TRANSCRIPT: Leader Schumer Holds Press Conference Following Passage Of Reconciliation Bill

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) delivered remarks and responded to media inquiries at a press conference following Senate Republicans’ final vote to pass their “Big, Ugly Betrayal”—a bill that slashes healthcare and food assistance for millions to fund a massive tax break for billionaires. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

Leader Schumer: Today, Senate Republicans betrayed the American people and covered the Senate in utter shame. They betrayed the American people and covered the Senate in utter shame. In one fell swoop, Republicans passed the biggest tax break for billionaires ever seen, paid for by ripping away healthcare for millions of people and taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids. This is not a “Big, Beautiful Bill” at all. That's why I moved on the floor to strike the title. It is now called “The Act.” That's all it's called. But it is really the “Big, Ugly Betrayal,” and the American people know it.

This vote will haunt our Republican colleagues for years to come. Because of this bill, tens of millions will lose health insurance. Millions of jobs will disappear. People will get sick and die. Kids will go hungry, and the debt will explode to levels we have never seen. All so that the billionaires and corporate special interests get a permanent tax break. This bill is so irredeemable that one Republican literally chose to retire rather than vote yes and decimate his own state.

But there were many, many senators who felt like he did. They knew how bad it was for their states, but they didn't have the courage. They didn't have the backbone to vote with the people of their states. They voted in obeisance to Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies. Because, as one of the senators said, we are all afraid. Speaking of the Republican senators, one other thing of note: after the back and forth we saw the past 30 hours, those backroom deals, sweetheart negotiations—we found out that Senate Democrats successfully fought a provision that the Senate Republicans were using to try and get Senator Murkowski's vote. The Medicaid provision in question was a handwritten parenthetical notation, not even disclosed to the Dems, that [likely] created a special new preference for Alaska. We fought and we won. This is a polar payoff, and it should not have stood—and it didn't.

And let me say this: on the Republican side, when the bill passed, there was a bit of somberness that I don't think was expected, and that's because they knew deep in their hearts how bad this bill is for them, their states, and the Republican Party. They knew that following Trump would be a very, very bad move for the country and for the Republican Party. When people start losing their Medicaid, when they start losing their jobs, when their electric bills go up, when their premiums go up, when kids and parents lose SNAP funding—the people of America will remember this vote. The American people will remember the Republican betrayal, and Americans will pay the price for this perfidy for generations—generations.

So we Democrats fought very, very hard. We won a remarkable number of cases with the parliamentarian over and over and over again. We broke through with the American people, who by a two-to-one margin don't like this bill. And because of our relentless focusing on a simple, unified message—“Billionaires win, Families lose,” that the Republicans are taking away your healthcare to give a tax break to billionaires—it has sunk in with the American people, and it will remain. And our battle is not over. We're going to be fighting in July and August and throughout the year, reminding Americans: when their hospitals close, when their health insurance is cut off, when their friends lose their jobs because clean energy has been so decimated—they'll remember, they'll remember. We will make sure of that. Questions? Yes.

Reporter: How will you make sure of that? We already have Thom Tillis saying he's not running for reelection; now you have the Republican senators—a list of them – did vote for this. What is your strategy?

Schumer: We're going to be in their states in every way. We are going to organize. We are going to have all the people who are hurt organized. You're going to see a constant, constant battle in those states, reminding people day in and day out of what happened. And that's going to be Democrats in the Senate. It's going to be all of the groups who were hurt so badly. It's going to be just average folks. You saw how many people marched last month. There'll be many more marches, many more protests against this “Big, Ugly Betrayal.”

Reporter: Why did you strike the name “One, Big Beautiful Bill”? Is it your hope that it irritates President Trump?

Schumer: I didn't even think of President Trump. I thought of the truth. This is not a beautiful bill. Anyone who loses their health insurance doesn't think it's beautiful. Any worker in the clean energy industry who loses their job does not think it's beautiful. Any mom who can't feed her kid on five dollars a day doesn't think it's beautiful. We wanted the American people to know the truth.

Reporter: I just spoke with Dan Sullivan, and he said the Republicans tried four times to get the FMAP for Alaska—the special FMAP for Alaska—through the parliamentarian. It was rejected four times, and he said that they doubled the rural hospital fund. Can you walk through that process?

Schumer: The rural hospital fund is a fig leaf. It's putting a Band-Aid on an amputation. Fifty billion dollars when a trillion dollars is cut in health care? Give me a break. They know it. They know that that money is not going to cover so many of the people who lose their jobs and so many of the hospitals closed. It's not enough. But the right-wing MAGA people didn’t want—they wanted to slash Medicare. They wanted to slash Medicaid. And they also were unwilling to do what the more mainstream people want. So they came up with this fig leaf. It's not going to work. [Hospitals] came out against it because they thought it was a fake.

Reporter: Could you talk a little more about…

Schumer: Let me go to other people.

Reporter: Leader Schumer, with the SALT cap being extended, and if the tax cuts are extended too, will your constituents benefit from that though?

Schumer: Look, the bottom line is my constituents are going to be hurt dramatically. New York has seven million-odd people—seven million-plus people—on Medicaid. They're going to get hurt. New York has hundreds of thousands of people on SNAP. They're going to get hurt. New York has tens of thousands of clean energy jobs. Many of them will be gone. They're going to get hurt. So this bill is very bad for New York and very bad for America. It's bad for every state. Ask Thom Tillis.

Reporter: That’s my question. Was Tillis helpful for you, in terms of midterms and with his floor speech and his statements made on this bill?

Schumer: Well, Tillis spoke truth to power. Unfortunately, not any other Republicans had the courage to do that. But obviously what Tillis said is true. And it's not just him who said it—it's lots of people who said it. But of course, what Thom Tillis said will reverberate around America, and we're going to make sure of that.

Reporter: You mentioned taking this to voters. Do you believe that this bill will help your party flip the majority? Also, can I get your reaction to Collin Allred running for Senate in Texas again?

Schumer: Okay, on the first one—look, we didn't do this for electoral purposes. We did this because we passionately believe how bad this is. That's what motivated us. And again, as you saw on the floor all during the debate, we were on our front foot. We were filled with enthusiasm. The Republicans weren’t. They were defensive throughout the debate. And as I said, even when the bill passed, there was a little bit of somberness there because they know how bad it is. But will it affect the elections? Well, that's what America's all about. When something as big and ugly and betraying as this passes, of course it’ll be an issue in the election.

I'm not going to comment on the Texas race.

Reporter: You’ve talked a lot about the precedents that Leader Thune and Republican leadership broke in this process, especially with the Current Policy Baseline. Can you talk a little bit about your willingness to use that going forward?

Schumer: Look, what they did, as I said, eroded the Senate in a dramatic way. And they should be ashamed of themselves. Yes.

Reporter: Back to Senator Tillis. Do you think Democrats see him as a potential ally? Are you going to try to work with him more in the future?

Schumer: Look, the man was a truth speaker. And I respect that. And I'm not going to talk about using him or anything else. He spoke the truth, and America is hearing it. Last one.

Reporter: House Democrats have far fewer options than Senate Democrats do when it comes to stalling legislation. What are you advising House Democrats to do this week?

Schumer: I'm urging every House Democrat to vote no, and I'm urging Republican House members—we have six in New York – this bill clobbers New York. If they vote for it, they're betraying New York.

Thank you, everybody.

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