Chuck Schumer: 'Behind Closed Doors' Republicans Are Very Concerned About Big Beautiful Bill Cuts

Forbes Breaking News

At a Senate Democratic leadership press briefing on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about the Big Beautiful Bill.

Transcript

00:00Okay, I'm proud to have my staff join me.

00:16Where's Jeff?

00:18Right here.

00:19Good.

00:20Thanks, Jeff, for joining us today.

00:23Well, one thing has become clear.

00:26The more Americans learn about this big, ugly bill, the more they hate it.

00:32We just saw polling data in our caucus that showed two to one.

00:40People don't like the bill.

00:42A majority of Democrats, of course, but a significant majority of independents and a significant chunk of Republicans.

00:48Our Republican colleagues are also starting to see how devastating this bill is.

00:57Look no further than my good friend, Senator Tillis.

01:00Where's our?

01:01Sorry.

01:02Gracie's supposed to be.

01:03They're busy talking.

01:04Okay.

01:05You going to hold it, Gracie, or I'll hold it?

01:07Me.

01:07Okay.

01:08So let me just, I'll do it.

01:09So this is a chart that he gave out in his caucus, according to Punchbowl.

01:16He handed out this sheet that says exactly what's in the bill.

01:21Thanks, Jeff.

01:22How much you lose with the provider rate tax, each state.

01:28Louisiana, $20 billion.

01:30South Carolina, $20 billion.

01:32Tennessee, $16 billion.

01:34Kentucky, $12 billion.

01:35Ohio, $8.4 billion.

01:37West Virginia, $6.2 billion.

01:39Missouri, $6.1 billion.

01:40And Iowa, $4.1 billion.

01:43And North Carolina, $38 billion.

01:47That's a lot of money for anybody.

01:51And so in the caucus, he's handing this out.

01:55Republicans are really beginning to learn how bad the big, ugly bill is for them.

02:00But Tillis is actually, is right.

02:03I agree with him.

02:05He's, okay.

02:07It'd be catastrophic for North Carolina with Medicaid coverage at risk for over 600,000 people

02:14and forfeiting over $38 billion to his home state.

02:19And he's not the only one.

02:20Republican senators are airing deep concerns behind closed doors, but they're not being honest

02:27at home to their constituents.

02:29Senate Republicans should listen to Senator Tillis.

02:33He's right about how devastating this would be.

02:36Republicans might not want to be honest with the American people in public, but Democrats

02:41sure as hell will be now and throughout the summer and on into next year.

02:48Senate Democrats have been beating the drum, doing our best to reveal exactly what the bill

02:55does.

02:56And the more we learn about the bill, the more awful it is.

03:00And the more awful it is, the harder we fight.

03:04And we know the American people are on our side.

03:08So we know just letting them know what's in the bill is very bad for them and shows what

03:14we are for.

03:16Republicans know that their plan is a debt buster, but they don't seem to care.

03:20They're lining the pockets of their billionaire buddies, pretending it won't cost billions, trillions

03:29rather, by using a budget gimmick.

03:32And all it is is a gimmick, current policy baseline.

03:34They can deceive all they want.

03:38Everyone knows you can push the paper around, but they're actually putting the country in

03:42debt with these tax cuts.

03:44There's less money in the coffers when they cut the taxes, plain and simple.

03:50And they know that.

03:53But the debt has a real effect on the American people.

03:57Costs will go up everywhere.

03:59The cost to buy a car, the cost to start a business, the cost to build a home.

04:04The cost to buy a home, the cost to retain some debt on your credit card bills.

04:10Americans are going to be hit hard by the deficit increase alone.

04:16And that won't change no matter how the Republicans paper it over with this gimmick called current

04:21policy baseline.

04:23So it's evasive.

04:25Now, finally, I want to emphasize how utterly outrageous it was.

04:34For the administration to cancel, to cancel the briefing that we were supposed to get

04:40at four o'clock today.

04:42The last minute postponement was just a dereliction of their duty to let the Congress know, to let

04:52both parties know in the Congress, what's going on over there.

04:57So what's the administration so afraid of, that they don't want to brief us?

05:01They keep delaying it.

05:02I asked for this briefing last week.

05:05It was scheduled last week before United States action in Iran.

05:10And here, all of a sudden, they cancel it.

05:12Now, they say they want to wait to have Rubio and Hegseth there.

05:17Rubio and Hegseth were never scheduled.

05:20And frankly, they want to do that Thursday?

05:23That's fine.

05:23But it should not be a substitute for this serious briefing, but in addition.

05:29And we know what will happen.

05:30Hegseth and even Rubio will give us a lot of happy talk, but not the sinew, the details

05:36that we need.

05:37The people coming today, including Major General Cain, he's known as a straight shooter, would

05:43have given us the details we need to know.

05:47We don't need some canned talk points for Pete Hegseth to roll out.

05:52If secretaries and Rubio, as I said, want to come, that's fine.

05:56But what happened today was obstruction that undermines the very principles of democracy.

06:05Okay?

06:06Where is Leader Thune and the Republicans?

06:10Why are they not defending the very right and obligation of senators, both Democrat and

06:16Republican, to be informed?

06:21What the heck is going on?

06:23They are just out of control, violating every precept, every principle, every law, unlike

06:30any other administration in American history.

06:33Senator Merkley.

06:36Thank you very much.

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