services youtube tv owned by google. and hulu plus tv owned by disney, for the the american people to see their government the a work on the senate floor. >> c-span does not receive one penny of taxpayer dollars. it's funded primarily from satellite and cable providers. >> we're at different stage in our history and a lot of people are seeing our news this way so we need to expand it and make sure that we're on all of those platforms, as well as the ones we already are on. so, thank you, again to senator grassley for working with me to highlight c-span's critical role and thanks to everyone who has had a hand in c-span. happy birthday. >> c-span2, 39 years of bringing the u.s. senate live into homes across the country thanks to our cable partners,

together, we bring you democracy unfiltered. >> we'll take you live now to the u.s. capitol where the senate is ready to gavel in. today lawmakers are considering several executive nominations, including michelle bowman to serve as federal reserve vice chair of supervision. you're watching live coverage here on c-span2. ... senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will open the senate with prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, how excellent is your name in all the earth. as our senators face today's difficulties, help them to trust in your goodness. may their faith in you prompt them to wait

for the triumph of your prevailing providence. lord, remind them that all things work together for good to those who love you and strive to do your will. continue to be their refuge, an ever-present help for life's valleys. renew their strength, enabling them to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint. lord, infuse them with a reverential awe that will strengthen them to honor you with their thoughts, words, and deeds. we pray in your magnificent name. amen. the president pro tempore:

please join me in the pledge. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: under the previous order, leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, federal reserve system, michelle bowman of kansas to be vice chairman for supervision for the board of governors. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: the month of june is considered national dairy

month, and this has been going on for decades and decades. and to kick things off, the senate agriculture committee passed a bill that's entitled the whole milk for healthy kids act that was voted out of committee yesterday and was voted out unanimously. this bill is a very important piece of legislation which i'm proud to be a cosponsor. not only will it help the dairy industry but it's going to restore great tasting and nutritious dairy products to our nation's school lunch program. specifically, it's getting to allow chocolate milk, whole milk, 2% milk instead of the requirements of existing law that these kids in school can

only drink skim milk. the whole milk for healthy kids act is also the first piece of legislation that the senate ag committee has marked up in nearly three years. its passage represents the bipartisan work that the senate agriculture committee has a good reputation on delivering. i look forward to the final passage of the whole milk for healthy kids act here on the senate floor and hopefully it's very, very soon. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

>> let's start with the anti-semitic attacks. there's been two major ones shall we say, the one in boulder, colorado, and the murder of the israeli embassy in washington, d.c. what you think is causing these? >> go act october 7 and the narrative on that. i've been in israel for time since october 7. i was there about four weeks ago. met with the new u.s. ambassador to israel, mike huckabee. met with israeli officials. part of it is the narrative is coming out of gaza that it's not completely accurate, that it is fueling this anti-semitism in part, a lack of understanding and i think it's metastasized into this violence. with two, i had met these young people, one of them, the young girl sarah at the agency here in

united states, the israeli embassy. gunned down on the streets of washington, d.c. washington, d.c. not a random act in terms of unfortunate we have too much crime crying here in this city but they were targeted because they're coming out of the jewish museum. they were targeted for who they were. this is troubling. >> host: at the symptoms is not new and the united states. jews have been murdered and attacked in this country for october 7 thank you we need to look at the trends. i served in the previous trump administration chairman burgess commission on international -- we were tracking rise of antisemitism in europe. our mission on the commission was to focus internationally not in the united states but i chaired a hearing on the rise of antisemitism and all so there's a lot of things that i come what we saw in the 1930s. there are warning signs we should see.

it's not isolated with the jewish community. we need to realize antisemitism is a canary in the coal mine when it comes to a rising intolerance to religious identity and participation. we saw it in the '30s and it something you need to pay close attention to an address. there's one thing this administration is doing, is addressing the issues. states are addressing the issue. it is not something we can ignore. >> host: you posted on x you said the legacy need for something attacks on u.s. soil by the false reported? hamas claimed idf forces shot palestinians in cold blood during the years a dissipation last week in an immediate reported it as fact. do you have facts that would back up the claim that those palestinians were not shot? >> guest: number one, the ambassador to the, from the u.s. to israel clarified that it didn't happen. i talked to someone in the,

caroline glick who is advisor to benjamin netanyahu, that the narrative is not correct and what happened, it is as if the idea opened up on civilians who were coming to get aid when in reality the stories we are hearing is that the gazans are amazed they're able to get this humanitarian support without paying for it. what hamas has been doinghe is selling the aid to fund the war machine to the prosperous. an important component of this bill is what it does on energy. republicans spent a lot of time last year talking about how the biden administration's hostility to conventional energy production was putting america on a dangerous trajectory in the future. and we promised that we would work to unleash american energy dominance if we were put in charge. we've been working to deliver on that promise since january. and that work continues with the

reconciliation bill that we'll take up this month. mr. president, energy is essential. without a reliable energy supply, our homes, schools, hospitals, businesses, factories, and our entire country literally grind to a halt. it's the critical resource and we can't afford to get it wrong. but the biden administration took us down the wrong path. it restricted development of america's conventional energy resources. it imposed regulations that heaped new burdens and costs on conventional energy producers. and it implemented an electric vehicle mandate that would have put an enormous new strain on our already wobbly electric grid. mr. president, the united states is rapidly heading toward an energy crisis where we simply don't have the supply to meet the demand. as "the washington post" noted last march and i quote, vast swaths of the united states are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data

centers and clean technology factories proliferate around the country leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation's creeking power grid. end quote. meanwhile, the north american electric reliability corps warned of, and i quote, mounting resource adequacy challenges, end quote, in the next decade. that's a pretty serious situation, mr. president. but fortunately, we can do something about t. we have an abundance of natural resources from the gulf of america to the north slope of alaska. the biden administration seemed to view those resources as a liability. but republicans recognize resources -- these resources as the assets that they are. and our reconciliation bill will help unleash these resources to promote a stable, secure, and affordable energy supply. it will open up leases on america's lands and waters for

responsible conventional energy development. it will expand production opportunities for essential energy resources that the biden administration tried to put on the sidelines. mr. president, as i indicated earlier, leveraging our natural resources through the reconciliation bill is just one part of the republicans' energy agenda. for the last several months we've been hard at work eliminating burdensome regulations that threaten to stifle energy development in our country. we blocked ifrp in enteagues of the biedzen natural gas tax which would have driven up energy prices and sdroitd jobs in the energy sector and we intend to go away with this misguided tax in the reconciliation bill that will be -- that we'll be considering soon. we also repealed biden era energy regulations for household appliances and business equipment, regulations that would have driven up costs and reduced choice with little environmental benefit. and the house and the senate have moved to prevent california from imposing a defacto electric

vehicle mandate on the whole country. mr. president, the biden administration sought to tie up american energy, but under the trump administration and republican congress, that era is over. instead of a green new deal, we're giving a green light to energy producers. we're allowing americans to benefit from our country's resources. and we are working to ensure a secure, reliable, and affordable energy supply for the long term. our reconciliation bill will help put us on the path to that secure energy future. and i look forward to taking it up later this month. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

democrats voted to raise taxes on hard-working americans when that -- when not one democrat voted for the big, beautiful bill gertz house republicans on the other hand, voted to avoid the largest tax increase in history. democrats want your small businesses to close and for you to lose your job. house republicans want main street to thrive and survive and flourish. when we passed the one big, beautiful act, we kept our promises despite constant that now we urge our colleagues in the senate to pass this transformational legislation. the american people can't wait any longer. this is a critical piece of history that we must get done. now i want to turn it over to representative from indiana a

member of the house education and workforce committee, armed services, and agriculture community. thank you. >> thank you to the house leadership for inviting me here to speak on the incredible success of the one big, beautiful bill. house republicans are committed to delivering the golden age president trump promised the american people when he ran for office. the reality is because of the great investigatory work of doge and the trump administration that made public and our agriculture community work in the house there's actually far more fraud, waste, abuse present and federal spending will imagine. what has been uncovered is appalling. the one big, beautiful bill controls the growth of federal spending on step and restores integrity for the bipartisan work requirements past decades ago protecting the step program for those who truly need it. for the first time ever the bill holds states accountable for inaccurate benefit payments. i believe our work marks a new

era of efficiency and fairness by encourage modest state contributions. i'm proud to say the language passed on the house floor also includes historic investments in conservation to support the best stewards of our land, the american farmer. the bill refuses to neglect rural america with incredible improvements to the farm safety net, farmers will be supported as a bring healthy, safe and affordable food to the kitchen tables of americans. what we passed that house is both a lifeline to those who need it most and a promise to the american farmer that we cannot and will not take lightly the importance of the heart and contributions to our nation. thank you. >> thanks, mark. on sunday afternoon we witness yet another horrific antisemitic terrorist attack on u.s. soil. while a peaceful group marched to call for the release of

