[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 71 (Tuesday, April 29, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2615-S2618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Trump Administration First 100 Days
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, Donald Trump's first 100 days have been
100 days from hell. Over the past week, as I have thought about this
100-day mark, as I have met with people throughout my State--with
business owners and nurses and seniors and veterans and many
Republicans--I couldn't think of another way to describe the sentiment
I felt back home. These 100 days have been 100 days from hell.
Donald Trump is not governing like a President of a democratic
republic; he is acting like a King, a despot, a want-to-be dictator.
Remember that during the campaign, he indicated that he would be a
dictator just on day one, but everything we have seen so far shows he
wants to be a dictator for much, much longer.
He is eating away at America's rule of law, America's norms,
America's fundamental values, and people are scared, people are angry.
When seniors in Buffalo tell me they are legitimately worried about
whether or not they will keep seeing their Social Security checks--and
that is not just a political expression. They wonder how they are going
to pay the rent, buy the food, buy the drugs next month if their Social
Security check isn't there.
When doctors and health workers in Albany tell me they fear losing
Medicaid funding for their hospitals and clinics, they are worried
about caring for their patients, who desperately need help and may not
get it, they are worried about their jobs.
When Republican businessowners on Long Island tell me they are losing
sleep over Donald Trump's tariffs, it is because their businesses may
go under. This is not just a political game. People are really worried,
in ways that I haven't seen in a long time.
And when young people across New York tell me they are scared of
being rounded up on the streets and sent to a prison in Louisiana
because of the way they look or because of some blog post they may have
shared a year ago or years ago, it is hard to fathom that this is all
happening in America in 2025.
Mr. President, 100 days into this Presidency, there is a feeling of
incompetence and indecision and chaos in the White House eating away at
much of the country, emanating from the man who occupies the Oval
Office.
Donald Trump promised a golden age on the first day he became
President. What Americans got, instead, was fool's gold. We knew Donald
Trump was lying by the time he pardoned 1,600 insurrectionists a few
hours later, pardoned outright criminals who beat up cops--so much for
``Back the Blue''--pardoning lawbreakers who had an intent on
disrupting the Congress as we counted electoral votes. What a disgrace.
What kind of morals is he setting for this country? This will go down
in history as one of the ways America has declined under Donald Trump.
So, this morning, let's talk about Donald Trump's so-called golden
age. Democrats are going to hammer away at this topic all day long
today, as we have done many days in the past. And tonight we will come
to this Chamber and hold the floor until late tonight to mark these
dismal 100 days by speaking the truth. Tonight, we will come to the
floor and hold the Chamber to mark these dismal 100 days.
What is the truth? The truth is this: No President in modern history
has promised more on day one and delivered less by day 100 than Donald
Trump. In record time, the President has turned a golden promise into
an economic ticking time bomb. It is getting worse every day, and he
calls it progress.
Let's remember what Donald Trump said again and again on the campaign
trail.
Starting on day one--
He said--
we will end inflation and make America affordable again.
A vote for Trump--
He said--
means your groceries will be cheaper.
We are going to get your energy prices down by 50 percent.
Well, the opposite is happening. The economic winds are pointing in
the wrong direction and reaching hurricane speed. Americans are still
paying more and more today for their groceries, their rent, their
housing, their gas, their cars, auto parts, drugs, and household
necessities. And Donald Trump's asinine trade war has made it all the
worse.
And 44 percent of families now believe they will be worse off
financially a year from now--a level of pessimism not even seen during
the Great Depression or the 1970s' stagflation.
According to an AP-NORC poll, half of Americans are worried about a
recession and expect inflation to keep going up. And these aren't just
poll numbers. When I talk to New Yorkers, when I hear from Americans,
that is exactly where they are at. Consumer sentiment is at a decades-
long low. It has plunged by 30 percent. So the consumer is holding
back. They are not spending. They are not planning that trip to see the
grandkids. They are not thinking of buying the new car or new furniture
because they are worried.
And then businesses--seeing that, hearing that--they hold back. I
have heard from business after business, large and small. Everything is
on freeze. Everything is hold. And you know what that does? That leads
to a recession.
In fact, Amazon announced that they will begin displaying how much
tariffs contribute to the total price of products to consumers. I urge
more companies--particularly national retailers that compete with
Amazon--to adopt this practice. If Amazon has the courage to display
why prices are going up because of tariffs, so should all of our other
national retailers who compete with them, and I am calling on them to
do it now.
