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Floor Speech
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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, we are less than 3 weeks into the Trump administration, and already, Americans across the country are reeling from the chaos.
Donald Trump ran on lowering costs for working Americans--an admirable goal, but one he clearly had no intention of making good on. Instead, he is hellbent on sowing chaos and making life harder for the American people while he pushes through massive tax cuts for his billionaire buddies.
In just the last 2 weeks, here is what Trump did. He threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico that will do nothing but raise costs on everyday essentials like food and gasoline, estimated to increase costs for the average household by nearly $1,200 a year. So much for lowering costs for the American people.
He put a freeze on all Federal funds, creating such uncertainty that seniors in Hawaii were calling my office asking if they needed to prepare for homelessness.
He tried to scam 2 million Federal employees, including more than 23,000 in Hawaii, into taking an unauthorized, unfunded buyout. Whoever heard of such a thing?
And he has given an unelected, unaccountable billionaire free rein to raid the Treasury, to root around in the Treasury and any other Federal Agency he sees fit, enabling him to get his hands on all of our data. If this isn't a data breach, frankly, I don't know what is--right in front of our faces.
In case there was any doubt, the last few weeks have shown that Trump never gave a rip about working people and has no interest in doing anything to help make our lives better. The chaos is dizzying. But behind this chaos is a detailed, methodical plan: Project 2025. While campaigning, Trump swore he had nothing to do with Project 2025--a big fat lie, like so much of what comes out of Trump's mouth.
As soon as he was elected, guess what, Trump began appointing many of the people behind Project 2025. His handpicked choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, is Russell Vought, the architect of Project 2025. Mr. Vought is dangerous, and he has a total disregard for the Constitution, Congress, and the millions of hard-working Americans impacted by decisions he will make at OMB.
Americans need to know that OMB is extremely powerful, with oversight over the President's budget and, functionally, all Federal Agency actions, including regulatory decisions. With such responsibility, the person leading this office needs to be levelheaded and impartial. They need to put loyalty to the Constitution above loyalty to the President. Mr. Vought, however, is the ultimate yes-man.
In Trump's first term as acting OMB Director, Vought wrote a budget that, among other things, would have cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid; slashed nearly $300 billion from social safety-net programs, like food assistance; eliminated $170 billion from student loans; and zeroed out programs, like LIHEAP and community development block grants to help with housing assistance and building community infrastructure.
Just like for families, where we spend our money reflects our priorities and our values. Mr. Vought's 2021 budget demonstrated that he sees no value in helping the American people. This time, we know it will be even worse because he is going to be in charge at OMB. Like Trump, Mr. Vought will do whatever he wants, regardless of the law or the Constitution, from forcing out civil servants to withholding funds appropriated by Congress.
We know the story of Robin Hood, who stole from the rich to help the poor. With Mr. Vought, on the other hand, he is a robber baron, who wants to steal the tax dollars of hard-working Americans to line the pocket of Trump's billionaire buddies--a robber baron.
At the end of the day, Trump, Vought, and all their cronies have just won gold, giving huge tax cuts to billionaires on the backs of working people. We have been repeating this. Why? Because how the heck are they going to do this otherwise, except on the backs of working people?
Their plan to do so is so simple. First, they will gut programs working families rely on--things like nutrition assistance, education funding, and Medicare and Medicaid. Then they will borrow trillions of dollars and run our country deeper into debt, just like they did the last time.
Finally, they will give massive tax breaks to billionaires, leaving the American people to foot the bill. Their plan is clear. They wrote it all down. This is Project 2025--Project 2025, the 900-page plan Russell Vought helped to mastermind, filled with all sorts of terrible ideas for our country and the American people. That is why I call it the plan to screw the American people. They call it the mandate for leadership; I call it the 900-page plan to screw over the American people.
I thank Democracy Forward for summarizing some of the worst proposals in Project 2025 in a report that I am going to read parts of.
Democracy Forward said:
Project 2025 is among the most profound threats to the American people.
What is Project 2025?
The Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project is a well- funded . . . effort of the Heritage Foundation and more than 100 organizations--
More than 100 organizations-- to enable a future anti-democratic presidential administration--
That would be this administration-- to take swift, far-right action that would cut wages for working people, dismantle social safety net programs, reverse decades of progress for civil rights, redefine the way our society operates, and undermine our economy.
A central pillar of Project 2025 is the ``Mandate for Leadership,'' a 900+ page policy playbook authored by former Trump administration officials and other extremists''--
Like Russell Vought-- that provides a radical vision for our nation and a roadmap to implement it.
Democracy Forward noted:
We--
They-- read Project 2025's entire 900+ page ``Mandate for Leadership'' so that you--
We-- don't have to.
They said:
What we discovered was a systemic, ruthless plan to undermine the quality of life of millions of Americans, remove critical protections and dismantle programs for communities across the nation, and prioritize special interests and ideological extremism over people.
From attacking overtime pay, student loans, and reproductive rights to allowing more discrimination, pollution, and price gouging, those behind Project 2025 are preparing to go to incredible lengths to create a country only for some, not for all of us.
If these plans are enacted--
Even without congressional approval--
4.3 million people could lose overtime protections, 40 million people could have their food assistance reduced, 220,000 American jobs could be lost, and much, much more. The stakes are higher than ever for democracy and for people.
These threats aren't hypothetical. These are their real plans.
The Heritage Foundation and the 100+ organizations that make up the Project 2025 Advisory Board have mapped out exactly how they will achieve their extreme ends. They aim to carry out many of the most troubling proposals through an anti-democratic president--
Trump-- and political loyalists--
Vought-- loyalists installed in the executive branch, without waiting for congressional action. And, while many of these plans are unlawful, winning in court is not guaranteed given that the same far-right movement that is behind Project 2025 has shaped our current [judicial] system.
Proposals from Project 2025, discussed in detail throughout this guide, that could be implemented through executive branch action alone include:--
And I am going to repeat--
Cutting American Rescue Plan programs that have created or saved 220,000 jobs
Limiting access to food assistance, which an average of more than 40 million people rely on monthly
Rolling back civil rights protections across multiple fronts, including cutting diversity, equity, and inclusion- related, or DEI programs and LGBTQ+ rights in health care, education, and workplaces
Eliminating the Head Start early education program, which serves over 1 million children
Stopping efforts to lower prescription drug prices
Cutting overtime protections for 4.3 million workers
Pushing more people towards Medicare Advantage and other worse, private options, that's 33 million people
Restricting access to medication abortion
Denying students in 25 states and Washington, D.C. access to student loans because their schools provide in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants
Exposing the 368,000 children in foster care to risk of increased discrimination.
Again, I thank Democracy Forward for this summary.
Mr. President, these are just some of the countless proposals in Project 2025 that will make our country and the American people less free, less safe, and less prosperous.
Behind it all is Russell Vought. If confirmed, he will move to implement Project 2025 without delay to line the pockets of billionaires at the expense of working Americans.
You know, we have got to repeat this time and again because, guess what, this is exactly what happened during Trump's first term. Their goal was to give trillions in tax cuts to their billionaire buddies, and they are going to do it again. Trust me. That is what they are going to do.
Project 2025 is dangerous. Mr. Vought is dangerous. I urge my colleagues to oppose this nomination.
I yield the balance of my postcloture debate time to Senator Merkley, up to the 2-hour limit.
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