innocent hostages held by hamas, an evil man launched a a well-thought-out, deliberate attack intending to kill, quote, all zionist people, end quote. as he threw molotov cocktails into the crowd he shouted free palestine. as you've already heard we need to be clear about this. the violence we're seeing against the jewish community here in america is a direct result of the left refusal to condemn and combat antisemitism. sadly, this evil ideology has notably been tolerated by the left, it has been encouraged and enabled. when rampant antisemitic behavior explored on college campuses in the wake of october seven, joe biden and the democrats refused to hold these universities accountable. even sitting democrat members of

congress regurgitated talking points from hamas terrorists and normalized riots that do the same. it's unacceptable. to add insult to injury the colorado terrorist was again an illegal alien who was allowed in the united states by the biden administration. for four years joe biden and the democrats failed open border policies welcome unknown numbers of potential terrorists into our nation setting the stage for scenarios like the one that we saw this week. by letting millions of unfettered illegal aliens into our communities the biden administration left a national security mass. the top administration is racing to clean it up. border security and deportation efforts are urgent. lives are at stake. our one big bit of a bill strengthens these efforts by providing additional funding for more deportations, more border

patrol agents and more border wall. we are going to continue to work with the senate to get this done for the american people. and as we said every week since we started this march, failure is not an option. the safety of our communities depends on it. without with that i turner leader. >> thank you, whip. we all mourn those who are the victims of these attacks in washington, d.c. as well as in boulder, colorado. and it just unfortunate highlights this continued antisemitism would seem around the country. last week i met with jewish leaders and their understandably concerned about this trend that keeps going on. been going on for years. you go back to october 7, and ever since that is been a growing equivocation between almost trying to equivocate what the people who attacked and murdered jews in israel and

americans kept hostages with those in gaza, who we've seen what gaza has become. all of those who want to clean up a gaza, president trump's made it clear, prime minister netanyahu has made it clear they want to turn gaza back into a place where you don't have to fear for your life, that it's going to be a terrorist hotbed. and other people do want to sympathize with the very terrorists who want to continue to not only carry out evil against israelis but against people hurt and america and all across the globe. it's got to stop. going to continue to bring legislation on the house floor to address it. now, do want to talk about the one big, beautiful bill. this house came together in a way that may surprised some people here in washington. we divide the odds every step of the way from the first vote on

the budget to the second vote on the budget to final passage. but there's a reason for that. as the whip just said, we've said all along failure is not an option. i've been asked by some in the press what his plan b when the reports that those going to fail? we were very clear and it wasn't just a talking point that we said there is no plan b. the american economy, the voters of this country demanded that congress deliver on the promises that president trump made to get this country turned around. and what we do in this bill delivered in so many different fronts to help grow america's economy, to create jobs, to put more money in the pockets of hard-working families. that's been the focus of this bill from the very beginning. there are some people that start reading to a congressional budget office reports and ignore the lessons of history. and there's an old saying that if you ignore the lessons of history you are doomed to repeat it. it's important to go down that road of history and go back to

2017. you don't need to go back that far to see how wrong the cbo has been when it comes time to make prognostications on economic growth. they've always been wrong and they always ignored what tax cuts will do to grow the american economy. in 2017 when we started this process when president trump came and said we're going to make american competitive again. we run a 35% corporate rate corporate rate that we were losing jobs all across the globe. you must use a great american company moved to a foreign country and they would take the jobs along with them, , millions of jobs are leaving america. they were called inversions. you don't maybe know that term as well anymore because we haven't had an inversion since we passed cja in 2017. but if you go back and look at what cbo said about that bill. they said it would cost to decrease in revenue to the two

of $1.5 trillion. 1.5. with a new lie. he said no one will lose health care coverage. he says no benefits will be slashed. he says the bill won't harm a single recipient. he is lying. this is all total nonsense, and senate republicans need to reject donald trump's snake oil sales pitch. i implore my senate colleagues, tread carefully with your big, beautiful bill. if you pass this bill, it won't be donald trump's soothing words that will be enacted in your states, but rather deep and devastating harm to your constituents, and your const constituents, senate republicans, will hold you responsible for going along with donald trump's ruse. if you go down this road, he'll

take away coverage from kids, seniors, parents and from moms. you will put doctors and nurses out of work. you will put rural hospitals in particular jeopardy, since they depend on medicaid, medicare, and government help, to stay going. and they're often the biggest employer in your rural counties, senate republicans. they're often the only source of health care. and when americans see this is all to make the ultra rich even richer, they'll know that this nasty bill, that it was this nasty bill that made it happen. donald trump's big, beautiful bill is repeal and replace by another name. here are the facts, under the bill, millions, over 14 million, would lose health care coverage, and as bad as this bill is we just got news that it will get even worse. cbo today will announce it is

not 14 million people kicked off, but more. estimates as high as 15 million. the bill, the republican bill, will kick even more off, more people off health care than we originally thought. not only by attacking medicaid, but by destabilizing the aca, private insurance, and now even medicare. even medicare. so, this bad bill is getting worse. the estimates of how many people will lose their health care coverage goes up and up and up each time we read the fine print. the closer and closer people look at the bill, the worse and worse it gets. tens of millions of americans who other wise qualify for health care would be mummified in new red tape, shortened enrollment periods, higher

premiums, weaker coverage. people will fall through the cracks and get phased out in coming years. it's death by a thousand paper cuts. that's no accident. that's the intention of the republican bill. let's talk about fraud. donald trump says, well, it's just knocking out fraud. democrats would love to work with republicans to eliminate fraud and waste in health care, but the bill the republicans have right now does not accomplish that. it's aimed at real people, real people who need health care, taking that away. it uses this big, beautiful bill, uses the fraud bogeyman as an excuse to kick people 0u79 of health care who -- kick people out of health care who would otherwise qualify, including people with jobs and with kids. the only fraud is the sales pitch from donald trump and his

statement that he won't boot anyone from coverage. that's the fraud here, the fraud of the lies donald trump is telling republicans about this bill, that people won't lose coverage. that is a lie. that is the fraud. republicans should know that, and reject this awful, big, beautiful bill before it's too late. on clean energy -- one of donald trump's core promises on the campaign trail, he would lower energy costs, he said, by 50%. but the opposite is happening. energy costs are soaring. people are paying more on their monthly electricity bills. small businesses are struggle just to keep the lights on, and donald trump and the republicans' big, ugly, energy-killing bill is about to make energy costs even higher. under the republicans' bill, the average electricity price goes up 10%. american families pay 32 billion

more in costs. clean energy projects face massive new taxes. and that's not to mention the hundreds of thousands of jobs, hundreds of thousands, it's estimated as much as 800,000, would be lost, and they would occur especially in red states. republicans, you did hear that? you're throwing hundreds of thousands of people working in your states in good-paying jobs out of work, all to embrace the ideology of the extremists in the fossil fuel community. bottom line is simple -- the oil and gas magnates, the fossil fuel community hates clean energy, because they know it's the future, because they know it's cheaper, they know it's the quickest way to get more energy. are republicans so truly beholden to the fossil fuel industry, who harbors blind hatred of clean energy, because they know it's the future? are they so beholden?

if we need more energy because of a.i. and everything else, why cut off one of the main ways we can get new energy, in terms of wind and solar, hiydro? are republicans really willing to send energy costs for families skyrocketing just to satisfy the ideological hatred the fossil fuel industry has for clean energy, the fossil fuel industry knows its days are numbered and wants to cut off an alternative. that makes prices go up, and let china become the leader in clean energy, which our children and grandchildren will pay a dear price for. so senate democrats are going to fight this with everything we've got. on judges, today senate republicans are holding their first hearing on judicial

nominees under donald trump's second term. the last time donald trump was in the white house and republicans held the senate majority, this chamber mutated into a conveyor belt for hard-right judges who sided with special interests and not the american people. most were radically out of step with mainstream america. others were barely out of law school and others were handpicked for their ideological fealty to a hard-right philosophy that hurts average americans every day. when it comes to judges, donald trump cares about one thing only -- will they bow before the king? will they break precedent and overturn rule of law just to appease donald trump? that's what he wants. senate republicans must reject nominees like this. but, unfortunately, senate republicans are off to a dismal

start. among the five nominees testifying today is joshua devine of missouri, with no political experience, who's made a career out of attacking everything. he hasn't been out of law school for ten years and spent less than half of that time practicing as an attorney. well, senators were not sent here to rubber stamp donald trump loyalists and put donald trump loyalists in black robes. our duty, our sacred duty, is to the constitution and to provide advise and consent, not blind obedience. you'd think this would be obvious, but republicans spent their last majority packing our courts with people who had no business being judges. at least ten nominees were rated not qualified by the american bar association, an unprecedented number. one nominee had never even tried a case.

of course, none of this -- none of this -- matters to donald trump. he's not in the business of creating an independent judiciary. he's not in the business of following what the founding fathers constructed as the third branch of government. he's cooking up a loyalist bench who will do what he wants instead offed what the law says. -- instead of what the law says. recent reports detail how donald trump has been fuming lately over judges who haven't been in his eyes loyal enough to him. this kind of thinking should frighten anyone who cares about judicial independence. confirming judges is one of the most consequential things the senate ever does. it shapes the future of our democracy. getting it wrong has disastrous consequences. and hard-right judges take over, roe v. wade is overturned, voting rights are gutted and now the supreme court has gone so far as to declare donald trump immune from prosecution, as if he wears a crown and sits as a

king above the law. this is not democracy. this is not balance. this is not justice. so as republicans begin marching more nominees through the chamber, they face the choice -- they can be the stewards of the constitution and protect our democracy or they can be foot soldiers in trump's crusade to remake the judiciary into his maga loyalist bench. they must reject maga loyalists dressed up as jurists because once the robes go on, the damage lasts for generations.

