At a Senate Democratic virtual "Ask Me Anything" event this week, Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) tore into the GOP budget, and warned of a more expensive cost of living should it pass.
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00:00All right. Oh, hey, everyone. Good to be with you. You can see why Brian is such an incredible
00:09leader and so generous. With that incredible compliment that he just shared, I learned from
00:16Brian. But to those of you that I don't know, I'm a senator out of New Mexico. My name is Ben Ray
00:23Lujan. Grew up on a small farm out that way, a little Division II school. I don't know that I
00:29fit the mold here in the Senate, but nonetheless, I'm here now, so they have to deal with me.
00:33But it's an honor to be with each and every one of you. So thanks again. Miguel, first, Miguel,
00:40I want to say thank you so much for reaching out here and for posing this question. Looking at the
00:47proposed budget, which includes significant cuts to NASA's science program, nearly 47 percent,
00:52according to the Planetary Society's analysis. Now, as you have here clearly, these cuts threaten
00:58the continuation of many active missions and could severely impact science and innovation
01:04across the country. Now, the question is this. What are you doing to prevent these cuts and protect
01:09NASA's science and research funding, which benefits not only the national progress, but also jobs and
01:15education in many states? And look, Miguel, you're absolutely correct here in looking at the negative
01:21impact of students across the country, research, science, all of the incredible work that's taking
01:26place and that the leader of space exploration, in this case, the United States of America, we've
01:34always been in this incredible place. But it's not just a matter of going and traveling to space.
01:39It's the science. It's the work. It's the understanding. Now, I could never answer this
01:44question like someone like a colleague of ours, Mark Kelly, who's a United States Senator out of
01:50Arizona. As you know, one of the few astronauts who has served in the United States Senate as well.
01:56But he and his twin brother served in this space doing incredible scientific missions and things
02:02of that nature. But in the end, the negative impact to what this means to just basic science in our school
02:08system is something that we should be fighting against and making sure that our colleagues are not
02:13ripping money apart. Every step of the process of what our House Republican and Senate Republican
02:20colleagues have been doing in this space when they offer a piece of legislation that they didn't even
02:26take a close look at. And look, a bit of a tangent here, but the proof point is look at what Marjorie Taylor
02:31Green recently said over the weekend. She said that there was a provision that was left out of this thing or
02:37sorry, a provision that was in this around AI that was going to strip away rules at the local level.
02:42And she admittedly said she didn't know it was in there. And if it was still in the bill when it comes
02:47across, she didn't vote against it. Well, how many of my colleagues understand that they're going after
02:53these basic, simple science programs that are going to hurt us across the country? I, like Brian Schatz
03:00and Cory Booker and all of my Democratic colleagues, we're doing everything we can right now to slow this
03:04down, to call out the nonsense, to call BS everywhere that it exists, and force votes to save these
03:10programs. So this is something that we'll continue to work on together. But thanks for reaching out. Thanks for
03:15what you said. Katie, thank you so much. Katie from Instagram is asking, quote, will the food distribution
03:21program on Indian reservations be impacted because of this bill? Katie, the answer is yes. This is going to
03:29destroy the access to food across all of America, but especially on sovereign nations. Think about the importance of
03:38school food programs, lunch programs when you're a student, you're going to school, or meals on wheels
03:42programs. Think of all of our constituents, our grandmas who may not be able to leave home and they
03:48depend on someone with the meals on wheels program to deliver that food. That's all in jeopardy. My
03:54Republican colleagues thought that they should strip away about $250 billion from the food programs.
04:00Well, the bill actually takes away more than $300 billion. It also jeopardizes all of those small
04:07grocery stores that we have on so many of our Indian reservations. About 10% of the revenue that
04:13goes to grocery stores actually comes from these important nutrition programs. I had a hearing on
04:19this today where my Democratic colleagues were there. Senator Booker was there. We had constituents from
04:25different parts of the country testify today. But this is one of those areas of concerns that we all
04:30have. I'm honored to represent 23 nations in New Mexico. I work with Senator Schatz, who's the highest ranking
04:38Democrat on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs as well. I am terrified as to what this means to just
04:44people, friends and neighbors, Native American constituents that live on reservations, if they're going to get
04:51that meal, if students are going to get a meal, or if they're going to go to bed hungry. And look, Senator Raphael
04:57Warnock, he talked about it this way today. Not only are my Republican colleagues taking away these
05:03nutrition programs from working families, they're going to leave kids by taking food out of their
05:09plate, if you will. And they're going to stick them with a tab because all of this just adds to the debt
05:15and the deficit as well. It is nonsense what's happening in this space. Such an important question.
