[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S1919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Trump Administration

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, work on the President's nominations 
continues apace. Last week, we confirmed nine members of the 
President's administration, including the Secretary of the Navy, an 
Assistant Attorney General, and Deputy Secretaries of Treasury, State, 
and Veterans Affairs.
  The President's Cabinet Secretaries, of course, are all in place. And 
tonight, we will be voting to invoke cloture on Matthew Whitaker to be 
the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, and I expect to confirm 
additional nominees this week as well.
  A huge focus early on in any new Congress, with a newly elected 
President, is filling out the President's administration. We have also 
been focused on the agenda the President and Republicans were elected 
to deliver. In the very near future, we will be taking up a budget 
resolution to lay the groundwork for legislation to make the 2017 tax 
relief permanent, secure the border, unleash American energy, and 
provide for our Nation's defense. And all of that will be accompanied 
by substantial savings measures.
  And on the subject of maximizing savings, I just want to be very 
clear: The House and the Senate are united in aiming to do all we can 
on this. Sure, the instructions we give to our separate committees, 
which are responsible for finding those savings, may look a little bit 
different. But that is not because we don't have a shared commitment to 
cutting wasteful government spending and saving taxpayer dollars. That 
is simply a function of Senate rules.
  In the Senate, if we fail to meet a single savings instruction--even 
by a dollar--we lose our ability to consider the legislation under 
reconciliation rules and the simple majority threshold. So we have to 
be careful not to miss the mark on this and to provide flexibility as 
we chart our bicameral course. But that won't stop us from maximizing 
savings. Again, on that point, we are committed.

  But back to the bill that we will be moving forward. As I said, the 
budget resolution we will take up will lay the groundwork for 
legislation to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent. The 2017 tax relief we 
passed put more money in American families' pockets with the largest 
proportional share of the tax relief going to the middle class. And if 
we don't act to extend this relief, American families will be taking 
home lower paychecks next year.
  Along with the President, Senate Republicans are committed to 
ensuring that we not only extend this relief, but that we make it 
permanent. Americans should not have to worry about their tax relief 
expiring every few years.
  In addition to making this relief permanent, the bill will also, as I 
said, invest in securing our border, unleashing American energy, and 
defending our Nation. After years of chaos at our southern border under 
President Biden and after years of deficiencies in our military 
readiness, it is time for a serious investment in border and national 
security.
  As I have said before, if we don't get national security right, Mr. 
President, the rest is just conversation. It is past time to address 
the deficiencies in our military readiness and to ensure that the good 
work President Trump is doing to secure the border and remove criminals 
from our streets can continue.
  I am looking forward to taking up our budget resolution in the very 
near future so that we can deliver permanent tax relief for Americans, 
provide certainty to the economy, and make a transformational 
investment in border, energy, and national security. It is going to be 
a great bill.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.