of course, support
eliminating waste, but they do not want to see their Social Security
benefits get taken away.
How is Elon Musk trying to do this? He is using the oldest trick in
the book: shamelessly lying about Social Security--just as Donald Trump
did in his State of the Union Address, where he listed hundreds of
people who were born 120 years ago and couldn't show a single one was
getting Social Security.
Musk is shamelessly lying about Social Security, claiming it is
riddled with fraud, in order to justify taking benefits away from
seniors and retirees. He ignores the very bold, plain fact that the
Federal Government already conducts an audit of Social Security every
year. It is a legit audit, not a partisan audit. It has been done
during Trump's Presidency and Biden's Presidency. What did it find?
Less than 1 percent--1 percent--less than 1 percent of all payments
from 2015 to 2022 were made in error.
That, Mr. Musk, is not what fraud looks like.
He cherry-picks data to suggest that tens of millions of dead people
are getting checks. This is a lie.
To be sure, this isn't just about Elon Musk's rhetoric. The assault
on Social Security is taking shape in practice. DOGE has already taken
over the Social Security Administration Agency and has free access to
the private data and benefits of tens of millions of Americans. The
Trump administration has already begun to fire 7,000 staffers, which
means local offices will shut down, customer service wait times will
explode, and the risk of delayed benefits will skyrocket.
So I ask my Republican colleagues: Are you all fine with this?
Are they fine with Musk calling Social Security one giant scam? Let's
find a single person here on the Republican side who starts rebutting
Musk once and for all when they know he is doing what the American
people hate and is not telling the truth.
Do our colleagues agree with Musk's lie that hundreds of billions of
dollars in outright fraud has compromised Social Security?
Mark my words, if Elon Musk and DOGE continue their attacks against
Social Security, if the President continues his attacks, which he made
in the State of the Union, sooner or later, benefits are going to be
delayed, mistakenly halted, and the political uproar from Americans
from one end of the country to the other--red, purple, and blue--will
be immense.
And more trouble for the Trump administration--the Trump economy.
Donald Trump promised Americans a golden age on day one. Well, today is
day 50, and Americans are wondering, scratching their heads, where is
this golden age? You can't find this golden age in the inflation
numbers because inflation has gone up under Donald Trump, from
groceries, to retail, to cars. He campaigned prices will begin going
down on day one. That is by the wayside, that is for sure.
You can't find this golden age in the stock market either. We know
the stock market is Donald Trump's favorite measuring stick. But right
now, because of him--his actions, his erraticness--his own actions have
plunged markets and therefore people's retirement accounts into chaos.
Yesterday, the Dow fell by almost 900 points, 2 percent. The S&P 500
plunged
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2.7 percent. The NASDAQ Composite fell by 4 percent.
Why is this happening? One of the reasons is the President's tariffs
on Canada and Mexico, but the other is pure chaos--no stability, no
certainty for businesses, total confusion in the economy. One thing
businesses tell us: They want certainty, and they want stability. One
thing they are getting from Donald Trump: uncertainty and chaos.
By starting this foolish and chaotic trade war--on again one day, off
again the next day--Donald Trump has singlehandedly poured a bucket of
ice water on the economy. Trump thinks he can just yak: Oh, I am for
it, and then the next day, I will say I am not for it. But businesses
can't plan that way. If they think there is a chance he will come back
and do it, they don't plan, they don't buy, they don't go forward.
Businesses right now are in a state of total confusion. They have no
idea what Trump is going to do next. Is he going to impose tariffs
today? tomorrow? next month? How big will they be? What countries? What
products? Every day, you hear a different answer on something that is
so important to the American economy and the world economy.
American consumers are also anxious. If you don't know what tomorrow
will bring, you are going to spend less today.
Donald Trump himself knows that tariffs will hurt working families.
