Discussion · Senate
Patty Murray Democrat
“President Trump is illegally refusing to spend money that Congress passed and he signed into law. He is cutting funding for healthcare research and home-buying help. The Government Accountability Office has already said twice that this is illegal. I want Congress to pass our bill to stop him and protect our power to spend federal money.”
“Madam President, I thank my colleague from Oregon for setting out what is going on here because, as he said, on Friday night, President Trump announced that he was stealing more money from the American people. Trump and his Budget Director, Russ Vought, call it a pocket rescission. Well, whatever you call it, it is illegal. Trump is taking the bipartisan funding that we passed, funding that Democrats and Republicans agreed on, that he signed into law, and he is now ripping out the pages he doesn’t like. Forget about ideas like Congress and the law. Look, this is theft from the American people, plain and simple. In this case, Trump is tearing away funding to help Americans buy a home. He is cutting off funds for healthcare research which would prevent things like hospital infections that are dangerous or saving taxpayers literally billions of dollars. But you know what, Trump could not care less. While he blows your tax dollars on an illegal war, Trump is illegally cutting off funding for health research, housing, and more. I guess that is no surprise given how this President is constantly out of touch with American families--saying ``tariffs’’ is his favorite word or saying that he loves inflation or saying he wants housing costs to go up. He said that. But where are my Republican colleagues who passed these funds that Trump is now stealing? Because this did not come out of left field. No one can pretend to be surprised by what is happening now. When Russ Vought was nominated as Trump’s budget chief, he was pretty darn transparent about the fact that he planned to break the law, he planned to tear up our bills, and he dared us to stop him. That didn’t stop every Republican Senator from voting for him. When his Deputy was nominated and told us this summer that pocket rescissions were very much still on the table, what happened? Once again, every Senate Republican voted to confirm him too. Anyone watching could see this coming from a mile away. Trump used this scheme to unlawfully impound $5 billion last summer, for heaven’s sake. That is why Democrats have fought again and again and again to prevent the President from being able to use this illegal tactic, including in recent negotiations over the CR that is now law. But Republicans have refused to work with us to prevent Trump and Russ Vought from stealing from the American people. Time after time after time, they have shot down our attempts to stop this administration from defying Congress and robbing our constituents. Let’s talk more about this pocket rescission scheme for a minute and what is at stake. President Trump and Russ Vought are saying: Hey, we can ignore the law. We can ignore bipartisan deals and just make our own decisions as long as we do it last-minute. Everyone knows that is ridiculous and illegal. Congress would never have created a system that gave any President the ability to decide to just ignore or bypass a law. It makes no sense. In fact, GAO has looked at what this President has done and has said it is clearly illegal twice. My Republican colleagues know this. Some of them have even said so. But whenever they have had the chance, they have not joined us to put an end to this. Democrats have language that Republicans could have let us put in the last CR or the CR before. We have taken vote after vote on versions of this language on the floor and in committee. And, of course, we had the vote where Republicans confirmed the unabashed architect of Trump’s illegal scheme as budget director. Well, now, tonight, they are getting one more chance. Senator Merkley and I and others have a bill to help Congress reassert its authority-- our authority--and head off Trump’s completely illegal pocket rescission scheme. And we should be clear. Trump isn’t just illegally robbing our constituents through this pocket rescission; there are a whole lot of other funds that he is refusing to get out the door--more healthcare research funding, grants to prevent teen pregnancy, funding to protect Americans from global health threats, and even a quarter of a billion dollars to help families in rural areas get the financing they need to finally achieve their dream of owning a home. Hundreds of families in rural America will be denied the shot to buy a home as Trump lights this money on fire tonight. So it is not just the pocket rescission; it is all the rest of the money this administration is holding up or misspending. The Republicans have been pretty quiet about it. Russ Vought has always made his message to Congress painfully clear. He thinks the votes we all take here don’t count. He thinks the laws we pass are optional. Now is the time for our Republican colleagues who said they would never let this happen to help us now pass a bill that makes our message to Russ Vought equally clear: Stop stealing from our constituents. Start following our laws. I yield the floor.”