>> this is about more than saving money. this is about restoring the framers original visions picked the framers of our magnificent form a government, masses constitution, what they come up with a vision in fact, with the designed was a small lean federal government. they wanted most of the power reserved for the states come for the people a local level, the closest to the people because the accountability and efficiency. the doge effort what does it restore the framers they should because what elon was able to do what doge is able to do lasting

legacy is cracked the code, got inside the belly of the beast. he was inside the bureaucracy with his algorithms crawling and find all the irregular abuses. he did something we've never been able to do before that as long as i been in congress not for decades. i told elon i said you were doing something that we were not capable doing. we tried to reform our oversight but congress has not openedo get the things to uncover the abuses that you found. we did know we were funding transgender operation in peru. we would've stopped that but our committees did the diligent work. they've done oversight. they had hearings with the heads of the bureaucratic agencies, executive agencies. subpoenas have been issued. never did a turnover this level of data at this level of detail. it was unknowable until now. yes, we can't act fast enough on these rescissions to clawback these abuses because it happened without congress is knowledge. that's an important thing to .2. give credit where credit is due.

i could elon and the diligent effort for doing that. [inaudible] >> no, chat, what -- [inaudible] >> but what is going to the lasting legacy and the reason it's important the reason they deserve accolades is because they have done a reset in washington. now everybody knows what the abuses, that is congress but the american people and we will demand and ensure greater accountability going forward and that's a huge innovation. yeah. [inaudible question] >> , let me just address the elon controversy and tell you that i consider elon a friend. he's obviously brilliant. i just told you we credit him with all the a change that doge it's curious to me what happened this week. full disclosure could elon and i

had a great conversation about a half hour long talk on monday this week. monday morning. we talked about the big, beautiful bill because i think you're trying to make a joke a couple days earlier, i start the conversation yes, it can my friend. it's very beautiful. we talked about all the record level savings. my friends, no government and history of mankind has ever cut $1.6 trillion. were doing that. the extraordinary level of savings and the historic level of tax cuts at the same time and all the great policy prescriptions. i talked to elon and explain what were doing and this is just the beginning of a long process of making government more efficient and effective, cutting wasteful sprinting fraud and abuse turkey can do all in one bill. it took congress decades to get to the situation. it will take a while to get out of it but we have a specific plan to do that. elon was encouraged by the conversation. very friendly very fruitful conversation together. he and i talked about the

actions he's on foothill. this got to make sure republicans keep the house majority. we can of the present impeached which what the democrats are doing day one and we got to continue. the trump administration is four years to go all this reform not two years. the biden administration biden-harris made such a disaster of every public policy will take us more than one builder fix it all. elon and i left on a great note, texting one of the happy monday. yesterday 24 hours later he doesn't want -- he comes up and opposed the bill. surprise me. i don't take personal. we don't take it personal. policy differences are not personal. he's flat wrong. he's way off on this and told as much and said it publicly and privately. i'm consistent in that. am i concerned the effectiveness of midterms? i'm not.. when a big, beautiful those done and signed into law every single american will do better. this bill is a geared for midde

and working classpr americans ad they're in the senate talk about his view of the world and the economy and what the american people are seeing while it is a misguided view, misunderstood because he is clearly not seeing what so many americans are seeing today in their lives. so i rise to share some outstanding economic news with the nation because people back home are seeing that america is getting back on track. americans want, need, and voted for affordable prices. today inflation is at a four-year low. inflation has fallen every month since president trump and republicans took office. americans want, need, and voted for higher wages. income has risen nearly every month -- actually every month since president trump and republicans took office.

americans want, need, and voted for affordable groceries. egg prices have dropped 61% under republican leadership. today americans are feeling upbeat about the economy. last month brought the largest boost in consumer confidence in four years. americans are confident about their future. the majority of americans now say the country is finally heading in the right direction. this is after four years of high prices. cnn's own poll this weekend -- this is cnn. they found that republicans have a better economic plan than the democrats. not by one point. no, cnn didn't say by one point or by two points. but by 12 points -- double digits in the cnn poll republicans have a better economic plan than the democrats. when it comes to the economy,

americans trust republicans over democrats. cnn on-air reporters seemed shocked and stunned. the video was astonishing. americans trust us because they are seeing real results. they are seeing senate republicans here fighting for them. republicans use the congressional review act to reverse 18 punishing regulations and rules out of the prefers administration. -- out of the previous administration. the most recent was when we ended california's left-wing electric vehicle mandate. that's the once that said you had to buy an electric car. they were going to ban gas-powered cars by the year 2035. we got rid of that. now we're working 0en a comprehensive economic plan to deliver safety and prosperity for all americans. here are the facts -- republicans are committed to stopping a $4 trillion democrat tax increase. it would be the biggest tax increase in american history.

we cannot let it happen, in spite of the fact that the democrats want it to hamilton -- to happen. we also cut taxes on tips and overtime. hardworking americans will keep more of the hard-earned money and put it in their pockets, not in the government till. seniors will be able to keep more of their social security. they've earned it. republicans will also strengthen medicaid for americans who need it. medicaid is a vital service. but let's talk about those who need it, because it is a trillion-dollar program, and what we see is that billions of dollars are being lost year after year to not just waste, fraud, and abuse but also to corruption, and that's taking the resources away from the people who need it. remember, it's the democrats who put millions upon millions of healthy, working-age adults on to medicaid. many of them absolutely refuse to work. democrats want them to stay on

medicaid forever. republicans want them to find a job. so, mr. president, the american enterprise institute -- an organization that everyone in the senate is familiar with -- they came out with a report last week that said how nondisplaced medicaid recipients, without children -- i'm sorry, nondisabled medicaid recipients without children spend their time. let's take a look at how folks who are working-age individuals who choose not to work, who are taking medicaid benefits interfering sometimes with other people who need the medicaid much more than they do, but how is it working? how do they spend their time? well, for medicaid recipients who are not working, they say that after sleeping, watching television, and playing video games is how they spend their time. how much time? an average of 4.2 hours per day

watching television and playing video games rather than looking for work. or working or volunteering or in school or education or preparing themselves to work. apparently they spend about 22 minutes looking for work. quite a disproportionate effort. it shows where their priorities are. they're not looking for jobs. they're for the looking to get off medicaid. they like the life, television and video games. and the democrats want them to stay on it forever. and they want the american taxpayers to pay for it. the american people are fed up with that sort of abuse of our taxpayer dollars. it was democrats who gave 1.4 million illegal immigrants medicaid benefits. how many people in our home states want that to happen? very few in my home state, mr.

president. i'm sure very few in yours. well, the california governor, you know what he wants? he wants to add even more illegal immigrants on to the medicaid rolls. republicans want medicaid for americans who need it. not for 1.4 million illegal immigrants. and it was the democrats who spent over owe $1.8 billion for medicaid for transgender surgeries for minors. ho you many people in our home states think that is a use of government money? republicans will also unleash affordable, reliable american energy. these are the things that are making the economy strong. the lower prices at gas stations and on electric bills. senate reaction are building a stronger, more prosperous america. that's why we have such good economic news and why people are saying yes, we're getting on to

the right track. what are the senate democrats doing? they continue to be committed to ob strublthing the republican -- to obstructing the republican agenda and they say they're going to do it every step along the way. that's what we see coming from the minority leader. they want to stop president trump from even getting his place -- his team in place. the democrats are filibustering every one of the president's nominees. by the end of this week, the senate republicans will have confirmed 74 nominees from president trump that he nominated since january. 74 nominated. the democrats have filibustered 73 of the 74. the only one who didn't was senate marco rubio. then in the senate relations committee they said we're sorry we voted for you because they don't like what he's doing.

i reviewed records stretching back to the 1980's. 13 of the positions that require confirmation in the senate have never had a roll call vote in the united states senate, going by voice vote or unanimous consent. the democrats have filibustered all of them. that's how obstructed they are. they filibustered the chief of protocol for the state department or the under secretary of commerce for industry and security. these are not controversial individuals. these are people that the democrats say we're just going to try to stop president trump no matter what he tries to do. they even filibustered the under secretary of defense for research and engineering. all to tie up the senate, to waste time and to try to slow down an administration that's working so hard to get our country back from the last four years of open borders and high prices that cost them the house, the senate, and the white house. these aren't based on observes of somebody's qualifications for those positions.

