Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, launching a criminal investigation to coerce the Federal Reserve is a dangerous crossing of the Rubicon--even for Donald Trump, who has crossed many Rubicons already, to his detriment and to the country's detriment.

America's economic stability depends on impartial, stable monetary policy. Our central bank must always operate free of coercion, free of intimidation, and free from short-term political calculation. But what Donald Trump is doing is the MAGA-fication of monetary policy--one of the last places we should have any kind of MAGA influence.

Anyone with two eyes and half a brain can see what this probe is--a brazen attempt to cannibalize the Fed's influence. It is monetary mob- boss thuggery.

If you are an American worried about costs--housing costs, car loan costs, any interest rate costs--what Donald Trump is doing should alarm you. If you are worried about bringing your mortgage rate down if you have a variable-rate mortgage, if you want to keep the mortgage down, if you are a new home buyer and want a lower mortgage, Donald Trump's assault on the Fed should alarm you because when there is chaos in the Fed, interest rates go up.

The banks and financial institutions, when they say ``chaos,'' they grab on tightly and say ``We better not lower anything. We better keep things high because we are not exactly sure what is going to happen'' because when there is chaos in the Fed, there is chaos across the economy, and rates go up.

That is what financial institutions do in times of uncertainty. They rachet rates up to avoid a pitfall of some kind of downward decline that chaos often brings. It becomes more expensive for people to borrow. It makes it harder to own a home. It makes it harder to build more homes. It raises car payments and credit card payments. It raises the price of almost anything.

So if Donald Trump is serious about bringing costs down, about fighting inflation, about showing the American people he cares about them, the last thing he needs to be doing is launching criminal investigations against members of the Federal Reserve Board. Congress should not--cannot--be silent in the face of such naked political attacks.

Now Republicans are whispering in the hallways to one another that they are troubled about what the DOJ is doing against the Federal Reserve, but actions speak louder than words. It is not enough for Republicans to whisper their worry; Senate Republicans should act like they are in the majority and use their oversight powers to bring the DOJ to heel.

We must bring Department of Justice officials here to the Senate to testify in committee under oath and answer for their reckless conduct. We must hold the line against any Federal Reserve nominee from Donald Trump so long as this dark cloud hangs over the Fed.

If Senate Republicans are truly worried about the Fed's independence, if they are worried about what chaos at the Fed means for rising housing costs, rising borrowing costs, rising inflation, then they ought to conduct some oversight. Otherwise, their concerns are little more than hot air. Populism

Mr. President, now on Donald Trump's fake populism, yesterday, in Michigan, Donald Trump once again tried to gaslight the American people about the affordability crisis in another rambling speech meant to prove he cares about the struggles of ordinary Americans. He mocked the word ``affordability'' once again. He called it a fake.

Maybe to Donald Trump, affordability is a fake because he is a billionaire. He doesn't have to go out and buy the groceries, by a car, sign up for a healthcare proposal that doesn't meet your family's needs. Donald Trump doesn't need to do those things; he doesn't have to worry. But tell that to a teacher, to a truckdriver, to a bartender, to a nurse, that affordability is fake. Tell it to anyone who actually has to work for a living. Affordability isn't fake; it is a very real nightmare. I am sure that last night, probably tens of millions of families gathered to decide which bills they could afford to pay and which bills they couldn't for necessities they need.

Like many Presidents before him, Donald Trump is falling into a classic trap. When times are tough, he ignores reality and tries to convince people that everything is actually going great. This has never worked, and it is not going to work now.

A year ago, Donald Trump stormed into office on the promise to lower costs, to fight for ordinary Americans, to unrig a rigged system. He ran, in other words, as a populist who promised to drain the swamp and end inflation.

But Donald Trump is not a populist; he is a posturer. He throws out these populist ideas to try to persuade people he is on their side, but he never does anything to get them done. He never lifts a finger or a phone. And the American people see that he talks a good game but never does anything to accomplish what he wants to do when it comes to lowering their costs. And the situation of the American people only gets worse.

To Donald Trump: Your posturing, your throwing out these ideas that people like and then doing nothing to actually make them happen, ain't gonna work, Donald Trump. Your posturing ain't gonna work when it comes to costs, when it comes to populism. You have to solve the problem.

What is Donald Trump doing now? He is throwing spaghetti at the wall. He throws a slew of half-baked proposals that are thin on substance-- throws those out--in a desperate attempt to show Americans he cares about rising costs.

