Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Senate Passing Bipartisan Appropriations Bills And Urging Senate Republicans To Continue In Good Faith Rather Than Following The Trump-Vought Agenda

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the Senate passing bipartisan funding bills last night and urging Senate Republicans to continue working on appropriations in good faith rather than killing bipartisan cooperation or caving to Trump and Vought on illegal impoundments or rescissions. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Well, we did get appropriations bills done last night, and now I’d like to say a few words on what needs to happen with appropriations moving forward.

Last night was another clear example of Democrats working in good faith to put the needs of families, veterans, moms, kids, and rural communities ahead of the special interests.

Donald Trump and DOGE have run roughshod on hundreds of billions of dollars in funding that so many communities depend on, including funding to care for parents, to care for rural Americans, and to care for those – our veterans – who’ve served this country.

But last night’s appropriations bills were a rejection of the Trump-Vought agenda.

We took a good step in reversing those DOGE cuts and fully funding many critical programs last night, including funds to care for our veterans and our farmers.

Specifically, we provided our nation's veterans with the benefits and medical care they've earned, while countering the awful DOGE cuts at the VA.

We provide for rural veterans care, expanded access for telehealth, and fully funded benefits through the PACT Act to cover those suffering from toxic exposure, and so much more.

But that’s not all. We are fully funding WIC, which cares for women and children’s nutrition and health care. We protect rural funding too.

These numbers are all much higher than what House Republicans are pushing in their legislation, and it’s bipartisan agreements here in the Senate, unlike the House.

So, last night’s legislation wasn’t a perfect bill but a step in the right direction.

And it’s an example of how the funding process could work if the other side is willing to work in good faith, instead of listening all the time to Donald Trump and Russell Vought and the extreme right.

Democrats want the bipartisan funding process to work. We believe that when we have legislation before us that takes real steps, important steps, to help the American people in tangible ways, we should take it seriously. That's why we've worked on these bills over the past week in good faith.

But we have a long way to go. We all know that. Democrats aren’t going to take things for granted, and some difficult bills remain ahead of us.

The onus is on the Republican Majority to determine how this chamber is going to operate when it matters most during the appropriations process.

They must do more to ensure this process stays bipartisan in the fall. They cannot just keep caving to Donald Trump and Russell Vought when they try to kill bipartisan cooperation, push illegal impoundment of funds, or rescissions packages. We have seen that already, and it is unacceptable.

The process isn't easy, but we are showing today that it is possible.

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