this is all meant to obstruct president trump and obstruct the will of the voters. less the minority leader forget it was president trump who won all seven of the battleground states in the presidential election in november of 2024. republicans are working through it. r. we confirmed every one of president trump's cabinet at a record pace. and we're going to continue to work to -- on all of these qualified nominees and get them all confirmed. we're united, whether it's confirming nominations or passing our comprehensive economic plan. we are united on our mission. we will build an america that is safe and prosperous and strong and not just for today but for generations to come. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas mr. cornyn: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent the quorum call be rescinded.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, one of the most important innovations that president trump has brought to the nation is the department of government efficiency. and of course this has been headed by elon musk during his term as a temporary government employee. but the good news is that the work of the department of government efficiency or doge, as it's called around here, lives on. and that's reflected in the fact that the office of management and budget has sent its first recisions package to capitol hill. for those who don't follow the process of procedures here in washington, d.c., the recisions package is important because it allows congress to codify the important progress that the department of government efficiency has made in identifying and starting to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal

government. and what doge found under the leadership of elon musk is a target-rich environment. during the last several months, doge has uncovered numerous examples of blatant government waste and abuse. these range from commonsense nishth si reforms -- efficiency reforms to canceling programs that are outright nonsensical uses of taxpayers' hard-earned money. according to their website, the department of government efficiency estimates that they've identified $175 billion in savings or approximately $1,100 per taxpayer. now, i know some in the media have said, well, that's peanuts. that doesn't count. well, tell the taxpayers who have to pay $1,100 additional taxes a year to fund an inefficient government that has

waste and fraud within it. so the truth is we have more work to do, and this is just a start. that to me is the most important point to make. this is just to start. president trump and mr. musk have changed the culture here in washington, d.c. and changed the conversation. we know that our national debt has now surpassed $36 trillion, and that is an amount of money i know no human mind can fully comprehend. but here's how i begin to get at it when we start to think that we are spending more money on interest on the national debt than we are to defend the nation. our most important job. that to me is shocking and it is a mandate to get our spending under better control. this isn't a matter of not taxing the american people

enough. there isn't enough money to tax people for. it is a spending problem. and we need to get spending under control, and we have multiple opportunities, and one of those is with this recisions package. doge started out with an ambitious goal of a 15% reduction in government spending of about a trillion dollars. again, this is what the media has pooh-poohed and saying well, they haven't come anywhere near their target. but again, the most important point i can make is this is just the beginning. i don't see the work of doge being finished but rather a starting place. again, perhaps the most important contribution is it's changed the conversation here in washington, d.c. when people realize the egregious expenditures of their hard-earned tax dollar, then

they say, well, what more is there? is this just scraping the surface? and the fact of the matter it is. when i look at some of the items included in this recisions package from the office of management and budget, i think this package will sell itself or should sell itself to people within any common sense. for example, it rescinds $67,000, a small amount but small amounts add up -- for testing insect powder nutrition on children in madagascar, whatever that is. similarly, it rescinded more than a million dollars for lgbtqi-+ programs in places like uganda and western balkans. why are we spending tax dollars in uganda and balkans for

projects like that? surely doesn't seem like a priority to me. and if that were not enough, the doge recommendations now embrace within this recisions package cuts millions of dollars for green new deal style programs not in america but around the world. the bill rescinds $6 million appropriated for net zero cities in mexico. a half a million dollars for electric buses in rwanda and $2.1 million for climate resilience in southeast asia, latin america, and east africa. again, budgets are about priorities, and i can't imagine a world in which these would be the most urgent priorities for the nation as our debt exceeds

$36 trillion. but just when you thought these programs couldn't be more absurd, they become more absurd as you look further. it rescinds $4 million for le g gume systems research and $3 million for iraqi "sesame street." well, i think if we were to ask my constituents back home in texas if they want their hard-earned dollars spent for ridiculous projects like this, including creating cartoon shows in the middle east, they would say no loudly, emphatically. and many -- in many respects, doge has shown a bright light on for what has a long time been a black hole in washington, d.c.

taxpayers know that they send a lat of their hard-earned money to washington, d.c. and i think most americans, patriotic americans, if they thought that money was necessary and put to good use, then they would say okay, that's part of the price we pay for living in the most prosperous, safest, most strongest country in the world. but when they see their money spent like this, they know something is terribly wrong. so as i say, perhaps the most important contribution that president trump and elon musk and the department of government efficiency has made is to shape the conversation both on and on capitol hill about government waste. many of the incredibly impressive team members who were hired as part of the doge initiatives have been hired on more permanently in various agencies. so doge is not going away, even

though elon musk has returned back to work on his companies and is no longer on the federal government payroll. i'm not sure he ever got paid, by the way, i think he volunteered his time. but if you think about this for a minute, it's quite the moment ous but in some ways a paradoxical achievement. the nature of bureaucracy and government is to grow and grow and grow. and over time our federal government has simply become so large and unwieldy, we needed something like the department of government efficiency to come in and begin to, number one, identify the problem and, number two, begin to help us chip away at some of the outlandish spending, some of which i had

mentioned a moment ago. but the good thing with this change in the conversation and this change in the culture here in washington, d.c. is that the efforts of doge, the department of government efficiency, will continue even after the current occupants of those positions move on back to the private sector.what doge has done is toa team of people of incredible accomplishment in the private sector, to help eliminate waste in these cost-cutting efforts have become a quintessential whole-of-government effort within the trump administration. the efforts to get our spending under control, though, do not begin or end with doge. we need to play our part in congress to make sure this work does not go to waste, and the way we do that initially is by taking up and passing this

so this rescissions package from the a gift on a silver platter. when it comes to eliminating wasteful washington spending and trying to give away at this incredibly large debt and the interest payments we are having to make on the debt, which jeopardizes everything else important in the government, including our national security, in addition to the russians in this package we have the budget reconciliation bill passed by the house, now being considered here in the senate. what's come to be known as the big beautiful bill.

this bill is important, as i have learned from small businesses in texas last week as i traveled around the state. act that we passed in 2017 during president trump's first term? they said the impact was pretty dramatic. it allowed them to hire new employees, to invest in new equipment, to grow their business, provide more job opportunities for hardworking texans. and the truth is that unless we extend those expiring provisions soon, then all of that will go a away, and they'll have to begin to cut employment, they will no longer be able to grow their business, and they'll be no longer able to provide additional benefits to their employees. so, the tax cuts that we will implement in the big, beautiful

bill will allow those small businesses and individuals to prosper, and in turn grow our economy, which will benefit everybody. but we also have savings opportunities in the big, beautiful bill. things like eliminating the inflation reduction act, which was inappropriately named. i don't know what the agency or the corner of the capitol behind a door that's unnamed, where these names come from, but the idea of an inflation reduction act from the inception was laughable, because it did nothing to reduce inflation. in fact, it made it worse, by pouring gasoline on the fire. the fact of the matter is bidenomics resulted in an incredible amount of additional spending, which created 40-year

high inflation. and now that's sort of baked into the cake in everything we do here in america. you go to the grocery store, small businesses in terms of their inputs, things that they need in order to produce their product, and if you ask folks in the agriculture sector everything they use for inputs, to grow a crop, to produce livestock, has all gone up, thanks to the wasteful spending of the biden era. so we need to begin to cut back on some of these wasteful spending projects, and the so-called inflation reduction act is an important place to start. but we also need to do smart things when it comes to some of the other expenditures of the federal government. for example, so-called means tested programs. we sometimes refer to that

generically as welfare. in other words, the safety net to help people who need a helping hand. and government does have a role to play, but these are means tested programs, which means only people below certain economic levels qualify. but over time we know that able-bodied adults, who should be working and contributing to the economy, contributing to their families and their communities and the nation, are receiving these benefits and not working at all, and that has to change. that has to change. so, particularly in our means tested programs, there has to be a work requirement for able-bodied adults. plus, if you talk to employers around the country, as i have in texas, they say one of the biggest problems we have is a shortage of people willing and able to work. we need -- we have good,

well-paying jobs, but we can't find the workforce to fill these j jobs. well, the third means by which we are going to begin this process of controlling our out-of-control spending and our national debt is the appropriations process. of course, this is an annual process where we consider how to fund the federal government. and like everything else in the budget process, it's a matter of choosing our priorities. but this is only 28% of what the federal government spends, and historically we've ignored the other 72% when it comes to spending. but we're going to deal with that in the big, beautiful bill. but in addition, congress has traditionally passed as part of that 28%, 12 individual appropriations bills to fund the federal government. the number one, of course, on that list of priorities is the

national security. of course, under senate democrats we frequently punted this responsibility and passed something called a consitinuing resolution, which was on autopilot, instead of full-year funding measures that were debated both in the appropriations committee with bipartisan support and then debated here on the floor and passed into law. instead of that, we just passed continuing resolutions, which is an abdication of our responsibility as the holder of the pursestrings under our government. but while we often think of the appropriations process as strictly a spending process, it does not have to be that way. we can also use this appropriations process to enact further spending reductions, and i think we should. so, we have three bites at the apple, that's the spending