To the large businesses that sell to consumers, I say: Show your
customers how much tariffs are hurting their pocketbooks. People
deserve to know the impact tariffs have on their finances. And
certainly, when people hear it, they will let their Congressmen and
Senators know. And businesses, then you will have a chance to get rid
of these tariffs, which are so stultifying your ability to move
forward.
And it is also small businesses. They don't want to get blamed for
hiking prices when Donald Trump's tariffs have put them in a terrible
position--in a position that says: Raise your prices or close your
doors. They hate doing either.
And, finally, let's not forget Donald Trump's favorite measuring
stick, the stock market, which he has conspicuously been silent about
over the last few months. The Dow Jones is on track for its worst April
since 1932.
Did you hear that, Donald Trump? Your beloved stock market is on
track for the worst April since 1932, the last year of Herbert Hoover.
I ask this Chamber, Mr. President: Is this what the golden age looks
like? Are we supposed to feel good that Donald Trump has singlehandedly
pushed us to the brink of a recession? This President, who governs
chaotically and reverses himself like a weather vane in a windstorm, is
driving the robust American economy into a ditch.
I think if you asked Americans to pick one word that describes Donald
Trump's economy and how he is handling it, it would be one word, a
five-letter word: chaos, C-H-A-O-S. Another five-letter word is Trump,
T-R-U-M-P. Chaos equals Trump; Trump equals chaos.
Are Americans supposed to just take it when Donald Trump says
families should be OK with prices going up, with experiencing some pain
and disturbance? That is what he says: It is OK if prices go up. You
will get some pain and disturbance.
Pretty rich coming from a billionaire.
American consumers are not supposed to take it. There is precious
little, if anything, on the economic front to feel good about 100 days
into Trump 2.0.
And don't take it from me. Today, Donald Trump has lower approval
ratings than he did at this point in 2017;
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and, in fact, he has the lowest approval ratings of any President
through 100 days in the last 80 years, when they started doing these
polls. The only thing historic about Donald Trump's golden age is how
fast public confidence in him has collapsed, faster than any other
President in modern history.
Americans don't trust him on the economy, nor should they. They don't
trust him on keeping America safe, nor should they. They don't trust
him on his ability to fight for the interests of ordinary people
because they know that the whole place is run by a small cadre of
billionaires who don't really care about average folks at all. And we
are only 100 days in.
And, finally, on a related subject, let me say this: As Donald Trump
races to sabotage the American economy, he has likewise already
inflicted lasting harm to the foundations of American democracy. When
our Founders drafted the Constitution, they feared precisely a man like
Donald Trump. They feared a man who sees rule of law as a nuisance, who
considers the truth an inconvenience, who regards his fellow citizens
as little more than subjects.
Either kiss the ring, bow before the throne, or watch your back: That
is the ethos of Donald Trump. Kiss the ring, bow before the throne, or
watch your back: the Trumpian ethos.
In 100 days, Donald Trump has moved with lightning speed to weaponize
the Federal Government against anyone he thinks might oppose him. Plain
and simple, Donald Trump does not believe in democracy or debate, nor
do the people around him. He doesn't believe in honest disagreement. He
simply wants to crush his opponents. And that is what dictators do.
He wiped the government clean of its independent watchdogs and rid
the government of most measures of transparency. He has fired public
workers by the tens of thousands and illegally paralyzed Agency after
Agency that helps everyday Americans.
He has attacked the free press. He has attacked our education system.
He has attacked our scientists. He is systematically attempting to
weaken any political opposition, anyone who might hold him accountable.
In the name of security, which is a favorite justification for many
of history's despots, Trump is arresting people with little due process
and, in some cases, without even regard to immigration status. Last
week--just look at last week--four American citizens, all of them
children, two of them battling life-threatening cancers, were deported
from the U.S., from their homeland--they are citizens like we are--and
sent to places like Honduras.
Let me repeat: These are American citizens, Donald Trump.
If you thought something like this could never happen in America,
then unfortunately you were wrong. It is happening right in front of
us.
And what did Donald Trump have to say about the risk of deporting
U.S. citizens? He said:
Let me tell you that nothing will ever be perfect in this
world.