In the last week, he has talked about housing, credit cards, the price of beef, trade, and done nothing on any of them, and costs keep rising. The American people don't want a bunch of words that have nothing of substance behind them. They don't want pandering. They don't want posturing. They want Donald Trump to take action.

This is exactly Donald Trump's Achilles heel when it comes to costs and so much else. He talks about a lot of things that may sound nice, but he never follows through or delivers on any of his promises. Whether it is costs or Epstein or ending forever wars, the pattern is the same. Donald Trump talks about credit cards one day, food prices the next, housing the day after, but never actually follows through on getting his Republican colleagues to act.

So here is the reality for you, Donald Trump: It is not enough for you, Donald Trump, to just talk about a bunch of ideas to lower costs. You need to get your Republican colleagues to actually pass legislation, much of which we Democrats have stood for, for a long time.

Otherwise, what Trump is doing is not populism; it is simply posturing.

Actions speak louder than words. If Donald Trump is serious about costs, he needs to put in the work to get Republicans to pass legislation that actually will lower costs for America. Healthcare

Mr. President, finally, on ACA legislation, when it comes to lowering costs, Americans don't want nice-sounding statements; they want action.

Today, the Senate has a chance to take action to lower the cost of healthcare. In a few hours, I will come to the floor to seek unanimous passage of legislation passed by the House last week to extend ACA premium tax credits for 3 years.

Senate Democrats unanimously supported extending these credits last year. Some Republicans even joined us. But Leader Thune led the way to block this legislation, and it ensured that people's premiums are now skyrocketing.

Well, we have another chance to deliver relief for the American people, Republicans, by passing the same bill the House approved last week with bipartisan support. Time is of the essence.

The New York Times reported that nearly 1.5 million Americans already have lost coverage. Americans are in the middle of a healthcare emergency, all because the tax credits are not being extended.

The best, quickest, simplest thing Congress can do to lower premiums is to pass a clean restoration of the credits that expired last year.

So to my Republican colleagues: Do not block this legislation. Do not get in the way. The American people demand relief, and today, you have a chance to deliver it.

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, Americans across the country--they could be Democrats; they could be Independents; they could be Republicans; they could live in the north, the south, the east, or the west--agree on one thing: The cost of healthcare is at crisis levels, and families are struggling to pay for healthcare, such a necessity for their families and themselves.

Now, on January 1, as just about everybody knows, the ACA premium tax credits that lowered premiums for millions of Americans expired because Republicans chose to let them die. Republicans knew the crisis was coming; they knew the consequences, and they deliberately blocked relief from the American people.

Already because of the callous actions of our Republican colleagues, ACA enrollment has already dropped by nearly a million and a half people. The average American with an ACA plan has seen their premiums double, and many have seen them much worse than that. It is outrageous; it is wrong, and Republicans know it.

There is a demand from one end of the country to the other to undo the crisis by very simple--there is a very simple way to do it. All Republicans have to do is join Democrats in voting for legislation that expands the credits by 3 years. It will be done. It passed the House. But mark my words, if Republicans don't do it, America will know, and the political price they pay will be severe.

And so to rectify this injustice, to rectify the fact that families are deciding whether to even have healthcare or not or to cut back on something else very important to pay for the increased costs of healthcare, families are deciding that right now.

Every night, millions of American families are talking about what to do with these new healthcare bills that have come through, which have doubled or tripled what they have to pay each month, which will cut back in so many instances on the kind of healthcare they get--make them switch hospitals, switch doctors, not afford the prescription drug that is desperately needed by their child who has cancer.

Every night, Americans are grappling with this horrible problem because there is nothing more important to a family than the health of its members; yet Republicans blocked it. But my fellow Americans, the fight to lower healthcare costs is not over. Today I bring to the floor a very simple request, that when this Chamber receives the bipartisan legislation that passed the House last week, providing a simple 3-year reinstatement of the ACA premium tax credits, that it be immediately agreed to in the Senate.

The Republican leader of the Senate could put this on the floor, and it would pass in the blink of an eye. Most Republicans would vote for it because they know how much the public wants to renew these credits. So there is no reason under Heaven for us to delay. The House passed this bill last week by 230 to 196, and 17 Republicans joined Democrats. That is not a fluke. That is a glaring signal to Republicans that Americans are demanding relief.