apple -- rescission, reconciliation, the big, beautiful bill, and then appropriations. i hope the house and senate will take full advantage of each of these three opportunities to begin the process of reducing our deficit and debt, because, as the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mike mullen said, maybe ten years ago or so, he said, the biggest threat to our national security is our national debt. and that prediction, at the time, has become true. when we're spending more money on interest, on the national debt, than we are on defense. there's no better time than the present to begin to remedy this situation, and it's up to congress. we can't look over our shoulder or look around the room and say, who else will protect us and save us from this unsustainable trajectory. it's up to us. while the formal department of

government efficiency task force may have concluded, the work of doge lives on. as a founding member of the doge caucus, i'll keep doing my part, along with all of my colleagues, to bend the spending curve, and i urge all of my colleagues to join us in that effort, particularly by passing this rescissions package, then eventually in the coming weeks the big, beautiful bill. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. cornyn: i'd ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum calls with respect to the bowman and kwlaush nominations -- and walsh nominations. the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. without objection. mr. cornyn: thank you. my apologies to my colleague from massachusetts. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. ms. warren: i rise to talk about the nomination of michelle bowman to be federal reserve

board's vice chair for supervision. governor bowman served since 2018 when she was confirmed as the first governor required to have community bank experience. but during her tenure, she has consistently prioritized wall street over main street. she has weakened safeguards on the largest banks in the country, and opposed commonsense rules to promote financial sustainabilitied, protect -- financial be stability, protect consumers and drive investment in communities. yesterday, in another wall street giveaway, she voted to lift the asset capped placed on wells-fargo in an effort to rein in wells' decades long track record of customer abuses. she did this despite the fact there is no public evidence that wells-fargo has substantially changed its approach to banking. now, governor bowman's actions have already imposed serious

costs on small businesses and families. it would be especially dangerous to put her in charge of further deregulating wall street now, just as president trump has pushed the economy to the edge of a cliff. democrats on the banking committee unanimously opposed her nomination as vice chair for supervision. and i urge all of my colleagues, democrats and republicans, to do the same now. in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, the federal reserve board effectively abdicated its statutory role as a financial regulator and supervisor. as a result, the agency was asleep at the wheel, as dangerous risks built up in the financial system, especially in the subprime mortgage market. when the economy tumbled, families, small businesses, and

even community banks suffered the consequences of the fed's negligence. congress established the vice chair for supervision position after the 2008 financial crisis in order to ensure that the fed never again ignored its financial regulation and supervision responsibilities. but in her six years on the federal reserve board, governor bowman has hacked away, bit by bit, at the safeguards put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. so, let's take a look at her record. governor bowman has weakened critical safeguards for the largest wall street banks. she has voted to reduce big banks' loss-absorbing capital requirements and voted to undermine the stress testing framework, which left big banks more vulnerable to collapse.

she has voted to allow big banks to gamble with people's deposits in financial markets, including through increased investments in hedge funds and private equity funds. these actions have allowed wall street banks to take on riskier bets and juice their dividends, boost their buybacks and pump up executive compensation, all at the expense of financial stability. bowman also voted to deregulate massive banks with 100 billion to $250 billion in assets. that particulareror in judgment -- particular error came back to bite our country quickly, caused the second, third, and fourth largest bank failures in u.s. history, just a few years later when these three deregulated banks -- first republican bank, silicon

valley bank, and signature bank -- all fail within weeks of each other in 2023. for a while, the entire banking system teetered on the edge of collapse. now, instead of learning from that near catastrophe, governor bowman refused to take any responsibility for her votes that led to this banking turmoil, and she has opposed commonsense rules to strengthen the resilience of large banks, even after those failures. governor bowman also voted to approve more than 800 bank mergers applications, including morgan stanley's major acquisition of e-trade and capital one's recent acquisition of discover, which created the largest credit card company in america. her lax approach to bank mergers

undermines competition, and it increases competition in the banking sector. and that, in turn, inflicts costs on consumers and threatens the stability of the entire banking system. it also poses a direct risk to the future of community banks in this nation. in addition, governor bowman opposed even modest improvements to the community reinvestment act. this is a 50-year-old law created to prevent racist lending practices by big banks and to ensure that all communities have access to critical financial services. last year she was the only fed governor -- the only one -- to vote against a rule that would have updated the cra religionses for the first time in -- regulations for the first time in nearly 30 years and would have increased banks' investments in communities of

color, in rural and native communities and in other low- and moderate-income areas. now, beyond her deeply troubling policy record, governor bowman has also demonstrated a worrisome lack of independence from the white house during her nomination process. for example, at her hearing, she refused to acknowledge any economic uncertainty created by president trump's tariff policies, and she refused to concede any potential impact of those policies on u.s. financial stability. that refusal puts her at odds with chair powell, with the fed staff, and with economic experts across the political spectrum. it was clear that governor bowman did not want to be seen even indirectly criticizing

president trump. ms. bowman also stated that she plans to submit regulatory actions to the white house for review, which undermines the fed's independence and all but guarantees a new deregulatory bonanza for these wall street banks. she has refused to answer questions about whether she met with then-president-elect trump or his transition team while on an official federal reserve-funded trip to west palm beach in november of 2024. look, our economy is in a precarious moment. president trump's disastrous mismanagement of this economy is raising costs for families, it's putting jobs at risk, and it's threatening to decimate small businesses across this country. deregulating wall street right now would throw gasoline on

trump'sconomic fire. the last thing that families and small businesses need is another massive financial crash. i urge my colleagues to oppose michelle bowman's nomination. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

consistent with that guidance >> certainly i would always look into those things that we have a canceled any grants. >> okay. we will make sure to follow up on. >> we will follow-up with that, that's not the case. >> are there ways you could look to incentivize required state matches the hbcus as executive orders case because currently that's not being done? >> i'm not sure that it's not being done but i would like to look into it further. if it's not being done i would like to talk to you about it.

>> i want to talk to you about it because i can assure you it's not being done let me just say, i do want to ask for unanimous consent for the record 2024 report from the century foundation that outlines studies that show the hbcu via credible return on investment. >> without objection it would be submitted. >> thank you. i know i'm almost slightly over my time but i looked totally to this year's hbcu week i saw that the website has been updated and i certainly appreciate the effort to keep the momentum going. i look forward to it. i look forward to having the one on one with you. i would appreciate if you would honor that request. thank you very much for being here. mr. chair, i yelled back. >> i will certainly do that. >> a general lady yields right on time. thank you. i recognize gentle lady from

your. >> secretary mcmahon, thank you for being here today. i want to follow up on my colleagues across the aisle back and forth we didn't have an opportunity to answer the question. you know i've been very engaged in leading this effort in terms of holding harvard accountable we saw this board is after the hamas attacks on october 7 and harvard failed in every respect to enforce the rules to protect jewish students investigation it was revealed that there was anti-semitism deep in the office of the ei at harvard for their failure to respond to jewish students. edit highlighted the issue of the failure of ideological diversity. wanted to add some more details to what you pointed out, less than three percent of the harvard faculty are conservative and this is a challenge in education at large according to harvard crimson as a 1989 the ratio was 2 ã1 by 2017 it was 5 to 1 and then as

of 20 to 3/8 26 to 1. when we talk about ideological diversity it's a crisis at harvard. can you further elaborate on that? >> just agreeing with what you said. by their own statistics it's clear they don't have diversity viewpoint. i believe the fact that harvard had already replaced or looking to replace its head of middle east studies. they already had an issue i think it's indicative that harvard even before we were initiating our talks. i think we spurred them on. when we started pulling teeth and what we were doing they said we are going to make some changes and they did that shortly after we started the investigation. >> and you are spot on.

harvard has failed to save itself. they are responding to the exceptional work of the committee and the accountability measures that this administration has put into place so i want to thank you for your strong leadership. want to thank president trump for his strong leadership. i care deeply of this as an alumni. we want to make sure these institutions are excellent for generations to come i follow-up, which is on a different subject, this has come up in virtually every meeting i've had with university professors or students is the challenge of ai. and academic integrity in the classroom. can you talk about the departments in approach on how to harness the benefits of the technology but also make sure we are learning the basics in the classroom and have academic integrity? >> i think ai is probably, it's so overwhelming with the

abilities but it also has a downside in dangers we want to make sure that ai is not leading to false essays or papers are starting soon as they are turning in however, when i look at k-12 education and seen some individuals starting today i think it brings to the table that we can offer students who are accomplishing more in the classroom or who aren't accomplishing much for the one-on-one tutorial advantage i think we need to harness and capture those opportunities but at the same time, making sure we understand. i don't think we even have this much of a handle on it yet. but what some of the dangers of ai can be i think that's what incumbent upon us to look across the board at all of that. >> thank you and my last question and this is primarily for k-12 i think this is a policymaker is my three-year-old who is finishing pre-k three.