05:20Thank you so much, Katie. Ted from Instagram. Ted asks, do you think the Republicans are going to
05:28bypass the parliamentarian? You know, Ted, I hope they don't, but they proved a week ago that they
05:36were willing to tear apart the fabric of these essential rules that exist just to be able to move
05:42legislation. Rather than having an up or down vote and letting colleagues show you where they stand,
05:47they're using these ridiculous rules, making things up as they go and doing things that some
05:53folks just describe as nuclear, blowing up all of the rules on the Senate floor. And so to this piece
05:59of legislation, which is going to add, I don't know, five to $7 trillion to our debt, that's the cost of
06:07this thing. It's going to take away programs from working families like nutrition programs. It's going to
06:13arguably close rural health clinics, maybe even rural grocery stores because the revenue is not
06:18there. In addition to all of the other nonsense, it's not fiscally responsible at all. And they're
06:23going to use gimmicks to try to get it across the finish line. Remember the House Republicans had a
06:28vote at one in the morning in a rules committee, like six in the morning, seven in the morning on the
06:32floor, and they did it in the dark of night. I don't know what they're trying to hide, but because of
06:38the tactics they're using, it shows you the concern that exists. It's real. Thanks for this important
06:42question. Kate, thanks for asking this question from Facebook. You're asking, is there anything else we
06:49can do to protect our public lands? We had a small say recently, but the threats and challenges are very
06:55much still there. So Kate, I would say kudos to Martin Heinrich, my colleague from New Mexico, and Gabe
07:03Vasquez, United States representative out of New Mexico. They were the leaders on a piece of legislation that did
07:11exactly what you described here with the small save recently. But I would argue that the threats and
07:15challenges are very much still there. But my Republican colleagues are proposing, as you know,
07:21they're saying the United States should sell all of our public lands. Think about Yellowstone and all
07:26of these important places that we protect in the United States. And what my Republican colleagues are
07:31saying, sell it all. Take that money, give tax breaks to folks that are making millions of bucks a
07:37year and more. And to heck with everyone else. That's the nonsense that's there. I'm very concerned
07:42about it. But what you can do, and we can all do, is use our voice. Stand up. Make sure you're showing
07:48up to these town halls. Well, I guess it's Democratic colleagues having town halls, so a few of our
07:53Republican colleagues are willing to go before constituents and voters. But if they do show up,
07:58be able to talk about this issue. Let's stand up and protect our public lands and our way of life.
08:03And look, I'll close with this on that one. My grandfather, Seladon Lujan, he always told me,
08:10leave things better than you found them. I mean, why can't we just all work that way when it comes
08:15to our lands? And by the way, being able to breathe clean air, drink clean water, those are all things
08:20that we should be willing to fight for and stand up for together. So thanks for the question.
08:25Emma. Emma's asking from Instagram, what happens if the education department closes,
08:32and what happens to special needs students? Emma, such an important question.
08:40I would add, it's not just the closure of the Department of Education that would hurt special
08:46needs students. Think about programs in Medicaid, nutrition programs, stable support systems for all
08:53of these families across the country that will also hurt special needs families. But many of the rules
08:59that were put in place when the Department of Education was established was because of the
09:05treatment of people. In this case, people that had special needs, friends and neighbors, constituents
09:10that were being mistreated. Think about civil rights. I mean, think about what it means to be able
09:16to protect access to education. That's why the Department of Education came into existence. And it's why
09:22we see so many of my Republican colleagues just going after these programs as well. There's no secret
09:28here. It's blatant. It's right in front of us. It's nonsense. And so I'm very concerned what would
09:35happen to all of my constituents, family members who have special needs that are attending school today
09:40if the United States Department of Education closes. And by the way, the President of the United
09:46States, Donald Trump, he actually tried to do this with an executive order. Fortunately, the courts
09:52told him you couldn't do it. But they've not stopped there. And they're still trying to do
09:56everything they can to dismantle it. Big concern. Such an important question. Thanks for asking it.
10:02Josh, thank you so much for reaching out to me, man. Josh from Facebook said, quote, I'm concerned how
10:07this bill will affect family farmers. What should we know and speak out against on this? Josh, I don't
10:16know where to begin, man. But this is such an important question. So I'm one of the United States
10:21senators that grew up on a small farm. I still live on a small farm. Now, our farm was self-sustenance.
10:29You know, it was the gardens that we had. We shared it with my neighbors who were my aunts and my uncles.
