Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Failures Of Donald Trump’s First 100 Days In Office And Senate Republicans’ Complicity

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the chaos and damage inflicted on American families by Donald Trump and his administration as he passed 100 days in office and the fault of Senate Republicans in aiding him every step of the way. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Donald Trump’s first hundred days in office boil down to one word: failure.

Yesterday, we learned that the U.S. economy shrank – actually shrank – in the first quarter of 2025. It's his first quarter in office, and the economy shrinks.

It was the worst single quarter the economy has seen since the time of the pandemic.

And what does Donald Trump have to say about this? Does he admit his mistakes? Does he take responsibility, like any leader should do? Of course not.

Donald Trump said it’s Joe Biden’s fault the economy is shrinking today.

He said it will be Joe Biden’s fault if GDP numbers are bad again in the next quarter.

In Donald Trump’s alternate universe, when things go wrong, it’s always someone else’s fault. It’s just appalling.

It’s no surprise why Donald Trump’s polls are slipping: he starts a trade war with no plan at all, then tells families they’ll just have to settle for higher prices.

He tells parents they’ll have to accept fewer – and more expensive – gifts for their kids for Christmas. Leave it to Donald Trump to act like a Grinch in the middle of spring.

Fewer choices, higher prices – that’s the Trump economy in a nutshell.

But Donald Trump has not acted alone. Republicans in the Senate and the House own his mess too.

It’s not just that Republicans are silent – they are complicit in Donald Trump’s failures.

Last night, Senate Republicans had a chance to stop Donald Trump’s tariffs here on the Senate floor. They said no.

They chose to side with tariffs instead. They chose to side with high prices for Americans – $4,000 more a year. They chose to side with Donald Trump over siding with the American consumer, who's paying more than $4,000 a year.

So, Republicans now own Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Let me repeat: Republicans own Donald Trump’s tariffs. Don't complain about them. Don't go knocking at the White House door and say to get rid of them. You're going along, and you voted to go along.

If Republicans wanted to stop these tariffs, they certainly could.

They have the power. Many of them know privately it’s the right thing to do. But they’re too scared to cross Donald Trump, so instead of siding with the American consumer, they side with him and enable his destructive behavior.

But it’s not just tariffs, oh no. Republicans are behind every failure of Donald Trump. They’re his enablers, his collaborators, his co-conspirators.

We all know they could undo Trump’s failing policies if they wanted to. But they sit on their hands and in so many cases are complicit.

Republicans are complicit in Donald Trump’s push to cuts taxes for billionaires.

They’re complicit in putting Medicaid funding on the chopping block.

They’re complicit in adding $52 trillion to the national debt.

They’re complicit as DOGE sabotages the Social Security Administration.

They’re complicit in the leadership failures at the Pentagon.

And they will be complicit should the economy slip into a wholly unnecessary recession, God forbid.

In just 100 days of Donald Trump, polls show Americans are getting fed up. They’re fed up with the chaos. They’re fed up with lawlessness. And they’re fed up with Donald Trump siding with the special few over them.

And the longer that Republicans enable Donald Trump’s reckless behavior, the more the American people are going to get fed up with Republican majorities as well.

Even Donald Trump admits that prices are going to go up because of his trade war.

Companies ranging from Proctor & Gamble to Target to Adidas to Best Buy to AutoZone all warn that a global trade war means that Americans will pay more for their products.

Even if some companies try to hold off for a little while, eventually the dam is going to break.

The result? The average household will pay an extra $4,700 a year. That’s a lot of money for the average family.

I urge national retailers to be transparent to their customers: if national retailers raise prices on their products, they should list out exactly how much of their price increases are connected to tariffs. They should break it down so consumers know.

Companies itemizing the cost of tariffs for their customers is not “hostile” or “political” – it’s being honest with consumers. And it’s easy to do – I’ve talked to business people all over my state, and even the country. They know how much the costs are increasing because of tariffs. They simply have to let consumers know as well.

Electric and gas companies already itemize each surcharge and fee in each utility bill. Airline companies on their tickets list out fuel costs, security fees, base fares. Why shouldn’t they, and all companies do the same for this new increased cost for tariffs?

Retailers have reportedly already explained to the Trump administration the impact of tariffs on their products – well, consumers deserve the same courtesy. Itemize the price of tariffs. Break down the costs so people can see. And maybe that will cause enough people to put pressure on Republican Senators and Congressmembers and the White House to get rid of these ridiculous tariffs across the world.

And it will serve the interests of the retailers as well, because if the prices goes away, their prices will go back down.

Americans deserve to know who is picking their pockets. I call on retailers to disclose to consumers how much tariffs are increasing the prices of their products, and they should do so as soon as possible.

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