screen time for our kids. dangers of huge amounts of screen time i want to credit my colleague kevin kiley who has a hearing on this next week. can you discuss the administration of the department's approach to tackling this very concerning issue that's had huge impact on the mental health but also the focus of our kids. >> i think this is really at state level. there are governors who are promoting policies or superintendents were putting policies in their local areas that say balance about in schools no devices. so students are distracted from what parents at home need to look at the screen time this is a great deal of parental responsibility. different aspect reports of more and more screen time and attention to the subject

bloggers and entertainment billing information going to screen time, it's not always think less can be more. >> thank you so much secretary mcmahon for your service, for the tremendous work you're doing for students across the country. go back. >> i think gentle lady and recognize i lost sight. b& i want to recognize the gentle lady from georgia. >> thank you. secretary mcmahon, thank you for being with us today. as secretary, direct authority over the cancellation of grants and contracts of the department of education. february 10 he canceled the charting lights passed for student success program that served over 1600 disabled students and families across the 62 schools and 11 tates.

poster you can see the exact email federal funding provided education for this initiative has been immediately and your

child will no longer receive transition support. i would like to also submit for the record an article from npr about a young man named logan and his mother jesse who were benefiting from the program before it was abruptly canceled. this is simply a yes or no answer do you stand by your decision to get comfortable without any warning to the students teachers and families that. [multiple speakers] it's a simple question, yes or no. >> i stand by the omission of the different programs and i can't speak to individual grant programs without looking into

them exactly. there's a lot of great programs out there so i would like to get back to you. note for the record that the secretary is unwilling to answer my question. >> is it clear or do you believe you are misleading the public regarding the actions that you and president trump have taken to cut or cancel programs and services for disabled children and their family. multiple times that disabled students will not be negatively impacted by your decision but they already are. time and time again as thracian as the american people that everything they say and ignore actually what they are really doing. given our limited time i plan to submit written questions to you and for the record to learn more about your decision and get direct answers from these parents as to why the kids

can't meet with teachers anymore. yes or no simple answer. just a direct answer if you believe gun violence, the leading cause of death for children in this country is a public health crisis? >> i believe gun violence is b& we should take steps to make sure gun violence does not happen in our schools. >> is a public health crisis to you? the american people and families want to know, do you believe are children sitting in the classroom should be fear of unnecessary gun violence most of america believes this is a public splurge do you believe gun violence poses a threat to her children while they are sitting in classrooms? >> gun violence should not be allowed anywhere and it especially should not be. >> i would like to say to you as a mother who lost her son to unnecessary gun violence in his

teenage years, your response lack of response is completely out of touch. there is something very wrong with the highest ranking government officials responsible for the safety and education. concerned that the senate's advice and consent role is being undermined, is being undermined by obstruction from senate democrats that threaten to keep the justice department from functioning as the american people expect and the american people deserve. the office of legislative affairs serves as a crucial

bridge between the justice department and this congress. this relationship is essential not only for the legislative process, but for maintaining constitutional oversight and accountability. the office of legislative affairs ensures that we as lawmakers have the timely information needed to craft legislation, conduct oversight, and fulfill our constitutional duties. when we seek answers, whether it's on criminal justice or immigration or national security, it's the office of legislative affairs that takes our questions and returns the responses. this function can't run on auto pilot.

yet today the office of legislative affairs is hobbled. it lacks a senate-confirmed assistant attorney general to lead that office. why? because senate democrats have decided to impede the confirmation of all justice department nominees without exception. that is not the constitutional role of advice and consent. that is obstruction. every senator has the right to raise concerns about nominees. that's our constitutional role. that's our duty. and holds of specific nominees for specific reasons at times is very appropriate. it's an appropriate tool for any senator to use. i have even used that tool, and

i've also done it on nominees. but the process demands fairness. it demands common sense. we should wage nominee individually, not slam the brakes on an entire agency, especially one for keeping americans safe. so i'm here at the floor because of the nomination of patrick davis pending on the senate calendar now for two months. this is regrettable because he's an exceptionally qualified nominee, and this senator should know because he worked for this senator. mr. davis brings a strong record of public service and a deep understanding of the legislative process gained from his time

working for me on the senate judiciary committee. i'm confident it will lead the office of legislative affairs with diligence, with fairness, and with integrity. he should be confirmed today, and i'm here to ask my colleagues to do just that. obstructing his nomination serves absolutely no one. many senators, myself included, have outstanding requests to the justice department that we expect answers to. i understand that some senators may complain that they haven't received a response to their own outstanding requests. i've made such complaints myself over the years under both republican and democrat administrations, but i don't believe that obstructing this particular qualified nominee who can help get the response we

need will address their concerns. i also understand that some senators are unhappy with the current administration and are using justice department nominees to make their displeasure known. to these colleagues, i'll simply say that the obstruction of qualified nominees to lead the office of legislative affairs makes it harder for the department of justice to engage with congress and harder for congress to do its job. this ultimately ends up hurting the american people. i'm asking this body to uphold a fair confirmation process so that the justice department can effectively engage with congress. blocking the confirmation of

patrick davis does not serve the senate, it does not serve the interest of justice, and it does not serve the american people. so i'm here, mr. president, to ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination -- executive calendar number 92, patrick davis, to be assistant attorney general. that the senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and that the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. schumer: deserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: and i will object for two reasons. first, a few weeks ago i announced i'm placing all, placing holds on all doj political nominations because

the attorney general refuses to answer fundamental questions about donald trump seeking a luxury plane from qatar to use as air force one. this is a grave national security threat, as everyone knows. the bottom line is very simple on this plane. the president of the united states accepted a luxury jet from a foreign government to use as his personal air force one. it wasn't just unethical. it wreaked of corruption, of bribery, and threatened our national security. that whole plane will have to be taken apart piece by piece to make sure listening devices aren't in it and even be more expensive, and yet the justice department didn't look the other way. they approved it. that's so typical of this justice department. in something that i think if a democratic president did it, the senator from iowa would be the first on the floor to stand up

to object. now we hear silence, silence. they won't even answer serious questions about this. this plane should be withdrawn, and i have introduced legislation to do that. but that's not the only reason. donald trump has turned the justice department upside down. it is politicized, it is weaponized, it is hollowed out. donald trump and his acolytes in the justice department are less interested in prosecuting criminals and more interested in prosecuting trump's perceived political opponents. this is an absolute disgrace. both sides in past administrations, democrat and republican, have worked together to uphold the rule of law at doj, but now the rule of law has been replaced by loyalty tests. career public servants who have dedicated years to prosecuting criminals are just shoved aside

because when donald trump asks them to break the law, to undo the law, to set aside rule of law, they refuse. investigations and prosecutions are dictated by political convenience and not justice. and now p republicans want the senate to quietly rubber stampp a political nominee for the doj by unanimous consent. no hearing, no debate, no scrutiny. on an important position like this, it should happen regularly that there should be debate. but when this justice department, as horrible as it is, as political as it is, as destructive of american values as it has been, no way. the nominee is a former staffer for the very senator making the request. now as my colleague noted, in the past he's been up there when

other administrations made ethical violations and did the wrong thing in his judgment. but now there's just silence from my colleague and from all the p republican senators. they know what's going on. they know what's going on. but blind obeisance to donald trump is wrong when it comes to something as sacred as this -- rule of law and a justice department that seeks to enforce the law, not just go after political enemies. if donald trump and republicans want to poison and politicize our justice system, i'm not participating, and i object. and i'd add one more point with deep regret. what is happening to the judiciary committee and the justice department is shame iffing. inspector generals have been dismissed with no accountability. again my colleague who used to

uphold p inspectors general and praise them, tons of them are dismissed now. the american bar association has been sidelined. and today up in the justice department unqualified judicial nominees, some barely out of law school, are being rushed through confirmation. this is not how the senate should work. it didn't work that way when there was a democratic president and my friend was chairman of the judiciary committee. there will be no -- there should be no special treatment, none, not for political allies, for for former staffers, not for anyone. what trump and bondi are doing to the justice department and the rule of law is dangerous. it undermines public trust, erodes the rule of law. the senate should not be complicit. i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i'm sorry to hear

of the objection. i'd like to correct one thing that senator schumer said that patrick davis didn't have a hearing before the committee. we did hold a hearing on patrick davis. i yield the floor. mr. schumer: for the many reasons that i've listed. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. need to get back to teaching children more help to think >> amen.as we return power to local communities, i'm trying to figure out how can the government fulfill its role in protecting students and the

parents rights? how do you see the federal government and how can we help ensure we are projecting students and the people that get lost, sometimes the parents. how do we do that. >> returning education back to the states and local control but really what that means what the president has said is that he would like to take the bureaucracy out of education. so the department of education does not establish curriculum in the state it doesn't hire teachers it doesn't say what books to buy. it is a great pass-through of funding appropriated by congress in title i i dea those are both staying totally intact. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the motion to be invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture

the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of michelle bowman, of kansas, to be vice chairman for the supervision of the board of governors of the federal board system. the presiding officer: under the previous order the mandatory quorum call under rule 22 has been waived. is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of michelle bowman of kansas to be supervision of the federal government systems for a term of four years shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call rolt. -- the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton.

mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. the clerk: mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty.

