- 6/18/2025
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) held a press briefing about President Trump and Congressional Republicans' "Big, Beautiful Bill."
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00:00Okay, thank you for coming, and I'm so glad that my colleagues, Senators Wyden and Warren,
00:09ranking member and senior member of the Finance Committee, or middle, I guess, right?
00:14Senior, they're in the middle of the seats there.
00:18But the Finance Committee, I tried to get on it in the House for years.
00:22No luck.
00:23And then you had to sit next to me.
00:24Yeah, that's right. You got on ahead of me.
00:27But we're all happy.
00:28All right, and so as you know, in the last three weeks, the first week we focused on Medicare, Medicaid rather.
00:38Second week on rising costs for families and lost jobs in America.
00:43And this third week we're talking about taxes, but they're all related because we all know what they're doing.
00:48They're giving tax cuts to the billionaires and hurting, whether it's on Medicaid, on SNAP, on so many other issues,
00:56including taxes themselves, hurting the average person, the American family, as you can see.
01:03Red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, who you get to be rich.
01:05So, and for weeks, Senate Republicans promised they'd take their dangerous, unpopular House bill and fix its worst provisions.
01:18Senators went home and told their constituents, oh, don't worry, this will change, that'll change.
01:23They said they were listening to their constituents.
01:25They lied.
01:28They lied.
01:29Many of them claimed they would draw red lines on cuts to Medicaid or clean energy or food assistance.
01:36But now we know the truth.
01:40But now that we've seen the Senate Republicans' big, beautiful betrayal, we know what's in it.
01:46They didn't fix the House or improve the House bill.
01:52They made it far, far worse.
01:55The Senate Republican bill is, simply put, bigger cuts, bigger betrayal.
02:02Here are five ways.
02:03There are many, but I thought I'd point out five.
02:06And please indulge me a minute.
02:07That the Senate bill is even worse, more extreme, more destructive, more cruel than the House version.
02:13One, the Medicaid cuts are deeper, with more pain, more people losing their health care.
02:20Now it's over a trillion dollars.
02:22The House bill originally was $880 billion at its peak.
02:2716 million Americans, maybe more, will lose health care.
02:31Tens of millions more will have their insurance premiums.
02:34Health insurance premiums go way up.
02:36So it's going to hurt a large chunk of America, just about all of working-class America, including middle-class America.
02:48The Republicans in the Senate have loved to talk about protecting Medicaid.
02:52A whole bunch of them called it a red line.
02:55But with this bill, it's not a red line.
02:56It's a dare.
02:58Their plan cuts health care even more than the House bill.
03:02Democrats are happy to work with Republicans to rid Medicaid of any waste, fraud, or abuse.
03:09But this isn't that.
03:11This is repeal and replace by another name.
03:14The Senate bill squeezes hospitals even harder than the House bill.
03:18It crushes health centers and decimates rural hospitals.
03:22The health care sector alone would lose close to a million jobs.
03:27When you add that to the clean energy job loss, you're pointing at a recession.
03:35Second, the clean energy bill kills jobs and raises costs.
03:42Senate Republicans spent weeks promising everybody, including their governors, including the companies and unions and others who are working in all of this new clean energy manufacturing,
03:56that they would change the House bill.
03:59Instead, the Senate clean energy proposal is a head fake.
04:04They try to make it seem like they're making it better, but they don't, particularly in the core areas of wind and solar.
04:16The Senate clean energy bill cuts are every bit as destructive as the House proposal.
04:21It phases out credits for wind and solar within six months.
04:26These phase-outs are a death sentence for clean energy.
04:28They're going to send electric bills soaring, kill good-paying jobs.
04:33An estimated 850,000 people in the clean energy industry will lose their jobs.
04:40And despite all the rhetoric from Trump and the Republicans, we're going to surrender U.S. energy independence to China.
04:47China will dominate, particularly in the fastest, cheapest way to bring new electrons onto the grid, which is solar.
04:54China is going to dominate and have American consumers by the neck.
