Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Slamming Republicans’ Cruel Attacks On Medicare, Medicaid, And Social Security
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid to condemn Republicans’ attacks on Americans’ healthcare and reaffirm Democrats’ commitment to fighting to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:
Today, Democrats are holding the floor, on the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid being signed into law, to talk about the Republicans’ all-out assault on our healthcare system.
Look: the American people are just fed up with the soaring costs of healthcare. They’re fed up with Donald Trump and Republicans cutting their healthcare to help the billionaire class. But, unfortunately, Donald Trump and Republicans seem to live in a bubble.
Because while they brag about how “big” and “beautiful” their bill is, the American people feel the opposite.
The more Americans learn about the Republicans’ bill, the more they are realizing that Donald Trump and Republicans sold them a raw deal.
The Republicans’ “Big, Ugly Betrayal” is one of the most devastating bill for Americans’ healthcare that we’ve ever seen.
The largest cut to Medicaid in American history.
One trillion [dollars] in healthcare cuts.
Fifteen million people at risk of losing their healthcare coverage.
Why? To pay for tax breaks for billionaires.
They are essentially telling a mom whose daughter has cancer that she can no longer afford treatment, and the child may die because some billionaire needs more money.
I don't have anything against the billionaires. God bless them, they made a lot of money. But they don't need a tax break at the expense of middle-class American families, working-class American families, or poor American families that desperately need healthcare.
What is “big” or “beautiful” about what they’re doing? Nothing. It's even nervy to call it “big” and “beautiful.” They listen to Donald Trump, who just makes it up as he goes along, and they say, yes, whatever he says, no matter how bad it is for the American people.
So, the American people don’t want their healthcare cut to help out the ultra-rich. It’s a nasty proposition from our Republican colleagues.
And if I may add an aside – I want to be clear it's not just healthcare in danger. It's not just healthcare.
Today, we got a rather stunning admission from the administration on Social Security, another part of the safety net. It deserves a mention now before I give up the floor.
Today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted in a podcast that the so-called Trump accounts that Republicans snuck into the “Big, Ugly Betrayal” are, in Secretary Bessent’s eyes, a “backdoor for privatizing Social Security.”
Let me repeat that, these are Secretary Bessent's words. What they put and snuck into the reconciliation bill – that they called the BBB and we call the “Big, Ugly Betrayal” – is “a backdoor for privatizing Social Security.”
America, do you hear that? From one end of the country to the other?
Social Security is probably the most popular federal program ever passed. And they want to privatize it? You know what privatize means? It means you're in trouble, Mr. and Mrs. Senior Citizen. Because when they privatize it, and the big boys get hold of it, it's going to be much less money for you, if at all.
But now we have it – Secretary Bessent actually slipped and told the truth. Donald Trump and his government want to privatize Social Security.
Another great lie from Donald Trump. He just lies at will. Donald Trump promised that Social Security under his watch “would not be touched,” while at the same time his administration has strangled the program behind the scenes – laying off staff, shutting down offices, and making it harder to claim benefits. And now they are openly talking about privatizing it.
Rarely is the end game for Republicans so obvious: they are jamming and ramming historic cuts down Americans’ throats just to help billionaires.
So, in light of these attacks, today we mark the anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid.
It was a proud day 60 years ago when America finally understood that we were a wealthy country, and that we had to use some of it to give people healthcare, the most important thing in their lives.
If you ask the average American, what do you want most? They will say they want to live long and healthy. The reason we’re living longer and healthier, for all the troubles in the system, is because we have Medicare and Medicaid.
This is the anniversary. So, this morning, I was proud to introduce legislation to reverse disastrous healthcare cuts in the “Big, Ugly Betrayal.”
My bill is simple: it repeals the entire healthcare subtitle of the Republicans’ bill, and permanently extends the ACA premium tax credits that Republicans are letting expire.
Extending these tax credits should be a no-brainer: it will save Americans on the ACA hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a year. Anyone who objects to this simply wants Americans to pay more for healthcare, plain and simple.
The Senate should take up my legislation as soon as possible, because the worst of the Republicans’ cuts are already starting to take effect.
It's not going to happen, Republican colleagues, you thought oh, we can delay it so no one will know until after the 2026 elections. Bunk. It's starting already.
Healthcare premiums are going to start spiking very soon.
Hospitals and clinics are at risk of closing, now, not after 2026. Some have already shut their doors in Maine, Nebraska, and other states.
People in rural communities are already worried sick that they will have to travel even further to get care.
In many rural counties, including in some of mine in New York, the local hospital is the biggest employer. Those jobs will go by the wayside.
Again: this is not what the American people want. People want healthcare that is easy to access, easy to navigate, easy to afford.
Seniors, kids, people with disabilities – people who rely on Medicare and Medicaid – don’t want to see their coverage ripped away.
Republicans should be working with Democrats to strengthen these programs, not slash and burn them to the ground.
And Republicans shouldn’t go home and tell people lies, that your healthcare won't be affected by this bill. Of course it will. Even the Republican gurus say to talk about other things – not to talk about healthcare because they know how bad it is.
It isn’t too late for Republicans to reverse course. Democrats, meanwhile – Senator Whitehouse, Senator Markey, Senator Hickenlooper and all of my Democratic colleagues – will never stop fighting to fix our broken healthcare system.
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