ms. hassan. they got the air turned on so we all stay away. good morning everybody. let me begin with this, my thoughts and prayers go out to and are with the victims of the anti-somatic terrorist attack in boulder colorado recently. the jewish people should absolutely not have to face this violence anywhere. let alone in the united states of america. recently, two young people were shot and killed in the nation's capital. and an anti-somatic attack. if that wasn't enough, holocaust survivors are now

actually being alive. this is the outcome of everyone not condemning. especially on college campuses every provide tax sink and the lack of those failing to condemn these acts has resulted in jewish people dying, things have changed. otherwise, i hate to say it this will not be the last attack we've seen we haven't seen the last attack on college campuses, synagogues, or communities coming to a place in your community. this type of anti-semitic

behavior to be dealt with and it needs to be dealt with swiftly. and everyone needs to condemn this. and what makes the attack in boulder even worse? it was committed by an illegal alien. that's a shocker. who could have predicted that my writing so please this is a serious situation to deal with that's why the senate must pass. congress must give our law-enforcement officers to the port violent illegal criminals. given this shocking news,

democrats spent memorial day in el salvador honoring and remembering ms-13. instead of here in our country honoring americans who actually paid the ultimate sacrifice. what's next?as a democrat going to fly to boulder to visit the illegal who earns jews alive? is that what's next for the democratic party? the contrast between the public of the democrats could be more clear. democrats and with illegals? house republicans stand with the american people. democrats voted to raise taxes on hard-working americans when not one democrat voted for the big beautiful bill. house republicans on the other hand voted to avoid the largest tax increase in history. democrats want your small

businesses to close and for you to lose your jobs. house republicans want mainstreet to thrive. past the one big beautiful act, kept her promises. despite constant doubt colleagues in the senate to pass this transformational legislation. the american people can't wait any longer. thank you for inviting me to speak. incredible success on one big beautiful bill.

house republicans are committed to delivering the golden age president trump promised the american people and he ran for office. the reality is, because of the great domestic eerie work of doge and agriculture committee work in the house there's far more fraud waste and abuse what's been uncovered is appalling. one big beautiful bill controls the growth of federal spending on snap and restores integrity to the bipartisan work requirements to past decades ago rejecting the snap program for those who truly need it. for the first time ever the bill holds states accountable document benefit payments. i believe our work marks a new era of efficiency and fairness by encouraging out-of-state contributions. proud to say the language passed on the house floor also includes historic investments in conservation to support the best land, the american farmer. bill refuses to neglect rural

america was incredible improvements to farm safety net farmers of the healthy safe and affordable food tables americans. what we passed in the house with a lifeline to those who need it most unpromising american farmer that we cannot and will not take lightly. while the peaceful group march to call for release of innocent hostages by hamas an evil man launched a well thought out deliberate attack intending to kill " all zionist people". as he threw molotov cocktails in the crowd he shouted "free

palestine. it's been encouraged and enabled. when rabbit anti-somatic behavior exploded on college campuses in the wake of october 7, joe biden and the democrats refused to hold these universities accountable. even sitting democrat members in congress regurgitated talking points from hamas terrorist and normalized riots that do the same stop it's unacceptable. to add insult to injury the colorado terrorists was again an illegal alien who was by the biden administration.

for four years joel died in a democrats failed policies welcome unknown numbers of potential terrorists into our nation. setting the stage for scenarios like the one that we saw this week. by letting millions of unfettered illegal aliens into our communities, the biden administration left a national security mass and the trump administration is racing to clean it up. security and deportation efforts are urgent, lives are at stake stop our one big gift will bill strengthens the efforts by providing additional funding for more eportation.

unfortunately it highlights this continued anti-semitism we seen around the country. last week i met with jewish leaders and they are understandably concerned about this trend that keeps going on, that's been going on for years, you go back to october 7 and ever since then it's been a growing equivocation between almost trying to equivocate the people who attacked and murdered jews in israel and americans and kept hostages with those in gaza who we've seen what gaza has become. all of those who want to clean up gaza, president trump has made it clear. prime minister netanyahu has

made it clear. they wanted to get into a place where you don't have to feel for your life that it can be a terrorist topic. yet their people want to sympathize with the very terrorists who want to continue to not only carry out evil against israelis but against we will continue to bring legislation to the house floor to address it and i do want to talk about the one big beautiful bill house came together in a way to surprise people here in washington he defied the dogs every step of the way from the first vote on the budget to the second vote on the budget to final passage. there is a reason for that. reset all along there were

reports that the bill was going to fail and we were very clear it wasn't just a talking point. said there is no plan b. the american economy, the voters of this country demanded that congress deliver on the promises that president trump made to get the country turned around. and what we do in this bill delivers on so many different fronts to help grow america's economy, create jobs, put more money in the pockets of hard-working families. that's been the focus of this bills from the very beginning. i think there are people that start too many congressional budget office reports and ignore the lessons of history. there's an old saying that if you ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it but it's important to go down that road of history and go back to 2016 you don't need to go back that far to see how long the cbo has been when it comes time to make prognostications on economic growth. they've always been wrong and they've always ignored when

president trump came in and say working to make america competitive again. we were losing jobs all across the globe every month you would see a break american company country and they would take the job along with them. millions of jobs. called inversions. you might not know the term because we haven't had an aversion since we passed tcja. look at what cbo said about the bill. they said it would cost a decrease in revenue to the tune of $1.5 trillion. you go look at the numbers, they were off by more than $1.5 trillion. because they left out of the report just like they are leaving now.

they hired millions more people. on employment went to virtually 20. inflation dropped dramatically. people have more money in their pockets because wages were up. all of those produce more money for the american treasury. it all happened and yet cbo failed to recognize that and making the same mistake again and anybody who repeats cbo's analysis is also making the same mistakes. if you ignore the growth that comes with keeping tax rates low with helping businesses invest more in their workers. overtime workers not having to pay taxes on overtime. bonus depreciation. and ultimately put more money

in the pockets of workers and send more money to the federal treasury in washington. this bill will actually reduce the deficit if you recognize the historical 12 that's always been there. he sent over 4% economic growth. we have a lovely who tries to soccer quarterback a lot and yet we still managed to play by the rules. hello when the bill is passed and signed into law hopefully by july 4 when the senate does their work you are going to see economic growth in the country like we haven't seen in generations. more pay in the pockets of

workers and you go to see more treasury money coming in because of the growth in the american economy. we just need to keep moving forward in the senate has the bill now and i'm confident they are going to move and back it to the president's desk. yesterday you saw the lighthouse at the precisions package the first of many. we are now putting it in bill format. we will file the bill hopefully by tomorrow and bring it up to the floor quickly. and get rid of more waste fraud and abuse in the federal government. this will deal with obviously the abuses we all saw at usaid. ... heinrich, no.

our mood very much dampened by these atrocities. it's really something that's been discussed this morning but this attack over the weekend was the second time in three weeks our country has witnessed these horrific acts of antisemitic terror computer on american soil. soil. it was just a few miles down the road two israeli embassy staffers the young couple who it planned to wed soon were senselessly gunned down on the street. the killer said when asked him what his motivation was he said quote he did it for palestine. this weekend and egyptian

terrorist in boulder, colorado, led at least 12 jewish people on fire. they were at a parade an event that he told police he wanted to kill every single one of them. you know what he said when he yelled out drink attack? he said free palestine. we can't forget in april a terrorist burned the governor's mansion in pennsylvania attempting to get jewish governor josh shapiro and a sleeping family inside. search worse than the terrorists targeted him because of quote perceived injustices against palestine. there's a theme. why would terrorist target a young innocent couple of peaceful protest of our i covenant with no jurisdiction over it were happening 5000 miles away? it isn't about palestine. it isn't about gaza were in particular conflict. it's because these people want to complete a total extermination of the jewish people. there is a targeted left-wing antisemitic terror movement on

the rise in america and we have to address is first and foremost. members of this institution and the media have a moral obligation to call this out. do not equivocate as leader said. we do not both sides of this issue at all this is very clear here light versus darkness. it is an evil we are confronting. we will call it out in the trump administration at attorney general bondi and fbi director patel will continue to pursue these antisemitic threats and actions against the jewish people on our soil and to bring this violent criminals to justice. we will speak with moral clarity and in the same of all, all our colleagues of both parties to do that and hope the will. according to dhs this criminal, this violent sick individual that did this stuff over the weekend applied for a tourist visa in 2022. he applied for asylum, he's been living in the u.s. on an expired visa since march of 2023. if your if you apply demoo this case he was one of their

constituents and under their framing he was a colorado man. but when you see democrats with the attacks on ice ages and storm ice detention facilities and calling for the dismantlement of ice, just know this is with their defending. this is the result. fourthly present office quickly slammed the border shut by simply enforcing existing law but this administration needs the resources to detain an process and deport the millions of dangerous illegals who president biden welcomed into the country. this is why we did the one big, beautiful bill. one of the many reasons for president trump's desk as quick as possible to sign into law because it among the other things and ability expands ice detention capacity, $1 billion or two what immigration judges and to expand immigration courtrooms. there's $1 billion dollars to hire 2700 new ice office and principal legal advisor

attorneys. to expedite removal proceedings and $14 billion for air and ground transportation to support at least 1 million removals per year. we need to go find the others into the amount of american adults with this bill will do. we've got to get a signed into law soon as possible. the house, change subject. the house received the rescissions package and were happy to receive it. it's quite a clawback $9.4 billion. wasteful spending. 8.3 is in foreign aid. usaid abuses area and 1.1 billion from corporation for public broadcasting. commonsense cuts and american people are behind them. i'll tell you why. in the corporation public broadcasting space don't forget the npr refuse to cover the hunter biden laptop story. they repeatedly insisted covid-19's not originate in the lab and ran stories defending looting during the summer of love if member all that. it's ceo admitted she regarded truth as a harmful quote distraction from npr's objective. pbs produce a movie title with