05:01The cuts will choke America's energy output right as we need to expand our capacity.
05:08AI is going to demand huge amounts of electricity.
05:11It's going to cost the consumer more as prices go up.
05:14Why the hell would you cut off the quickest, cheapest way to bring in new power?
05:19And some of those who say on the Republican, well, for all of the above, we don't like the Democrats being against fossil fuels.
05:26Well, fossil fuels get lots of tax breaks.
05:29They always have.
05:31Now they're eliminating them just for clean energy.
05:35Three, gun violence.
05:36Now, can you believe this?
05:38That horrible House provision on gun silencers,
05:41saying you no longer had to go through a background check to use a gun silencer.
05:46And only, the only people who use silencers are bad people.
05:50Cops don't like silencers.
05:52Average citizens don't like silencers.
05:54Only somebody who's going to shoot and doesn't want it to be known they're shooting.
05:58But they made it worse.
06:00It's been, I'm the author of the Brady Law.
06:04I'm the author of the assault weapons ban.
06:05I know the history.
06:08And one of the bottom lines for everybody in the past, even Republicans,
06:13is that shotguns and rifles should have background checks.
06:21Guess what?
06:22They took them away in the Senate bill.
06:25Years of history and compromise.
06:29Years of saying everyone knew that these guns were too dangerous,
06:33they took it off.
06:35Now, if they get their way,
06:40silencers, as in the House bill,
06:43and shotguns and rifles added in the Senate bill
06:45will not lead a background check.
06:46Anyone, any criminal, can get them.
06:49Now, we are contesting this
06:51and other provisions in the birdbath.
06:54We're hopeful we can win.
06:56We'll see what happens.
06:57But we are contesting it in every way we can,
07:01because Senate Republicans are choosing the gun lobby
07:03over the lives of our kids.
07:04As I said, I don't know what happened, I can surmise.
07:07A bunch of the right-wingers said,
07:08we didn't get all the cuts we wanted.
07:11So they said, we'll give you this.
07:13Who knows?
07:14Fourth, attacking our courts.
07:17Speaking of fighting against a radical plan by the Senate Republicans,
07:20look at what they're doing to the courts.
07:22Now, you might be confused.
07:24You say, this is a tax bill.
07:26Why are Republicans trying to push something on the courts?
07:29Well, do the math.
07:30Trump is losing in court over 95% of the time.
07:35Some of us have been plaintiffs in suits.
07:38Many other times, we've worked with other groups,
07:40and we were amici.
07:41Or just help them.
07:44We're winning in the courts.
07:46And you know, all too frequently, guess who's siding with us?
07:50Judges Trump appointed in his first term.
07:53The House bill would have prevented courts from enforcing injunctions
07:59if plaintiffs didn't put up massive security bonds.
08:04The Senate, not to be outdone, makes it worse,
08:07preventing courts from even issuing injunctions
08:10against the federal government in the first place
08:13if plaintiffs don't put up a massive,
08:16unaffordable to so many, security bond.
08:20So they're trying to make the justice system pay to play.
08:24Pay to play for our sacred, respected,
08:28until now, relatively following the law.
08:33Not always, unfortunately, particularly with this new Supreme Court.
08:37But they're changing it.
08:38If you don't have money, you don't get justice.
08:42That's never been the American way.
08:45They're doing, Senate Republicans are doing Trump's bidding,
08:48and they're trying to protect him by stopping courts
08:50from issuing injunctions.
08:52This is our democracy.
08:54We're going after it.
08:55We're not going down without a fight.
08:57This and many other provisions, the gun provision and many others,
09:00we are challenging with the parliamentarian
09:03because we don't think it meets the actual criteria for that.
09:07And finally, on taxes, where my two colleagues, members of the Finance Committee, will elaborate.
09:14But given all these devastating cuts,
09:16you'd have to assume the Republicans would say,
09:20okay, we'll lower the national debt.
09:23Nope, quite the opposite.