That is what he said. That is disgusting--just disgusting. If it was
a member of his family trapped in such a calamity, would he say,
``Tough luck; nothing is perfect''?
Donald Trump's inability to feel empathy for people who do not look
like him is shocking to the core.
So as America marks 100 days of the worst President of our lifetimes,
I ask America to look at this administration for what it is: a full
frontal attack on the core elements of what has made America truly
great--the rule of people over kings and oligarchs, the rule of law and
not the dictates of an authoritarian, respect for the rights of all
people, and a commitment to ``promoting the general welfare'' for the
whole of society--not cruel, cheap, and lying scapegoating.
So let us commit ourselves, America. Let us commit ourselves to
continue to struggle against this administration and to uphold the core
values and principles of this great Nation.
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 just saw the minority leader of the
U.S. Senate, the senior Senator from New York, on the floor talking
about the 100 days of the Trump administration. He had his view. Let me
give you the rest of the story--because President Trump took office 100
days ago today. That is when unified Republican government began.
The Republicans have been fighting every day for the American people.
We have been fixing past failures. We are forging a bright future. We
have a very bold agenda, and people are seeing historic results.
Americans entrusted Republicans with the Senate, the House, and the
White House, and we are addressing their priorities.
What do Americans want? Americans want secure borders. We are
delivering them. Illegal crossings into the United States from Mexico--
at an all-time low last month.
Americans want affordable energy. What is happening? We are making it
a lot easier to produce American energy.
Americans want jobs. We have created nearly 450,000 jobs in the first
100 days.
Americans want affordable prices. That is what you see and that is
what I see at home. Prices fell in March for the first time in years--
in years.
Americans want peace through strength. Well, we are restoring it.
Just ask the Houthi rebels about the resolve of the American people.
Americans want common sense, and we are fighting for that as well.
After 100 days, one thing is clear: Republicans are keeping our
promises. We are getting America back on track. Here is our record:
The Senate confirmed President Trump's Cabinet at lightning speed,
record rates. His team carries out the agenda to get America back on
track. That is what that team that we confirmed is doing.
We promised safety and prosperity, and we are delivering it.
Well, first, we are making our communities safer, and you are seeing
that in all 50 States. President Trump quickly restored strong border
policies. He ended the chaos. He reinstated ``Remain in Mexico.'' He
designated the cartels as ``terrorists.'' He stopped Joe Biden's
widespread abuse of parole authorities. And he is doing what he
promised in terms of deporting criminal illegal immigrants. I applaud
President Trump.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, border czar Tom Homan--
they have made a significant difference to the safety and security of
the American people. Illegal crossings have dropped 94 percent on their
watch. I mean, think about it. Before, under Joe Biden's open border
policies--let's take a look. In March of last year, they were having
7,000 illegal immigrants cross into this country each and every day.
Now under President Trump, there were 7,000 for the entire month of
March. Talk about a dramatic impact, a dramatic difference. That is it.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported there were over 100,000
deportations in the first 80 days of the administration. We have seen
more ICE arrests of illegal immigrant criminals in the last 100 days
under President Trump than we saw in all of 2024 under Joe Biden.
So the message is now clear: If you threaten our communities, you are
out. No second chances. That is it.
This is progress, and it is promises kept.
Republicans in Congress--what do we do? We passed the Laken Riley
Act. President Trump signed it into law. It was the first bill that he
signed into law, the first serious immigration legislation in decades.
It honors the memory of Laken Riley, a young nursing student who was
murdered by an illegal immigrant in Georgia while she was out for a
jog. It also honors the memory of Sarah Root. She was a young woman
from Iowa. She was killed by an illegal alien who was driving while
drunk. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa championed Sarah's cause for years.
The Laken Riley Act mandates illegal immigrants who break the law be
detained, not just released into the community.
Republicans in Congress, compared to what we saw with the Democrats
in the last 4 years, are committed to protecting American families.
That is the
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reason we continue to work with President Trump to give Border Patrol
agents the tools and the resources they need--things we were never able
to do under Joe Biden and the Democrats with their open border
policies.
Our agenda puts us on a path to finish the wall. It will boost Border
Patrol. It will provide the staffing that Immigration and Customs
Enforcement needs. It will build more detention space for the
lawbreakers. And think about who those lawbreakers are. Those are
people who felt invited into our country by Joe Biden and Democrats
with medical care, free food, free housing, free plane tickets--an open
invitation and an open border policy. Those days are over. This is how
we keep our communities safe.