10:34The family took care of the garden. We raised chili like we all do in New Mexico, tomatoes,
10:40cucumbers, lettuce, onions, garlic, staples, you know, a few fruit trees out there with apricots,
10:47cherries, and apples as well. We raised sheep. We had chickens. My brother had a horse. He claimed
10:55that he rode that horse. I don't think he did when he was young, but he's pretty good now that he's
10:59older. And we even had a few cows on that. But it was for the families. You know, we grew up with not
11:05much money in the bank, but we always had a meal. We didn't know we were poor growing up because we
11:09always had something to eat. This piece of legislation, though, hurts farmers in so many ways.
11:16Number one, you already know that farmers are getting hurt across the country because of President
11:21Trump's national sales tax, right? These things that he calls a tariff. Food input costs are going
11:28through the roof. It's making it harder and harder. Now, the other area that farmers are getting hit is
11:33because Republicans chose to go after these nutrition programs. So think about all the food
11:39banks across the country, schools where local farmers were able to sell their local produce to
11:44the schools to serve with school lunches, things of that nature. All of that has been devastated.
11:49In addition to that, $300 million grab at this program puts the concern that I shared earlier
11:57about closing rural grocery stores in jeopardy. That's real. When all that adds up, it points
12:05directly to these small farmers. In addition to that, if times get tough and something goes wrong with
12:12the budget or the crop goes south and you need to get health care and it might be Medicaid that you
12:17depend on, well, what happens if that goes away? What happens if we get into tough times, like life
12:22happens to every one of us and all of a sudden you need to go to that food bank or, you know, you have
12:28a child who is going to be going to school and is going to depend on that school program for lunch as
12:32well. That goes away. All that adds up and I would argue it points right back to small farmers across
12:38the country. We should be very concerned about this and every small farmer across the country that's
12:43getting kit with those tariffs or had a contract pulled because you were working with a food bank
12:48or a local school. Show up and use your voice and show exactly how it's hurting you. Show exactly how
12:54it's hurting the family, how it's hurting the local economy. Use your voice and speak up. And by the way,
13:00you know, if you are a farmer, thanks for being out there and putting in that hard work. I know it's not
13:05easy, but we appreciate you. Thanks for what you do. Kim from Instagram. Kim says, can you talk about
13:14what kinds of things Congress can deploy if Trump keeps on defying the courts? Well, look, in this
13:20particular area, the courts are one of the areas in the short term that we can stand up to this
13:26president. And we've already seen court decision after court decision. Tell Donald Trump you can't do
13:33what you're doing with these executive orders or going after these programs, things of that nature.
13:38The courts are going to matter. Now, the question is, what happens next if Donald Trump continues to
13:45go against the courts and ignore the courts? Well, we need the Supreme Court to stand strong and hold
13:49him accountable. We also need to work with our colleagues from across the country in the House
13:55and in the Senate and say, look, we have checks and balances in America. Don't take my word for it.
14:01Look at the United States Constitution. Look at what our founders had and what we should be
14:05following in the United States. And if you're not going to speak up and stand up to any president
14:11that's going to ignore the courts and ignore the three branches of government, we've got to do
14:15something strong here. So using our voices, showing up, standing up, continuing to engage in these courts.
14:22Recently, I've personally filed some amicus briefs into some of these court cases, not only before
14:29other federal courts, but before the United States Supreme Court as well. We all have a role here.
14:33We all have a responsibility. There's more that we can all do.
14:42Any other questions? Ah, Josie. Josie from Instagram. Can you tell us what will actually
14:49happen from exploding the deficit to pay for these tax cuts? How will a larger deficit affect me and my
14:55family? Well, Josie, things get more expensive. What happens when all of that debt gets passed on
15:02or the full faith and credit of the United States gets downgraded or put in jeopardy? Well, credit card
15:08interest rates go up, car interest rates go up, mortgage interest rates go up. In addition to what
15:14Donald Trump is already doing with his national sales tax and these tariffs, we already see the cost of goods
15:19going up, the cost of phones going up, the cost of everything that you use, diapers, strollers for
15:27babies, for little kids going up. And I mean, the kicker here is that my Republican colleagues keep
15:35saying that they're doing all of this stuff, all of this devastation to programs like Medicaid or
15:42nutrition programs for working families because it's fiscally responsible. Well, how is it fiscally
15:48responsible when you're devastating these programs? You're making things more expensive for everyday
15:53working families across America. You're going to give away tax breaks to people making millions of
15:58bucks a year. And look, people that are doing well, I want them to do well. I want them to continue to
16:03grow wealth. I'm just saying they don't need a tax break. Let's put the tax breaks to working families
16:09to folks that are making less than millions of dollars a year. That's where the money should go.