09:26CBO yesterday said that the House-passed bill would increase the debt by $3.4 trillion,
09:33surging interest rates on every American.
09:35That means when you buy a home, you buy a car, you use a credit card,
09:39you're going to pay more because of the tax cuts for billionaires.
09:43Now, it's not even considering the Senate bill.
09:48That was $3.4.
09:50It's even more generous than the House.
09:52It locks these tax breaks.
09:55And here they are.
09:57Look at this.
09:57The very top 10% get a nice increase in their income.
10:04Look at the others.
10:07The poorest people lose $2,500.
10:09That's a lot of money for anybody.
10:11But if you're poor, it's devastating.
10:14Under the so-called middle-class provisions,
10:18the wealthiest 0.1% get an average tax cut of $400,000.
10:23What does it mean to your family?
10:25Money, fewer benefits, higher costs.
10:30We're going to do everything we can with the court of public opinion
10:36and in the voter-rama process to show the hypocrisy of what the Republicans are doing
10:41and to elaborate on that hypocrisy.
10:45We have Ron Wyden.
10:46Thank you, Leader Schumer, and good to be with you and Senator Warren.
10:51Let me start it this way.
10:52It is hard to grasp how anybody could look at the horrible House bill,
11:01the one they passed a few weeks ago,
11:03and think to themselves,
11:05that's not enough class warfare.
11:10That's apparently what Senate Republicans think.
11:14It is hard to believe that anybody could spend almost $3 trillion on a bill full of tax cuts
11:26and somehow increase the poverty rate in America.
11:33Senate Republicans found a way to do that, too.
11:36It is hard to imagine how 53 senators could ignore all the warnings about their agenda kicking off a catastrophic debt spiral
11:50in higher interest rates, which will devastate the middle class.
11:56They tuned those warnings out, too.
11:59The more the American people learn about this bill, the worse they are going to feel about it.
12:09That's because there's nothing but bad news in it for them
12:13unless they're a corporate executive or somebody who's already fabulously well-off.
12:21And I get the sense that people who spend their time walking around these Senate corridors
12:28have maybe lost sight of the big picture.
12:33This is not a normal debate we're having,
12:36where the two sides have different approaches,
12:40and you talk about the challenges of dealing with a big topic.
12:44This goes way beyond 2017 when you had merely handouts to the people at the top
12:52overshadowing the crumbs that were designed to be their first working people.
13:01This will be the most regressive law in modern times by far.
13:08This is trillions in handouts for corporations and the rich paid for by kicking 16 million Americans off their health care,
13:19taking food out of the mouths of millions of hungry kids,
13:24and sabotaging clean energy in America.
13:28The legislation that came from the Finance Committee that we all worked on sabotaged.
13:34Republicans don't have any answers for the single working mom who's terrified of losing her Medicaid coverage
13:42or being unable to feed their kids.
13:46They have no answers for the solar manufacturers who are about to be put out of business in America
13:55or the thousands of workers whose jobs they're about to eliminate.
13:59Last week, the Treasury Secretary, Mr. Besson, came before the Finance Committee for a hearing.
14:06We asked him about the carnage that I have just described,
14:11the damage that this is going to inflict on the American people.
14:14We asked him about the new analysis that says that this legislation will cause 51,000 excess deaths per year.
14:22What did he do?
14:24He just laughed off the Senate Democratic members who asked about this.
14:29He refused to engage in a serious way with these questions.
14:33The fact is, the Senate bill will drive the vulnerable into misery and drag down the middle class,
14:43all for the benefit of those at the very top and the most powerful.
14:49By definition, this is class warfare.
14:53Caviar over kids, mar-a-lago over the middle class,
14:58and we are going to be in this fight, the fight to block this, until the last dog helps.
15:06I think, Senator Warren?
15:07Yes.
15:09Thank you, Leader Schumer.
15:10Thank you, Rankingman Wyden.
15:15Soon to be chair again.
15:16Your mouth to God's ears.
