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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on Friday, we learned the U.S. economy added only 22,000 jobs for the month of August, a paltry number, an abysmal number, worse than even the already low expectations. Donald Trump has steered our economy straight into an iceberg, and the ``SS Trump'' is sinking before our eyes.
And I warned my Republican colleagues: The longer you remain aboard, the greater the danger you face of sinking with the ship--because if one thing is certain, it is that the American people don't want to be paying more for things as simple as coffee and beef, fruits, vegetables. They don't want to see their electric bills go up. They don't want to see their rent go up. And they don't want to see it harder to find a job. But that is exactly--exactly--what is happening right now. Senate Republicans remain on board this ship, the ``SS Trump,'' at their own peril. It is sinking.
And Republicans know perfectly well what Donald Trump is doing is without precedent. Oh, their favorite comeback is: Well, that is what the American people voted for. They shrug their shoulders; they can't do anything about it.
Well, that is nonsense. This summer, big American companies--Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Ace Hardware, and so many others--have said they are raising prices or that costs will go up because of the tariffs. Americans didn't vote for that. Oh, no. Americans are about to see their health insurance go up by the highest amount in 15 years. Do you think they voted for that? No. They didn't vote for more Americans to get sick, although that is what the Trump healthcare plan will do. They didn't vote for more Americans to die, and that will happen as a result of this Big Beautiful Bill.
Americans sure didn't vote for any of that. Americans want us to pass legislation that lowers healthcare costs, expands people's coverage. They do not want us to vote to boot millions off their health insurance. They do not want the closing of hospitals, particularly in rural areas where the hospitals don't have much cushion. They don't want the laying off of doctors and nurses and healthcare workers so they get less good coverage and it takes much longer to get it. Americans didn't vote for that, but that is what happened.
And here is what the data shows: Americans are fed up with Trump. NBC News Decision Desk Poll, September 7: 57 percent disapprove of Donald Trump's job performance, 43 percent approve; 60 percent believe America, under his leadership, is on the wrong track; 61 percent disapprove of the way he is handling inflation. CBS News, September 3 to 5: 56 percent disapprove of Donald Trump's job performance; 62 percent oppose new U.S. tariffs on imported goods.
So it is no wonder that Democrats are winning in State special elections, even in districts that Trump previously won by as many as 10 points, from one end of the country to the other. These local elections show Americans reject Donald Trump just several months after he got into office.
To put this all together, the story is clear: Donald Trump is sabotaging our economy; he is sending healthcare costs through the roof; Americans are sick of his failures, which brings us to the work of Congress this month. It is less than 20 calendar days until government funding runs out, and a shutdown will happen if nothing is done.
How Congress proceeds is up to our Republican colleagues. They are in charge. They run the House. They run the Senate. They have the Presidency. Well, if our Republican colleagues know what is good for the country and good for them, they will realize that they should no longer remain aboard this sinking ship that Trump is commanding. The greater danger that they will face is sinking with their ship if nothing changes.
What Republicans should do, then, is commit to working on bipartisan legislation to undo some of the terrible things Donald Trump has done during his time in office. Working on bipartisan legislation that has real input from Democrats--that is the way to avoid a shutdown.
Of course, there is another path, a far uglier path. Republicans can continue to go at it alone. They can continue to bow down to Donald Trump. They can continue to surrender Congress's constitutional powers over to the Executive and enable Donald Trump and his evil minion Russell Vought as they illegally cancel and steal congressionally approved funding.
So if Republicans choose the path of ``do what we say or go to hell,'' then they will be the ones paving the bitter road that leads toward a government shutdown. And we Democrats will not accept that. We will not enable Republicans' carnage of this country. We won't bail Republicans out as the cost of healthcare, groceries, school supplies, rent, electricity, and automobiles all go up and up. We still have some time to avoid that dismal outcome.
We Democrats don't want to see a government shutdown, but avoiding one means Republicans have to show they are serious about having real, substantive, serious negotiation. This week, we need to see signs from Republicans that they are serious about avoiding a shutdown, or time will run out. And the American people will know Republicans will be responsible if a shutdown happens.
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