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Speech in the House
Respect 98 of 100
This statement targeted a person rather than their actions or views: “Trump could not care less”.
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Speech in the House
Reasoning 100 of 100
This statement drew 12 conclusions and gave a reason for each one.
See full analysis
Madam President, I thank my colleague from Oregon for setting out what is going on here because, as he said, on Friday night, President Trump announced that he was stealing more money from the American people. Trump and his Budget Director, Russ Vought, call it a pocket rescission. Well, whatever you call it, it is illegal. Trump is taking the bipartisan funding that we passed, funding that Democrats and Republicans agreed on, that he signed into law, and he is now ripping out the pages he doesn’t like. Forget about ideas like Congress and the law. Look, this is theft from the American people, plain and simple. In this case, Trump is tearing away funding to help Americans buy a home. He is cutting off funds for healthcare research which would prevent things like hospital infections that are dangerous or saving taxpayers literally billions of dollars. But you know what, Trump could not care less. While he blows your tax dollars on an illegal war, Trump is illegally cutting off funding for health research, housing, and more. I guess that is no surprise given how this President is constantly out of touch with American families--saying ``tariffs’’ is his favorite word or saying that he loves inflation or saying he wants housing costs to go up. He said that. But where are my Republican colleagues who passed these funds that Trump is now stealing? Because this did not come out of left field. No one can pretend to be surprised by what is happening now. When Russ Vought was nominated as Trump’s budget chief, he was pretty darn transparent about the fact that he planned to break the law, he planned to tear up our bills, and he dared us to stop him. That didn’t stop every Republican Senator from voting for him. When his Deputy was nominated and told us this summer that pocket rescissions were very much still on the table, what happened? Once again, every Senate Republican voted to confirm him too. Anyone watching could see this coming from a mile away. Trump used this scheme to unlawfully impound $5 billion last summer, for heaven’s sake. That is why Democrats have fought again and again and again to prevent the President from being able to use this illegal tactic, including in recent negotiations over the CR that is now law. But Republicans have refused to work with us to prevent Trump and Russ Vought from stealing from the American people. Time after time after time, they have shot down our attempts to stop this administration from defying Congress and robbing our constituents. Let’s talk more about this pocket rescission scheme for a minute and what is at stake. President Trump and Russ Vought are saying: Hey, we can ignore the law. We can ignore bipartisan deals and just make our own decisions as long as we do it last-minute. Everyone knows that is ridiculous and illegal. Congress would never have created a system that gave any President the ability to decide to just ignore or bypass a law. It makes no sense. In fact, GAO has looked at what this President has done and has said it is clearly illegal twice. My Republican colleagues know this. Some of them have even said so. But whenever they have had the chance, they have not joined us to put an end to this. Democrats have language that Republicans could have let us put in the last CR or the CR before. We have taken vote after vote on versions of this language on the floor and in committee. And, of course, we had the vote where Republicans confirmed the unabashed architect of Trump’s illegal scheme as budget director. Well, now, tonight, they are getting one more chance. Senator Merkley and I and others have a bill to help Congress reassert its authority-- our authority--and head off Trump’s completely illegal pocket rescission scheme. And we should be clear. Trump isn’t just illegally robbing our constituents through this pocket rescission; there are a whole lot of other funds that he is refusing to get out the door--more healthcare research funding, grants to prevent teen pregnancy, funding to protect Americans from global health threats, and even a quarter of a billion dollars to help families in rural areas get the financing they need to finally achieve their dream of owning a home. Hundreds of families in rural America will be denied the shot to buy a home as Trump lights this money on fire tonight. So it is not just the pocket rescission; it is all the rest of the money this administration is holding up or misspending. The Republicans have been pretty quiet about it. Russ Vought has always made his message to Congress painfully clear. He thinks the votes we all take here don’t count. He thinks the laws we pass are optional. Now is the time for our Republican colleagues who said they would never let this happen to help us now pass a bill that makes our message to Russ Vought equally clear: Stop stealing from our constituents. Start following our laws. I yield the floor.