15:20The Republican bill is a twofer.
15:25It cuts access to health care for millions of Americans, for babies, for people with disabilities,
15:34for seniors living in nursing homes, and is a giant giveaway to billionaires.
15:40Republicans get it both.
15:42They are able to be cruel to the people who need just a little help to get their health care,
15:49to be able to buy groceries for the end of the month,
15:52and they manage to make rich people even richer.
15:57This bill is another effort for the Republicans to just hand over our nation to the billionaires.
16:04I want to call out three particularly filthy provisions that are just tucked down in this bill
16:12that illustrate how give it away to the rich guys and take it away from everyone else.
16:19The first one is there's a giant giveaway to the oil industry tucked right into the middle of this bill.
16:26There's a minimum corporate alternative tax that says once profits reach a billion dollars,
16:33you've got to pay at least 15% on the amount over that.
16:36That's true now if this bill goes through for every corporation in America except the oil industry.
16:44They're going to get a special get-out-of-paying-your-taxes-free under the Senate version of the bill.
16:53Why?
16:54Because they don't want to pay taxes,
16:56and they've been out there making contributions to the Republican Party.
17:00Second one, META.
17:03META.
17:04We all know how META's been struggling out there, right?
17:07There's a provision tucked in here that says that META alone,
17:11that one company, can get $15 billion.
17:17That's with a B.
17:19$15 billion in order to incentivize them to do research in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
17:30Some of you may be doing the math and wondering if they have invented a time machine
17:35to go back and add to their research.
17:38The answer is no.
17:40Instead, evidently, what the Republicans have planned is one of those big checks,
17:45a single check that under this bill would be written to META for $15 billion simply for existing.
17:55And the third one, this bill wants to zero out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
18:02And that may be the biggest giveaway of all.
18:05Now, we all remember that little agency.
18:07That's the one that in about a dozen years managed to uncover more than $20 billion in fraud and cheating
18:18and got that money returned directly to consumers.
18:21Where did that money come from?
18:23It came from giant corporations who want the opportunity to cheat American families again.
18:30You take the cop off the beat and say now it will be open season on American families.
18:37Squeeze them, cheat them, trick them, track them, however you can.
18:42And the Republicans say, have at it.
18:44That will be one more boost under this bill.
18:47So, look, we're here because Democrats believe that no baby should lose access to health care
18:56so that Jeff Bezos can buy a third yacht.
19:01We're here because we believe that no one with disabilities who needs a wheelchair,
19:07who needs a home health aide, should lose that aide, should lose that chair,
19:12so that Mark Zuckerberg can buy a third island.
19:15And we're here because Democrats believe that no senior should be pushed out of a nursing home
19:22so that Elon Musk can take a rocket ship ride to Mars.
19:28Budgets are about our values.
19:30The Republicans have made clear.
19:32They are willing to throw millions of Americans under the bus
19:38so they can help out a handful of their billionaire friends and those billionaire corporations.
19:45Democrats are here to fight that.
19:47Okay, and we'll take some questions on this subject first.
19:50Yes.
19:50On the issue of taxes, obviously another one of the major changes from the Senate version,
19:56that was made to the House version, is the deduction of the self-cap.
20:00In the House it was $40,000, in the Senate it's now back to $10,000.
20:04What do you make of that change being from New York?
20:07And have you talked to any of your Republican colleagues at all?
20:10Because on the House side you have some Republicans from New York like...
20:13Well, so far, and this is just from reading in the press,
20:18our House Republicans are vehemently opposed to this.
20:21Not just New York, but a few other states as well.
20:24Look, this was passed by the Republicans in 2017.
20:28It was a dagger aimed at the heart of blue states because blue states, states' rights on their own,
20:35wanted to put more money to help educate our kids, to help provide health care, to have a better environment.
20:42The right wing hated it, and that's why it was aimed at it.
20:45So I'm against the whole elimination of the deduction period.
20:50Yes?
20:50Can you talk a little bit about Democrat's strategy for vote-a-lama?