16:13But in the same way that my colleague from Georgia said that Republicans, by going after these
16:18nutrition programs or taking foods out of the mouths of kids, they're going to stick them with
16:22the tap. So now all of this future debt, these annual deficits, all of that does, it gets passed
16:29on to someone. It needs to get more expensive. So, you know, we didn't call out a lie when it's a lie.
16:34This is a lie. And like my grandfather would tell me growing up, the cover up is worse than the lie.
16:40My Republican colleagues have been lying to the American people by saying they were not going to
16:44touch Medicaid. They weren't going to cut Medicare. They were not going to go after nutrition programs
16:49and they were not going to add to the debt. They lied about all of it. It is happening.
16:54Sean, you asked an important question here that's connected to the last one.
16:58How much will this add to the deficit? Is it true it's like two trillion dollars? Well, look,
17:03the Congressional Budget Office has been coming up with scores as they've been looking at these
17:10changing pieces of legislation. It's at least two trillion dollars that will be added. The cost of
17:16this bill is being measured between four and up towards seven trillion dollars, depending on who
17:22you you talk to. And the numbers that I've been using recently are the analysis that have come out
17:27of the Wharton School. And the reason I've been using that is because that's where President Donald
17:31Trump went to school. So I figured, well, if he went to school there, let's use the numbers that
17:35they've come up with. So a cost of about five trillion dollars. It's not all paid for. And by
17:42the way, here's one of the things to watch. A gimmick that was used by Senate Republicans, I don't know,
17:48maybe a month ago when they were looking at the cost of the House bill, which was scored between,
17:53like I said, four and seven trillion dollars at the time, adding at least two trillion dollars to the
17:57debt. My Republican colleagues had the audacity to say, well, they're going to come up with something
18:03called baseline policy. And it doesn't cost anything anymore because it's existing policy.
18:10Well, the Congressional Budget Office came out a couple of weeks later and said, no,
18:14this is costing trillions of dollars. Again, the cover up is worse than the lie. This is such an
18:20important question. And watch Senate Republicans as they try to tell the American people these bills
18:26don't cost any money. All they're doing is lying to them. Hey, Robin, Robin, thanks for putting us
18:34on there from Facebook. Robin is saying, sorry for the simple question. There's no such thing as a
18:40simple question. They're all important questions as well. But you said, but can you explain what a
18:45reconciliation bill is and how long will it affect us if passed? So look, reconciliation bills are
18:55gimmicks, if you will, tools that are used to bypass all the voting thresholds and all the rest
19:02to be able to move a piece of legislation to the president of the United States. That's all that it
19:06is. It's a fancy title. This just allows pieces of legislation to move through the United States
19:13Senate without requiring a 60 vote threshold. The negative impacts, though, if Republicans push through
19:22this bill that will be the largest elimination of nutrition programs in America, the largest
19:28elimination of access to health care when it comes to Medicaid programs across the country, which will
19:35close rural health clinics, the elimination of those nutrition programs, which will close rural grocery
19:42stores, and then all of the other bad things that are in this package. I don't know if I will
19:48see this get fixed in a lifetime. It'll be devastating what they do. Because think about it this way.
19:55If mental health programs that are dependent on Medicaid get destroyed, think of all the mental
20:04health providers across the country that are going to lose their jobs, get fired, or move on. So they'll
20:09go away. Well, if a patient has a relationship with the mental health provider, it's built on trust of
20:18working together. Well, what happens if that goes away? How long is it going to take for that patient
20:23to have a trustworthy relationship with someone to get care from again? I think it's endless. I'm very
20:29worried about what this means to all these programs across the country, but it's such an important
20:34question. And I just want to thank you all for giving me a chance to visit with you. I've had the honor
20:40of serving with several colleagues throughout the United States. And I'm one of the more junior
20:47members. I recently joined the Senate in 2021. But there's a lot of incredible leaders, young
20:54leaders, leaders that care about people that are compassionate, that are doers, that stand by their
21:01word, care about constituents, and get things going. And you're going to hear from one next. And that's one
21:08of the newest members to our body. But she's not new to America. She's not new to the people of
21:13Maryland. And that's Angela also Brooks. Angela, come on over. We'll turn the floor over to you.
21:17Yeah. Thanks for having me, everyone.