Transcript: Leader Schumer Remarks At Press Conference Announcing Senate Democrats’ Plan To Fight In Byrd Bath The Unconstitutional Provision In Republicans’ “Big, Ugly Bill” That Would Gut U.S. Judicial System & Permanently Alter Checks & Balances In American Democracy

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Democrats delivered remarks and answered questions at a press conference announcing Senate Democrats will fight an unconstitutional provision hidden in Donald Trump and Republicans’ “Big, Beautiful Bill” that would strip federal judges of one of their most critical powers—the ability to enforce their own rulings.  Leader Schumer and his colleagues vowed to prevent this provision from becoming law. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Leader Schumer: So we all know that Donald Trump sees himself as a king more than a president. Trump is not a king. The Republican so-called "Big, Beautiful Bill" will effectively place a crown on Donald Trump's head. Buried deep in the Republican bill is a really nasty provision that would strip federal judges of one of their most critical powers—the ability to enforce their own rulings. In other words, Republicans want to codify into law Donald Trump's attacks on our judicial system. They want to gut our federal courts until they're utterly powerless. They want to buck the Constitution and bulldoze the rule of law. This is dangerous, it's reckless, it's un-American. And it isn't just a policy difference—this is an assault. An assault on the rule of law, an assault on the independence of the judiciary, and on the very checks and balances that have defined this country since its inception.

So today, I'm announcing that Democrats will fight with every tool we have to stop this provision from becoming law—this evil, un-American provision that flies in the face of the Constitution completely. This provision, as I said, is one of the most direct assaults on the separation of powers in recent memory. It essentially hands government officials, including Donald Trump, the license to ignore any ruling from a federal judge that they don't like. And it strips the courts of any power to hold people accountable if they violate court orders—including the Supreme Court. Shame on the House of Representatives for putting this in, on the Republicans in the House of Representatives. Shame! This is so bad, it's beyond the pale. So, as we all know, one of the most essential things that the judiciary has is its ability to enforce its own orders. That’s the authority we've given the judiciary. And this - this proposal would effectively render judicial rulings meaningless—just words on paper with no power to hold anyone accountable.

Let's call it for what it is. It's the get-out-of-jail-free card for Donald Trump. This is the get-out-of-jail-free card for Donald Trump. Now, let's see here. This is also a death sentence for judicial independence in America. It's not democracy—it's authoritarianism. It's a move ripped right straight from a playbook of a dictator. And we all know Donald Trump is a would-be dictator. So, you have to ask yourself, why now? Why is he doing it now? Well, Donald Trump's losing in court over and over and over again. Our analysis showed that just in the last month, the Trump administration lost a whopping 97% of rulings in federal district courts. And this came from judges across the political spectrum. Many of them were Trump appointees or Bush appointees, including judges that Donald Trump appointed have ruled against him. It drives him crazy that the judges he appointed are actually following the law instead of following his whim, his wish, his desire to be a dictator.

So, rather than respect these rulings as any president before would have done, Trump and his allies want to rewrite the rules to make himself untouchable. And so, Congressional Republicans, sadly, in a great tragic day for democracy, are trying to bend their knees and bend the Constitution and bail Donald Trump out by letting him ignore the courts and all these court rulings that have been against him. And listen to this one. One House Republican even admitted at a town hall meeting in his district that he didn't know this provision was in the bill when he voted for it. What about all the other Republicans who voted for it? Republicans in Congress have been happy to roll over and hand the keys of the House and Senate to Donald Trump and unelected billionaires like Elon Musk. They're allowing them to run this country into the ground. They're allowing the whole sinew, the whole fabric of what America is all about to be ripped apart and upended in a way we have never, ever seen before.

The Republicans in the House were so eager to rubber-stamp Donald Trump's monstrosity of a bill that they didn't even read all of it. Or worse, some of them read it and then didn't care. Because protecting Trump matters more to them than protecting our democracy, than protecting the rule of law, than protecting the Constitution. Because whether it's Trump or Musk or any other corrupt official, Republicans are trying to create a world in which powerful people face no consequences, no matter what they do. That's not democracy. That's oligarchy. No one, not Donald Trump, not Elon Musk, not any crooked politician or billionaire, is above the law. And if Republicans think they can pull a fast one on the American people by slipping this provision into their bill, they've got another thing coming. So we Democrats are here to sound the alarm. We're united. We'll fight like hell using every tool in our toolbox to stop this provision from becoming law.

Q&A

Schumer: Questions on this subject? Yes.

Reporter: You obviously don't agree with the president on this bill, but there was some unique bipartisanship this week with Senator Warren and President Trump. They want to scrap the debt limit. I know you've had discussions with him in the past about potentially doing that. Would you help Republicans do that if the President wanted to—

Schumer: I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals. Yes.

Reporter: Suzanne with Bloomberg Law, thanks for doing this. You mentioned to you know, use every tool you guys have at your disposal to block this. Could you elaborate a little bit more—

Schumer: Yeah, let me just say, let me be clear. If the Senate Republicans go along and include this toxic provision, Senate Democrats will fight to knock it out in the Byrd process. Our message to Republicans is “bring it on, we're going to use every tool in our toolbox to stop it.” Okay, last one.

Reporter: Is there any concern on your part in the Byrd process? I mean, Thune has shown that he’s willing to sort of overrule the parliamentarian on some things. Are you concerned that if there is a ruling that the other side won’t go along with that ruling?

Schumer: Look, we believe that they ought to abide by the parliamentarian as have been done by Democratic and Republican leaders for decades. Thank you, everybody.

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