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  • 6/4/2025
During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about cuts to Medicaid in the GOP budget.
Transcript
00:00Objection.
00:01Thank you, Mr. President.
00:03Now, Mr. President, over the past few days,
00:06Donald Trump has bent over backwards
00:08to try and sell his so-called big, beautiful bill
00:12with a new lie.
00:15He said no one will lose health care coverage.
00:19He says no benefits will be slashed.
00:22He says the bill won't harm a single recipient.
00:25He is lying.
00:27This is all total nonsense.
00:30And Senate Republicans need to reject
00:32Donald Trump's snake oil sales pitch.
00:35I implore my Senate colleagues,
00:38tread carefully with your big, beautiful bill.
00:42If you pass this bill,
00:43it won't be Donald Trump's soothing words
00:46that will be enacted in your states,
00:48but rather deep and devastating harm
00:51to your constituents.
00:53And your constituents, Senate Republicans,
00:56will hold you responsible
00:57for going along with Donald Trump's roost.
01:01If you go down this road,
01:03you'll take away coverage from kids,
01:05from seniors, from parents, from moms.
01:08You will put doctors and nurses out of work.
01:11You will put rural hospitals in particular jeopardy,
01:14since they depend on Medicaid and Medicare
01:17and government help to stay going.
01:20And they're often the biggest employer
01:22in your rural counties.
01:24Senate Republicans,
01:25they're often the only source of health care.
01:30And when Americans see this is all
01:31to make the ultra-rich even richer,
01:35they'll know that this nasty bill,
01:38that it was this nasty bill that made it happen.
01:40Donald Trump's big, beautiful bill
01:43is repeal and replace by another name.
01:46Here are the facts.
01:47Under the bill,
01:49millions, over 14 million,
01:52would lose health care coverage.
01:54And as bad as this bill is,
01:57we just got news that it will get even worse.
02:01CBO today will announce
02:03that it is not 14 million people kicked off,
02:06but more, estimates as high as 15 million.
02:12The bill, the Republican bill,
02:14will kick even more people off health care
02:18than we originally thought.
02:20Not only by attacking Medicaid,
02:22but by destabilizing the ACA,
02:25private insurance,
02:26and now even Medicare.
02:30Even Medicare.
02:33So this bad bill is getting worse.
02:35The estimates of how many people
02:38will lose their health care coverage
02:40goes up and up and up
02:42each time you read the fine print.
02:46The closer and closer people look at the bill,
02:49the worse and worse it gets.
02:52Tens of millions of Americans
02:53who otherwise qualify for health care
02:55would be mummified in new red tape,
02:58shortened enrollment periods,
03:00higher premiums, weaker coverage.
03:03People will fall through the cracks
03:05and get phased out of coverage
03:06altogether in coming years.
03:08It's death by a thousand paper cuts.
03:12And that's no accident.
03:13That's the intention of the Republican bill.
03:17And let's talk about fraud.
03:19Donald Trump says,
03:20well, it's just knocking out fraud.
03:22Democrats would love to work with Republicans
03:24to eliminate fraud and waste in health care.
03:27But the bill Republicans have right now
03:29does not accomplish that.
03:31It's aimed at real people,
03:32real people who need health care.
03:35Taking that away.
03:38It uses this big, beautiful bill,
03:41uses the fraud boogeyman
03:43as an excuse
03:44to kick people out of health care
03:47who would otherwise qualify,
03:48including people with jobs,
03:50including people with kids.
03:52The only fraud happening right now
03:55is the fraudulent sales pitch
03:56coming from Donald Trump
03:58and his statement
04:05that he won't boot anyone from coverage.
04:08That's the fraud here.
04:10The fraud of the lies Donald Trump
04:12is telling Republicans about this bill,
04:14that people won't lose coverage.
04:16That is a lie.
04:17That is the fraud.
04:19Republicans should know that.
04:21And reject this awful, big, beautiful bill
04:24before it's too late.

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