Mr. President, I am going to switch to energy because we have a bold
energy agenda as well. For far too long, restrictive regulations locked
up our God-given resources--the energy we have in the ground--certainly
in my home State of Wyoming but all across the United States.
The cost of energy for American citizens rose 34 percent in the last
4 years. Who can afford that? Well, we are reversing that trend.
President Trump, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of
Energy Chris Wright, and Environmental Protection Agency head Lee
Zeldin--to me, they are America's energy all-stars. They are showing it
every day.
In 100 days, this administration, along with Congress, has taken over
50 actions to unleash America's energy potential, and we have a lot of
it there.
I was at the White House recently when President Trump signed an
Executive order for clean coal. Wyoming has--we are the Saudi Arabia of
coal, and our energy workers are ready to lead the way because we are
pursuing and need to continue to pursue an all-of-the-above energy
strategy. We need it all.
President Trump opened up areas for drilling in Alaska and the Gulf
of America. It is American energy. It is affordable energy.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced his Department is
working to increase oil production in the Gulf of America by 100,000
barrels each and every day. That is going to help lower costs.
President Trump has been so successful with streamlining burdensome
requirements in terms of trying to build new energy infrastructure. He
has lifted the Biden ban on liquefied natural gas exports. People
around the world want what we have in America to sell, and they need it
desperately.
We have abundant energy in this country. We want to use that energy
to help our allies and to help drive down costs at home.
President Trump and Congress also cut costly Biden-era regulations on
home appliances.
We are pioneering nuclear power that is safe and efficient.
These steps power America and will continue to power us as a nation
into the future. They fuel our freedom. It is why energy is called the
master resource. They are good for affordable prices and good for our
national security.
We are an energy superpower in this country, and under President
Trump, we are finally acting like it, not apologizing for it as we did
in the last administration.
Within days of taking office, President Trump restored pressure on
Iran. That is how we are protecting strength around the world and
projecting it for the world to see. We are engaged in maximum pressure.
It is a 180-degree turn from the weakness of the previous
administration. It channels the strength and the resolve of President
Ronald Reagan.
President Trump has committed time and time again and shown the world
that he stands firmly with Israel.
Houthi terrorists attacked our servicemembers and our ships.
President Trump struck back. America defends our military and our
interests.
President Trump is also strengthening alliances around the world--
Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India. They are partnering with us
to counter China's global ambitions, and China is ambitious and active
and aggressive.
New trade deals are going to bring supply chains back home to
America, and this is going to end our dependence on communist China.
Under President Trump, America continues to stand tall. We are not
going to be bullied. We are going to back our friends. We are going to
confront our foes. This keeps America safe. Strength deters. Weakness
invites, provokes.
Finally, Mr. President, we are returning to common sense. No more
woke, leftwing policies that the American people strongly oppose. No
more DEI mandates in Federal Agencies. A refocused military, focused on
merit and readiness, not distractions; a military that is lethal,
intimidating, and ready to fight.
In Congress, we are seeing Republicans cutting wasteful Washington
spending--talk about common sense. Fiscal discipline is long overdue.
This is bold, results-driven change.
So how can we build on it? What is next? Well, in the next 100 days,
Republicans will continue to fulfill our promises. We are going to stop
the Democrats' $4 trillion tax hike. This protects families and small
businesses from the largest tax increase in American history. We are
going to cut crippling regulations. Businesses will be allowed to grow
and innovate and thrive. We are going to strengthen our border by
providing law enforcement the resources they need.
The Republican agenda puts America and Americans first. Our mission,
our mandate is America first. Republicans have delivered in 100 days.
We have achieved so much. We are going to deliver even more because
together we are going to get America back on track. America's future is
bright.
I yield the floor.
Mr. President, 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. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Democratic whip.
Honoring Staff Sergeant Jose Duenez, Jr., Staff Sergeant Edvin F.
Franco, Staff Sergeant Troy S. Knutson-Collins, and Private First Class
Dante D. Taitano
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I have come to the Senate floor before to
talk about my connections with the country of Lithuania, where my
mother was born. She came to the United States as an immigrant at the
age of 2. It has been my good fortune to visit and revisit her homeland
and to get to know the wonderful people who live in that nation.
