-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

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 colleagues to join me in using the power we have to fight back.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source