Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Urging Republicans To Abandon Their “Big, Ugly Betrayal” That Would Gut Healthcare And Skyrocket The Debt To Pay For Tax Breaks For Billionaires

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor to condemn Republicans’ “Big, Ugly Betrayal,” calling for them to abandon the morally bankrupt policies packed into their legislation that would drastically impact Americans’ healthcare, SNAP benefits, energy costs and much more. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Everybody needs to understand exactly what’s going on with the Republicans’ so-called reconciliation bill.

Their “Big, Beautiful Bill” is buckling under its own weight. Republicans can’t agree among themselves on just how devastating to make their own bill. A lot devastating? Even more devastating?

But don’t be fooled: Republicans absolutely agree that, one way or another, they want Medicaid cut to the bone.

So now Republicans are scrambling behind closed doors, trying to rewrite the bill just enough to keep their Medicaid cuts alive.

And why are they doing this? We know why they’re doing this: they want to cut taxes for billionaires!

But here’s a thought: instead of finding new ways to pass the same old cuts, why don’t Republicans keep the promises they’ve been making for weeks not to cut Medicaid?

The dissonance we’re hearing from Republicans is head-spinning.

Because on one hand we’ve been hearing the same talking points for weeks:

That somehow they’re not going to cut people’s Medicaid.

That they’re “not in favor of cutting benefits regarding Medicaid.”

That “no one’s losing their health care.”

That there “should not be any cuts.”

Those are real quotes I just read from our Senate Republican colleagues in the last month—from Senators Blackburn, Boozman, Cassidy, and Cornyn.

There’s plenty more where this came from.

But their words don’t match their actions.

The Republican bill does exactly the opposite of what they’re saying: it doesn’t save Medicare and health care, it eviscerates it!

Independent studies show the Republican bill would cut health care for 16 million Americans. It would decimate rural hospitals. It would harm nursing homes. It would kill nearly a million jobs. And it would raise health care costs for everyone — even those with private insurance.

That’s the bill Republicans are working on right now. That’s what it would do.

Apparently, Republicans are ok with the consequences.

Former Leader McConnell shrugged off people’s concerns, saying folks worried about Medicaid cuts will simply “get over it.”

Meanwhile, Senator Ernst, told people to stop fussing — because, quote, “we’re all going to die.”

What planet are they on? Is this how Republicans talk to people back home worried about seeing a doctor, taking care of their kids, and affording prescription drugs?

Now, a few Senate Republicans have shown flickers of lucidity, in closed-door meetings, and in hallway conversations. A few at least claim they recognize what the rest of us already know: their own bill will decimate their own constituents.

The Senior Senator from North Carolina was handing out flyers at a recent Republican lunch detailing how his own state—and nine others—would lose tens of billions in funding and see hundreds of thousands of people lose insurance.

The Senior Senator from Missouri acknowledged: “it’s just not the right thing to do to shut down a bunch of rural hospitals to pay for tax cuts.”

The Senator from Wisconsin warned “We are mortgaging [our children’s] future. It’s unconscionable. It’s immoral. It has to stop.”

Well, these are all nice words, but they mean nothing if the only thing Republicans do over the next few days is find new ways to pass the same old cuts.

New lipstick, same pig. That’s what’s going on right now with the Republican bill.

So Republicans have a choice to make.

They can keep chasing arbitrary deadlines.

They can keep making edits and changes in the hopes that some combination of Medicaid and SNAP and clean energy cuts will make it to the floor.

They can keep rewriting a bad bill into a slightly different bad bill.

Or they can ask the obvious question: should we pass this bill at all?

The answer is no. They should abandon Donald Trump’s so-called beautiful bill.

It makes no sense whatsoever for Republicans to pass a bill that even they admit will kick millions of hardworking Americans off health insurance.

It makes no sense for Republicans to pass a bill that will kill good paying energy jobs—most of them in Republican states—while surrendering American energy independence to China.

It is morally bankrupt to take food away from kids to give to the ultra-rich. It is morally bankrupt to saddle future generations with insurmountable debt. And it is morally bankrupt to ask working and Middle Americans to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires at a time they’re struggling to pay for groceries and rent. 

So the Senate Republicans’ bill is not just flawed—it is irredeemable.

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