During my time in Congress, I have tried to make sure Lithuania's
heroic path to freedom, the EU, and NATO are strongly supported by
their American allies in the U.S. Congress.
Now more than ever, we need to support our Baltic allies. They are
critical frontline NATO partners with clear memories of Russian tyranny
and a key reason the United States has troops serving in former Soviet-
occupied countries like Lithuania, Poland, and Romania.
Sadly, last month, four American soldiers stationed in Lithuania died
tragically while on a mission to recover a vehicle immobilized during a
training exercise. I want to take a moment to tell you about these four
brave men, one of whom was from my home State of Illinois, and the
amazing efforts that were made to recover them.
SSG Jose Duenez, Jr., was from Joliet, IL. He, along with SSG Edvin
F. Franco, PFC Dante Taitano, and SSG Troy Knutson-Collins, was part of
the 1st Armored Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
Stationed in Lithuania at a military base that I personally visited,
they were called on March 25 to retrieve a tactical vehicle mired in
dangerously deep mud. Sadly, these soldiers never returned. Then search
efforts were initiated to locate them, and they couldn't find them.
They were in a tracked vehicle, a 70-ton tracked vehicle, and they
disappeared. It took days before they finally found some tracks that
led to an area, which was not very large, that looked like a puddle,
but it was much more serious. The effort to find the soldiers
eventually required hundreds of people from other nations. The effort
was nothing short of miraculous.
The soldiers' vehicle was thought to have sunk into a muddy bog, but
it was
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nearly impossible for the dive team to locate. They struggled to see
through their masks and get enough air through their regulators. It was
extremely dangerous.
It was soon clear that the mission would be one of recovery and not
rescue.
Engineers were brought in to thin the concrete-like mud in an effort
to drain the bog that swallowed this vehicle, but the water kept
seeping in.
The recovery team grew by the hour, eventually reaching hundreds,
comprised of 250 U.S. servicemembers, 160 Lithuanian soldiers and
civilians, 50 Polish troops, and working canine teams from Estonia and
Lithuania.
Soon, a team of U.S. Navy divers received urgent orders to fly from
Spain to Lithuania to help connect cables to the sunken vehicle and
pull it from the bog. It took hours of struggling through the thick
sludge, but they secured the vehicle.
It was a mission fraught with extreme danger and challenges. It was
met with ingenuity and a commitment to the underlying principle that
every American servicemember must be brought home.
I spoke to the Lithuanian Ambassador to the United States and others
in Lithuania who described these days as painful days when they first
tried to discover what happened to the vehicle and then an even longer
period of time when they tried to retrieve the vehicle and the bodies
of our soldiers.
They told me that in Lithuania, virtually every newscast focused on
this tragedy. People in Lithuania felt a personal attachment to our
troops, as certainly we do today. The death of these four American
soldiers is a tragedy, but the joint efforts to secure them show the
gravity of our commitment to our allies.
We have American troops stationed in nations like Lithuania because
we have a commitment to join our NATO allies in stopping Russian
aggression.
These four American soldiers lost their lives safeguarding democracy,
but we owe gratitude to our Lithuanian and other allies who dropped
everything and faced great odds to help us, a reminder of the common
defense underlying our alliance.
On April 3, the schools were closed, the schoolchildren and their
families came out and stood in the streets in Vilnius, the capital of
Lithuania--included in their ranks was the Lithuanian President--to pay
their respects to our fallen American soldiers in their procession back
to the United States.
It was a devastating episode, but it illustrated the power of
international cooperation, friendship between allies, and solutions in
the face of great challenges.
The loss of American servicemembers is always a tragedy. I
particularly want to highlight my late constituent Sergeant Duenez. He
jumped at the chance to volunteer for assignments, including the
fateful mission to this bog, which he went to support even though he
was not on that crew. He was a model Illinoisan and American, and he
leaves behind a wife and a little boy. We should all strive to be more
like Sergeant Duenez, and we owe him and his family a great debt of
gratitude.
In honor of these four servicemembers, who were living examples of
American values, I will be introducing a resolution recognizing their
service and sacrifice to our Nation and our NATO allies. And I urge my
colleagues to join me in honoring the memories of these four great
soldiers and the remarkable effort that went into their recovery by
passing this resolution without delay.
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. MARKEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Massachusetts.