[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 131 (Wednesday, July 30, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4861-S4862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Appropriations

  Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor to discuss how 
our government is funded.
  The Constitution puts Congress in charge of setting up programs and 
funding them. There are some programs--for example, Medicare and Social 
Security--that are funded at a certain level every year unless Congress 
passes a law to change it, but for pretty much everything else, 
Congress has to pass a new funding law every single year. The list is 
long. It is medical research, fighter planes, weather satellites, 
salaries for park rangers, and food inspection programs so that the 
lettuce you eat doesn't make you sick.
  The money we spend is detailed every year in a set of 12 bills that 
Congress votes on, and they are called appropriations bills. The Senate 
voted on the first one of these 12 bills last week, the one that deals 
with funding veterans programs and military bases.
  I care deeply about improving the lives of our servicemembers and our 
veterans. All three of my brothers were proud veterans, and they served 
their country with honor.
  I am the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Personnel 
Subcommittee. I voted no on that funding bill because even if this bill 
becomes law, I don't believe Donald Trump has any intention of 
following that law, and I am not willing to be a helpmate on another 
one of Donald Trump's scams.
  Why do I think that Trump won't follow the law? Well, consider his 
administration's track record of the past 6 months on congressional 
spending laws.
  First, Trump tried to freeze billions of dollars that American 
families and businesses count on, money that Congress set aside to 
support everything from food assistance programs to scientific 
research. Multiple Federal judges blocked the illegal power grab, 
saying it blatantly violated the Constitution of the United States. Now 
even Republicans are begging the administration to hand out the money 
for investments that Congress already passed and, by law, that their 
communities were promised.
  Second, Republicans in Congress are bowing down to Donald Trump and 
ratifying some of his worst efforts. They are using an obscure piece of 
Federal law to zero out Federal funding after it was approved by both 
Republicans and Democrats in Congress. This process is called 
rescission, and it only requires 50 Republican votes to do Donald 
Trump's bidding.
  If that wasn't bad enough, Trump is already promising to use a shady 
loophole to defund even more programs, demanding cuts so late in the 
year that Congress doesn't have time to do anything about it. The 
Director of Donald Trump's Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought 
has already said that the loophole is ``on the table.''

  Let's be clear about what is happening here.
  Step 1, Congress negotiates a compromise that both Republicans and 
Democrats support, and it is signed into law.
  Step 2, Trump tells Republicans what parts of that deal he wants to 
cancel.
  Step 3, Republicans in the Senate bend the knee and follow Trump's 
orders to cancel the money.
  But wait--there is more. Apparently, step 4 is Republicans turn 
around and, with a straight face, ask Democrats to negotiate more deals 
for the next year's funding, starting the whole rinse-and-repeat 
process again, beginning with this bill to fund veterans services.
  Are you kidding me? Do we really look that gullible? Why should 
Democrats come to the table and negotiate in good faith and throw our 
support behind a ``bipartisan bill'' only for Republicans to turn 
around after the deal is done and, somewhere down the line, delete any 
parts of the deal that Trump doesn't like? That is like Republicans 
saying ``Let's cut a deal'' and that you are going to sell us a car 
today, and then a month from now, the Republicans come back and steal 
the wheels.
  Of course, Trump may not ask his Republican buddies to rescind 
spending. Maybe instead, on his own, he will just illegally refuse to 
spend it--the way he has done with $425 billion already this year.
  Look, our Founders didn't give the President the power to decide 
spending. A King can decide anything he wants but not a President. 
Donald Trump wants to be able to wake up and decide to cancel funding 
for public education, for transportation projects, for medical 
research, for food inspectors, for anything, just because Donald Trump 
feels like it, and he wants the Republicans in Congress to roll over 
and let it happen--no checks, no balances; just Trump playing King and 
ending the programs that would help the American people.
  Trump is getting a lot of help from his Republican team. Russ Vought, 
the head of the Office of Management and Budget, has said the problem 
in Congress is too much bipartisanship--too much bipartisanship. In 
other words, the Trump administration is saying loud and clear that 
Donald Trump makes all the decisions. They don't need and they don't 
want Democrats.
  At the very same time, the Republicans need Democratic votes for 
these funding bills because the Senate rules clearly require 60 votes 
for them to pass and there are only 53 Republicans in the Senate. If 
Democrats won't provide those votes, the Republicans want to blame 
Democrats for shutting down the government when this year's funding 
runs out at the end of September.
  On the other hand, if Republicans really want Democratic votes for 
these funding bills, then they should ask us what is it going to take 
to win Democratic support, not just what programs we want to fund or 
what the level of funding should be--not that, when the promises 
themselves won't be worth the paper they are printed on. No. Democrats 
should tell Republicans that if they want our votes, then they are 
going to have to guarantee that the deal we strike actually means 
something.
  I get it. Democrats and Republicans have different priorities. Here 
in the Senate, Republicans just voted to end healthcare for 17 million 
Americans and to drive up health insurance costs for millions more. 
Republicans have just voted to give billionaires huge tax cuts.
  Democrats are willing to make a deal, but our deal is about bringing 
down costs for families, including the cost of healthcare, groceries, 
and housing.
  If Republicans want to make a deal, then let's make a deal but only 
if Republicans include an agreement that they won't take back that deal 
a few weeks later.
  Congress is a coequal branch of government. We swore an oath to the 
Constitution, not to a King. I am asking my Republican colleagues to 
grow a spine and stand up for Americans instead of bowing down to their 
pretend King, and I am asking my Democratic

[[Page S4862]]

colleagues to join me in using the power we have to fight back.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). The Senator from West Virginia.