Fifty percent--55 percent of Trump voters want the tax credits extended, but the Republican Senate is blind, is in a bubble, is not even understanding the anguish of America about these increased healthcare costs. And they sit there and come up with one excuse after the other why they shouldn't do this. The House, fortunately, listened to the American people and acted, and the Senate should now do the same.

Leader Thune knows that people back home are suffering. He knows that he can fix the problem by just putting the bill on the floor because it will pass. There is a lot to discuss and debate when it comes to fixing our healthcare system, but right now, there is an immediate concern. Premiums are spiking across the country, so the most immediate thing we can do to lower healthcare costs for the American people is pass a clean restoration of these credits.

We offered the Republicans the chance during the so-called Big Beautiful Bill; they rejected it three times unanimously. But they went home over the summer and the fall and now into the winter and they hear their constituents clamoring for relief. Open your ears, open your minds, Republicans, listen to the American people. There is no doubt, you know it, that the majority of Americans, the overwhelming majority of Americans, even the majority of Republicans and Trump voters, want us to do this.

And frankly, to Americans back home, it is not a Democratic or a Republican issue. The only thing they care about is getting those costs lower. And they want to know who is going to step up and bring premiums down. Who is going to lower costs?

Senate Democrats say in one voice to Americans: We hear you. We have a plan to bring your premiums down. We can pass it through the Senate today, right now, if only the Republicans get out of the way.

We are going to keep at this. This issue isn't going away. We are going to fight and fight and fight until we achieve this for the American people because it is so important. There are other issues Republicans have out there. Some want to block it because they want to extend provisions that hurt women on the issue of abortion. Some want to block it because they want to privatize the system, which would only make it worse. But it doesn't matter; we can debate all those things down the road. The opportunity is now, right now, to allow this body to unanimously pass this much-needed proposal to extend the credits by 3 years.

I urge my Republican colleagues, let this bill pass. Let's give the American people what they so fiercely and rightfully demand. Most of all, let's give millions of Americans relief from the sky-high price of these premiums now that the 3-year extension has expired.

Americans need it. Americans want it. Americans demand it. It is the only humane and right thing to do. This is another chance for my colleagues across the aisle to rectify their mistake and help the American people with an issue that is at the top of the list for them.

1834 as passed by the House on January 8, 2026, that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that the bill be considered read three times and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the need for this resolution is simple. It is clear. The American people do not support another forever war with Venezuela. The American people don't want Donald Trump sending our troops into harm's way without so much as a debate in Congress.

Today, the Senate has a chance to move forward on asserting Congress's constitutional authority on matters of war and peace. We can tell Donald Trump: Enough with foreign adventures. It is time to focus on lowering costs here at home. That is what the American people want.

This resolution is necessary right now because Donald Trump has made clear that what happened in Venezuela is not a one-and-done operation-- not at all.

Last week, the New York Times asked him: Are we going to be there a month? 6 months? a year?

Do you know what his answer was? Donald Trump said:

I would say much longer.

He said: We want to give money to Venezuela.

Here we are. People don't have enough money for healthcare, for housing, for so many other things, and we want to give money to Venezuela? How is that ``America first?''

Trump threatened further military action if the current government doesn't cooperate with the United States. The administration is trying to concoct an argument that we are not engaged in hostilities, but that is absurd. You don't have to be a great expert on military affairs to know that we are heavily engaged. Donald Trump says we are not engaged in hostilities? Tell that to the 16,000 U.S. servicemembers currently deployed in the Caribbean. Tell that to our servicemembers on the Ford Carrier Strike Group. Look at the Marine Expeditionary Unit operating in the region.

Donald Trump is turning the Caribbean into a dangerous powder keg, and Congress must rein him in before one mistake ignites a larger, more unstable conflict.

So the Senate needs to exert its constitutional role when it comes to the use of military force.

I know that there are Senate Republicans acting in good faith who are worried about Venezuela getting out of hand. I urge them to reject this point of order, to provide a necessary backstop, a necessary check, a necessary guardrail on Executive power. It is the right thing to do for the American people. That means no more forever wars, no more military escapades without congressional authorization, no more tens of billions to prop up foreign regimes while American families struggle right here at home.

I want to thank Senator Kaine, I want to thank Senator Schiff, and I want to thank Senator Paul for joining with me in this very necessary resolution. Of course, I thank our great ranking member of the Armed Services Committee for his good work as well.

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