When asked on FOX Business about the possibility that his tariffs could
trigger a recession, he refused to even downplay the possibility it
could happen. This was a rare moment of truth from Donald Trump. He
said: Yeah, my tariffs can cause a recession. And then he seemed to say
with his body language: Who cares? Amazing. The guy who said he would
lift the economy not only is beginning to cause the beginnings of an
economic downturn, but he seems to be proud of it. Wow. Is that what
America bargained for? I don't think so.
When Donald Trump says there is a ``period of transition,'' it is
just gibberish. What Donald Trump means when he says ``period of
transition'' is that ``I will hurt you slowly, not all at once.'' It
means ``Yes, my tariffs will raise prices on the American people.''
Donald Trump knows his tariffs could wreck the economy, but he is doing
it anyway, all so he can use the income from tariffs to pay for tax
cuts for billionaires--his North Star.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor having just listened
to the minority leader of the Senate come to the floor, and I listened
to what he had to say.
You know, it has been 10 weeks now that Republicans have been in the
majority and the Democrats have been in the minority after the historic
victory in November. The contrast is pretty significant. Senate
Republicans made promises to the American people. We promised to get
the country back on track. We are keeping that promise. We are hitting
the ground running, and we are not turning back.
Most importantly for our successes, it has been because Republicans
have remained united. As a result, we have a list of accomplishments as
opposed to what we just heard the minority leader talk about.
First, the Senate has now confirmed all 21 members of President
Trump's Cabinet, and we did it at a record pace--a faster pace than the
Democrats were able to do for Obama in 2009 and faster than they were
able to do it for President Biden in 2021. The pace with which
Republicans have confirmed President Trump's nominees to the Cabinet--
as POLITICO pointed out today--all completed before the Senate has
taken a break. That is where we are today. Historic speed.
With his team in place early, President Trump is able to execute
effectively and efficiently the popular agenda for which he was
elected. The Senate has prioritized confirming the President's national
security team. We saw the horrific attack in New Orleans on New Year's.
We continue to see chaos around the world. We need a national security
team in place, we have prioritized that, and we have done it.
The Senate also passed the Laken Riley Act. It is now law, signed by
the President. It is the first significant piece of immigration
enforcement law signed in decades and just in the first number of
weeks. It is actually the first bill that President Trump signed into
law as the 47th President of the United States. It is going to save
lives. It is going to prevent human tragedy like we saw happen in
Georgia to that young nursing student.
I am very grateful to Senator Katie Britt of Alabama and Senator Ted
Budd of North Carolina for their leadership in finding a bipartisan way
to get this bill passed.
We have also focused on our shared agenda with the House and with the
President to move quickly to pass a budget that is focused on border
security, energy security for our Nation, as well as America's peace
through strength. The Budget Committee--Lindsey Graham, who is chairman
of the committee, and the members of the committee did groundbreaking
work, all focused on making America stronger, better, more secure.
Senate Republicans are working with the House on a path forward now
and working closely with Senator Mike Crapo of the Finance Committee,
who is leading the charge to make sure we are not facing a $4 trillion
tax increase, which is what the Democrats want. They want Americans to
suffer the pain of $4 trillion in additional taxes. This is very
important work to keep taxes low for hard-working families and continue
to stimulate the economy.
I heard a lot from the minority leader about 5 minutes ago. He was
talking about the future of Medicaid and of Medicare. I am a doctor and
work closely with patients on all of those programs. But what I heard
Senator Schumer do as he stood right there--it sounded to me like he is
threatening to shut down the government. He sounds like somebody who is
going to tell his Members: Vote against keeping the government open. We
are so distraught about the fact that President Trump has been elected,
so mad at the voters because they elected a Republican House and a
Republican Senate, as well as sent President Trump back to the White
House, that we just want to say: The heck with you; we are going to
shut down the government.
It costs money to shut down the government. It costs money to reopen
the government. It impacts services for the American people.
Democrats are so mad--you saw it last week when the President made
his speech to Congress, to the joint session, his address to the
Nation, the way they acted during that statement by the Commander in
Chief--those are people that are just mad at the voters.
