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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I would like to begin by reiterating where Democrats stand on government funding.

Our position remains this: We want to keep the government open by engaging in bipartisan negotiation where we can address some of the grave harms Donald Trump has caused to our healthcare system and help Americans with the cost of living.

We haven't seen that to date. Republicans, so far, have refused to have any conversations about issues we have clearly outlined-- healthcare, most of all.

Speaker Johnson said recently he hopes Democrats won't politicize the process, but Speaker Johnson has already done that by refusing multiple requests to sit down and talk and doing his own CR without consultation, without any inclusion of what the Democratic leader in the House or I are asking for--total, total partisan proposal. And so is President Trump.

When Donald Trump said on FOX News that Republicans ``don't even bother'' dealing with Democrats, then he is responsible for making a shutdown more likely. This afternoon, he doubled down again, posting online that Republicans should go at it alone in their partisan CR, instead of engaging with Democrats to keep the government open.

Now to pass a CR in the Senate, as everyone knows, requires votes from both sides. If one side refuses to negotiate, they are the ones causing the shutdown. Because, again, Democrats are happy to negotiate. We want to have a conversation with Donald Trump and Republicans about things we have been talking about for months, like healthcare, Medicaid, and the cost of living. And the American people know this.

They know that if Donald Trump refuses to talk--even to talk--with Democrats, it will be him shutting things down. They know he needs to negotiate. They know he needs to compromise. He is not a dictator, much as he thinks he would like to be. He needs to work with Democrats if he doesn't want to get blamed for shutting the government down.

And if Republicans follow Donald Trump's orders not to even bother dealing with Democrats, they, too, will be putting our country on a path to a shutdown.

And let me finish with this: I heard my friend the Republican leader come to the floor and cherry-pick some of my old quotes about keeping the government open with a CR. He zeroed in on the phrase ``clean extension.''

Well, the Republican leader glossed over the key point. I said in the past that Republican colleagues have to ``work with the Democrats in a bipartisan way'' to extend government funding.

I said they actually have to work with us, and it has to be bipartisan. That is not happening right now. It was happening then in 2023. That is the difference, and the majority leader conveniently forgets that extremely important point.

And it is not happening right now because Donald Trump is shutting down--shutting down--any hopes of negotiation. Leader Thune wants to wonder what has changed? A lot. A lot. Including Donald Trump's actions, which have dramatically harmed this country and undermined the appropriations process.

He has canceled congressionally appropriated funding. He is redirecting and stealing funds. Russell Vought says that he wants to see the appropriations process less bipartisan, and we know he is running the show. And now he says that Republicans shouldn't even bother to deal with Democrats. Meanwhile, the cost of people's healthcare has gone way up. Rural hospitals are already closing because of this Big Beautiful Bill. Job reports continue to show warning signs. Trump's tariffs are a mess, and the economy is headed in the wrong direction.

That is all because of the choices Donald Trump has made as President. We need to have a negotiation, which is what we are asking for right now--bipartisan, the only way you can get this done--and that is what we talked about back then as well.

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