[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 11, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1645-S1646]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, Donald Trump and ``Copresident'' Elon Musk 
are shutting down the Federal Government one piece at a time: shutting 
down the Agency that stops banks and payday lenders from cheating 
working people; shutting down children's cancer research; shutting down 
key parts of the Department of Transportation, the Agency responsible 
for keeping people safe when they are flying airplanes; even shutting 
down parts of the Social Security Administration.
  Now Republicans in Congress are laying out their blueprint to shut 
down the entire Federal Government. A budget is a reflection of our 
values, and this proposal makes clear where the Republicans' values 
lie. After months of bipartisan talks, they are walking away from the 
negotiating table and offering a nonstarter House bill that forces us 
to the brink of a full government shutdown. Who would be hurt the most? 
Working people. Billionaires win; families lose. Republicans' values 
are clear.
  Their shutdown bill does two terrible things. First, it wipes out the 
guardrails that Congress wrote for how to spend taxpayer money. That 
means that ``Copresidents'' Trump and Musk can hold everyone under 
their magic spell. They can spend taxpayer money or they can shut off 
taxpayer money exactly how they want. Perhaps Trump and Musk want to 
shovel $75 million of ALS treatment funding to anti-vaccine research 
instead. That would be OK under the Republican deal--or maybe they want 
to shift $300 million or more from the FAA's telecommunications funding 
bucket toward contracts to Elon Musk's Starlink. The budget the 
Republicans have sent over would permit that as well. And if Trump and 
Musk decide to fire another 25,000 Americans or kick a million old 
people out of nursing homes, this package from House Republicans would 
say: Sure.
  In addition to giving ``Copresidents'' Trump and Musk the power to 
spend taxpayer money wherever they want, House Republicans also propose 
general cuts--cuts from programs that help families put food on the 
table, afford childcare, and keep our communities safe; cuts from local 
communities for projects like improving hospitals, teaching facilities, 
and childcare centers--dollars that the House and the Senate had 
already agreed to.
  But the House Republican package isn't just about cutting out 
veterans and old people. No. It is also about spending more money. 
Republican House Members want to pour an extra $6 billion over the next 
6 months--yes, that is $1 billion a month--directly to the Pentagon, 
with no explanation and no justification of why this money is needed. 
Nope. There are cuts everywhere else in government, but there is a 
funding increase for the one government Agency that has never, never 
passed an audit. That Agency, the Department of Defense, gets $1 
billion a month.
  House Republicans want to give 6 billion more dollars to make sure 
that defense contractors continue to get their fat paychecks.
  Look, Republicans in Congress don't care whether the government shuts 
down because they don't care about hurting working families. All they 
care about is getting back to jamming through their true agenda--$4.6 
trillion worth of tax handouts for millionaires, billionaires, and 
giant corporations, paid for by gutting healthcare for millions of 
people.
  Donald Trump looked Americans in the eye and said he would ``lower 
costs on day one.'' Those were his words. And now we are 7 weeks in, 
and he has done the exact opposite. He is raising costs for families. 
More people are losing their jobs--sky-high childcare, housing, and 
food costs. And it is open season right now for banks and credit card 
companies and shady student loan outfits to scam the American people.
  The Republican shutdown playbook is dangerous, and it will hurt 
working families. Democrats are right to oppose the House bill, and 
people all across this country are right to expect us to stand up and 
fight back.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.

[[Page S1646]]