20:54If you assume it's next week, we don't have a significant opportunity on the floor.
20:58Yes, and we're going to use that opportunity in hopes, maybe difficult,
21:04but we're getting Republicans to vote with us on some things they've all said they've agreed with,
21:10and show people who we are.
21:14So there are five basic areas we're looking at.
21:17It'll go beyond that, but one is Medicaid and health care.
21:20The second is higher costs for you and fewer jobs for you,
21:26focusing a little bit on the energy but on other issues as well.
21:30The third will be the taxes.
21:32The fourth will be the corruption, the rampant corruption in this administration.
21:37And the fifth will be the deficit.
21:39All those deficit hawks on the Republican side will have a chance to reduce the deficit.
21:45Yes?
21:45You say that you hope to get some Republicans to play with amendments to them.
21:51Issues like, say, rural hospitals, are you actually reaching out to people?
21:55Oh.
21:56We have a task force that's doing just that, reaching out to the Republican senators.
22:02In fact, we're meeting again this evening, this afternoon.
22:07And yes, we're reaching out, and we're reaching out.
22:11I have seven Republican congressmen in my state.
22:17I've been in every one of their districts talking about this issue, getting a huge response.
22:22Many of these hospital administrators and employees are Republican.
22:25In many of the rural hospitals, they are the largest employer in the county,
22:29and in most, they're the only supplier of health care.
22:32It infuriates the rural counties, and they tend to be Republican.
22:35Go ahead, Ron.
22:35Thanks, Chuck.
22:36Just wanted to add a point.
22:38You know, we lost the big Medicaid fight earlier, really by just two votes.
22:45Actually, one.
22:46Josh Hawley voted with us.
22:48Senator Collins voted with us.
22:50As the leader said, the public is much angrier about Medicaid today than when we had the recorded vote that we almost won a month or so ago.
23:01So we are up to this fight every step of the way, and we're going to stand until we win.
23:06And the AHA, which didn't like the first proposal, but is now infuriated by this Senate proposal, the American Hospital Association.
23:15Yes?
23:16This is a process of a question, but it matters.
23:20You know the Senate panel is a challenge that they've had.
23:22Can you just understand how long do you think the word-back process will take,
23:26and how do you see these next few weeks' reconciliation and rescission?
23:31Okay, on how long it takes, we can't really tell you because we don't have all their bills.
23:36The biggest bill, far and away, that deals with the issues that Ron, Elizabeth, and I have talked about hasn't even been put down yet.
23:44So it's hard to tell.
23:46But the birdbath process is going to take a while, and I can't see it finishing up, you know, by the end of this week.
23:55Okay?
23:56Yes?
23:56I'm hoping you can give a quick reaction to the Supreme Court ruling that just came in from Tennessee about the plot-up and...
24:04You know, this Supreme Court seems to have forgotten that one of their jobs is to protect individual rights and protect individuals from being discriminated against.
24:15It's an awful decision.
24:16What have you done for...
24:18Well, on the floor we had a bill that the Republicans wanted to take away these rights, and we got, I believe, every Democrat voting against it, so it failed because it needed 60 votes.
24:27So we're going to explore every solution.
24:30Okay?
24:30Last one.
24:31What, if any, authority does the President have to act in Iran?
24:35Do you plan on backing Senator Kaine's War Powers Act resolution or Senator Warren's bill that would prevent funds from being dispersed in Iran?
24:46Well, Senate Democrats, if necessary, will not hesitate to assert our prerogatives and our ability on this bill.
24:54Will you get behind either of those measures?
24:55As I said, we will not hesitate.
24:58Thank you, everybody.
24:59Have you gotten any briefings from the administration on this bill over Iran?
25:03Have we gotten any briefings?
25:05Yes, we've gotten briefings, and I have requested that we get an all-senators classified briefing.
25:11Okay?
25:13Do you think you'll be successful in getting that?
25:15I hope so.
25:16I believe we will.
25:18I believe we will.