Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Democrats’ Amendment To Kill Donald Trump’s $2 Billion Slush Fund

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor on his amendment to the Republican reconciliation bill that will eliminate the Trump administration's heinous $2 billion slush fund, so that no American’s taxpayer dollars can be handed over to MAGA loyalists. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Anyone, anyone who still believes that Trump has any intention of stopping his effort to steal Americans’ taxpayer [dollars] to enrich himself, his family, and MAGA loyalists ought to listen to Trump’s comments yesterday.

Yesterday, Trump not only refused to commit to ending his two-billion-dollar, taxpayer-funded MAGA slush fund permanently, he also said of the slush fund: “I love it. I think it’s so important… It was a beautiful thing.”

I repeat, here’s what Trump said about this damn slush fund: he said, “I love it. I think it’s so important… It was a beautiful thing.” You hear that America? You hear that Republican Senators? You hear it? Trump “loves” giving Americans’ taxpayer dollars to his billionaire friends. Trump thinks forcing Americans to fork over their paychecks to line the pockets of his corrupt friends is “so important.” Trump says ripping Americans off to give kickbacks to convicted criminals who beat police officers to death on January 6 is “a beautiful thing.” That’s what he said.

Trump’s slush fund is anything but beautiful – it’s heinous, and it won’t die until we permanently ban it by law. Not by language, not by verbal promises which can just evaporate, but by law. And we have the chance to do that this morning in the amendment I will offer.

The very first amendment I will offer in vote-a-rama today will be to outlaw the slush fund forever. So, when Trump wakes up a week from now or a month from now and says, “why don’t we try that slush fund again,” he won’t be able to. He won’t be able to.

With the whole country watching, Republicans will have to choose: either support the slush fund, or ban it. They can come up with ten excuses, it’s a yes or no: support the slush fund or ban it. Americans want a big, loud voice and vote to ban it permanently, to ban it forever.

We’re also going to force Republicans to vote on whether to let Trump keep the immunity he granted himself from audits so he can get out of paying his own taxes. This is what he put in the bill. This is what our Republican friends are putting in the bill. Donald Trump has a get out of jail free card, no audit ever of him and how he's evading taxes. And he's already tried to do that a whole bunch of times. There have been court cases about it. Let him do it? Let this level of corruption rise so it's going to drown all of us? Throw away those good old American values that have served this country well for 250 years, because Donald Trump wants to take this money in a corrupt fund and scare you into voting yes? Come on. You Republicans are better than that, I hope.

Donald Trump is less trustworthy than a snake oil salesman, than a back-alley bookie, than the Nigerian prince in your email’s spam folder.

Are Republicans blind? Are they so far removed from the American people? Do they not even know what corruption is anymore? That's what I think is happening over on that side of the aisle. Donald Trump has immersed so much of America in so much corruption, you don't even get it. But that's what America—you're taking the great values of America on our 250th year and flushing them down the toilet, because you're afraid of Donald Trump.

And on another point, are Republicans really going to take Todd Blanche – a known liar – at his word?

Do we believe that Donald Trump who has lied to us day in and day out, do we believe that he will be able to resist getting his sticky fingers in the slush fund when it would benefit himself and his family? No way. No way.

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