The American public liked what the President had to say that night.
Overwhelmingly, those who saw the speech saw it as very positive, are
happy with the direction of the country, happy with the leadership of
the President. He is focused. He is forceful. He is effective,
energetic, getting the job done.
That is not what I heard from the Senate minority leader just a few
minutes ago. He sounded like somebody who is going to command the
troops: Hey, shut down the government because we are mad, and we are
going to take it out on the American people.
Let me set the record straight, because Republicans support Medicaid,
and Republicans support Medicare. Just the other night, we passed
Senator Dan Sullivan's amendment to protect and preserve Medicaid and
Medicare. Not a single Democrat joined us.
These programs are in trouble today. Why? Because of the previous
administration. Joe Biden weakened them by making them available for
scammers, and that is what has happened. People are sucking money out
of these programs who don't deserve to be doing it and are taking the
care needed from hard-working American families.
Republicans want to protect and preserve and strengthen Medicare and
Medicaid. We want to do it for the people these vital programs were
originally intended for--not for the scammers. Stopping scamming is a
big part of this.
Additionally, when I take a look at some of the things we have done
over the last several weeks, one is that we have reaffirmed our
friendship with Israel. Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton of
Arkansas and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
[[Page S1644]]
Jim Risch of Idaho introduced bipartisan legislation to impose severe
sanctions on something called the International Criminal Court.
It is an illegitimate kangaroo court that targets Israel and does the
bidding of Iran. Sanctioning the ICC would have sent a very strong
message to the world--the message, of course, being ``America stands
with Israel.'' Senate Democrats filibustered it; 45 Democrat Senators
chose to abandon our closest ally.
Senate Republicans also successfully blocked destructive Democrat
legislation attacking American energy production. Democrats actually
tried to reverse President Trump's national energy emergency. America
clearly faces an energy emergency. Energy prices went up 31 percent
during the last 4 years under the Democrats' administration of
punishing American energy. Well, led by Chairman Mike Lee of Utah,
Republicans are taking the handcuffs off American energy. Look, we know
unleashing American energy will help kick-start our economy.
Senate Republicans also voted to protect girls and women in sports.
Senator Coach Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has been a champion of
women's sports in the Senate. His legislation was common sense to over
80 percent of Americans. It said: Biological men should not be allowed
to compete in women's sports against our daughters, our sisters--simple
as that. Democrats filibustered it. They are completely out of touch
with the American people, the Democrats are. And they are putting our
female athletes in harm's way.
Senate Republicans also have erased some burdensome Biden
regulations. We are cutting through the redtape, cutting redtape most
significantly on American energy production. At the same time, we are
also protecting America's financial freedom.
Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana led efforts to end a Biden
regulation on energy production on the Gulf of America. Senator John
Hoeven of North Dakota led efforts to cut $7 billion in natural gas
taxes on our energy producers. Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska led
the efforts to rein in unaccountable bureaucrats from snooping in your
digital wallet. Democrats wanted to spy on everything you buy or do on
Apple Pay, on Venmo, Zelle, with other apps. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
led efforts to push back against IRS attacks on crypto currency.
Each of these resolutions passed the Senate, in spite of Democrat
opposition. By reversing these heavyhanded rules, Republicans are
making life more affordable for American families.
And this week, the Senate is moving to pass lifesaving legislation
that is called the HALT Fentanyl Act. Approximately 70,000 Americans
are poisoned or killed by elicit fentanyl each year in the United
States. It is the No. 1 killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and
45.
The HALT Fentanyl Act will aid efforts to crack down on drug dealers
and criminal cartels that smuggle the poison into our country and into
our communities. I am grateful that Leader Thune is putting this
bipartisan legislation up for a vote.
You can sum up these early weeks in the Republican-led Senate in
three words: fast, forceful, and effective. We aren't wasting time. We
are not wasting time. We are just getting started.
Working together, Republicans are going to deliver for the American
people.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.