1% of its a transgendered teens transition. this is all a taxpayer dollars. pbs has featured drag queens and programs for little kids. there is no reason for any media organization to be singled out receive federal funds. were in a different era now. especially those that appear to so little regard to the truth or on 40 were cutting things like $6 million net zero cities in mexico. $4 million for sedentary migrant in columbia whatever that means. $3 million for iraqi sesame street. 2 billion for teaching your children how to make environmentally friendly reproductive health decisions. we are not making this up at $1 million for voter id and eight in haiti was a post voter id here. this package is meant that she should of the doge effort which is transform the way american people few government and is going to ultimately ensure greater accountability in government going forward. in addition to codifying the work this week that was one

codified the presence executive orders. we have three on the floor this week. the list real quick representative death and dying american to produce act interest taxpayer-funded loans the only to america come codifying presence on six ago to in taxpayer subsidy open border. save as if from century city to act, lose sba the fed moves as the offices into non-sanctuary for just don't and will codify president trump's protect american committees with criminal aliens. the last one is because act which aligns with region action taken by the small business administration to restore oversight capabilities to the sba a limiting the number of for-profit small business companies. these are comets of probation. they deserve to be signed into law and this is a continuing series of things was signed into law executive orders, many more to come and see the house continue in earnest this week. take a few questions. i can guess what it will be.

>> majority in the house, republican majority in the senate.th backed by another name, backed by another name. and just don't take my word for it to look at some republicans. we heard what joni ernst said, would all going to die. how about john kennedy? not the former john kennedy president but i'll present senator john kennedy he said i'm not worried about people losing their health care. we remember the great common secretary lutnick. if my mom missed a payment on social security, it wouldn't matter. of course they have billion or son-in-law. but when joni ernst said people

die, she summed up the callousness of the whole republican majority in terms of people's health, and health is our greatest gift. despite allies republicans have been telling americans and maybe themselves, there's a cold harsh reality that this bill is just tax breaks for the ultra wealthy paid for by getting healthcare for up to 16 million americans. and by glcm small business owners will see their premiums skyrocket. you know how many -- i believe the end of the day because so many hospitals were close on where people come that i believe it could be certainly hundreds of thousands and maybe even over a million people losing their jobs. this is the across-the-board disaster for the american people. donald trump is trying to lie about it. let me tell republican senate colleagues what would be enacted

is not found trump soothing words but the actual reality of harsh cuts where people loose healthcare, where peoples premiums go up, or hospitals close, nursing homes close and people are laid off. anyone who thinks are voting for the nice words of donald trump will face the harsh reality is if omitted and the bootup the of limitation date as well to 2026. 2026. do you know what that means? more hospitals close come more people laid off, healthcare providers don't get any time to try and adjust to the harsh reality that republican house members and republican senators want to impose on them. over 850,000 people it's estimated lose that job and i think that that is low. people it will be well over 1 million jobs lost. over 10 million people signed up for their insurance during the last month, healthy young people. their costs are going to go much

higher. it affects the babies. to fix the kids. it affects the young people start now with families and to fix the elderly. across the board it is just terrible. now trump and republicans claim they want to fight fraud. bowl bowl. they just pardoned a horrible nursing home owner i think you got ten years at a member but he got a big long sentence. who committed fraud by taking money from the doctors and nurses and aides in his nursing home. they say they want to get fraud then why did do they get rie igs? who were in charge of fraud? that's bull. they want to strangle healthcare and all it does to people. okay? let me just say this.

for many americans healthcare coverage is the difference between life and death. but according to ernst, fear not, you are going to die anyway. tell that to the american people. let me be clear, democrats are ready. we are ready to fight. where doubling down. ready to show americans which really at stake here because this site will not be run in just the capital. as abe lincoln said, public sentiment is everything. public sentiment for all going to die act. they will hate it. it will tell the senators the hated. they think he can get away with a yes vote, that sounded mistaken -- [inaudible] the cuts are two real. okay? and finally why are they doing all this? what why are they being so m? where they being somr cruel and

why they being so politically -- address suicidal, at worst all to give tax breaks to billionaires they are in total -- his colleagues are too big or small group of very wealthy greedy people said i don't care what you did everyone else but my taxes and by the committee for any regulations. senator wyden. >> thank you very much, mr. leader. but the pick up on where the leader stopped -- let me pick -- does legislation mably becomes an anti-senior bill. let me walk you through why that's the case. a million low income seniors are going to see their medicare premiums go up by nearly $200 a month. the bill makes nursing homes

safe for frail seniors because it rolls back safety standards. for example, mehmet oz somehow thinks that ai is going to take care of everything that seniors need in rest homes. we pointed out to him that suck and help an 85-year-old who's up in the middle of the night and has to make their way to the bathroom. the bill is going to hurt hundreds of thousands of seniors by reducing services for those who count on medicaid to lose care at home. and then the american people have heard things about medicaid in this bill, being so harmful. they're also going to learn that this bill would trigger $500 billion in medicare cuts. this is going to hurt rural

hospitals like a wrecking ball. now, if you're an older person in america, this is also going to come on top of the trump administration backing away from efforts to lower prescription drug costs. and we feel that this is a hugely big mistake. we worked very hard to get the power to negotiate more affordable medicine, for seniors, and all these cuts in senior programs that i mentioned, they come on top of the trump message this injures, were not really much interested in holding down your cost of medicine. now, as the leader touched on the latest there were some cbo released two hours ago make it clear that there are going to be more than $1 trillion in cuts to americans healthcare. and we do expect here later

today that even more americans are going to be losing the health insurance and initial estimates from the nonpartisan budget office has disclosed. but i do think that the american people want to know what's actually going on, and particularly for the seniors who i've known since my days when i was director of the great panthers. they have a right to know what incredibly harmful provisions are in the text of this legislation as of now. there has been some discussion about medicaid but you all, i'm a journalist can come to know go out until the elderly of this country how this bill is going to expect after affect them he does have a right to know and they're not quite like it. it's a morally bankrupt field trip was dentist of simple explanation, healthcare cuts for americans walking on economic tight tightrope is what this bill is all about and is going to be

paid for by extra tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. senator hassan and i are members of the finance committee. you can be sure we will be fighting this every step of the way. as a leader noted we're going to use every single tool at our disposal to fight this. i don't think the republicans even want to talk about the specifics. the three of us, lead and i have roots in the finance committee. remember the days when republicans wanted to join the finance committee have market. they don't want to go into the finance committee have market. it ought to talk all healthcare cuts they are hitting people with. so senator schumer, our lead and senator hassan ripley's to be with both of you. thank you. >> good afternoon -- >> great senator hassan one of our great leaders. >> bravo. >> thank you, leader schumer, ranking member wyden for your merck's and for your leadership and thank you all for being here this afternoon.

look, president trump and congressional republicans continue to push forward a bill that gives more tax breaks to billionaires and corporate special interests paid for by trillion, trillions being added to the national debt. paid for by taking healthcare coverage away from 36,000 granite staters and millions of americans and triggering nearly $500 billion in cuts to medicare. just last week i met with granite staters including in new hampshire's rural north country, and i heard about what will totally be a devastating impact that these healthcare cuts will have on both the people who need health care and on the ability of providers who want to serve patients to keep their doors open. a young mother in nashua, new hampshire, and the southern part of the state talk to me about the services that her son with autism gets because you medicaid

coverage. occupational therapy, physical therapy, behavioral therapy. he's making great progress. all of that is now at risk because of this bill. now the mandatory -- sorry. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of edward walsh, of new jersey, to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the united states of america to ireland. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the mandatory quorum call under rule 22 can -- the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nominations of edward walsh to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the united states of america to ireland shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.

the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. the clerk: mr. banks.

mr. barasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. >> the paperwork to apply for medicaid and get the redetermination every year for her adult disabled son. she can't get to the paperwork without the help of a community health worker and commit health worker positions are being cut by this administration. so these new rules will have real impact on people like my constituent who i just described and her disabled son.

the bottom line here is clear. if congressional republicans and donald trump get their way and pass the bill for the billionaires and corporate special interests, more tax breaks at the expense of the middle class, more people will get sick, health providers will be impacted, our economy will be weakened, and families will be hurt. and last thing, i want to remind people that my colleagues and i am both sides of the aisle have, in fact, put forward a number of bipartisan proposals to lower healthcare costs. there is real work to be done in this area but if my republican colleagues are willing to abandon their dangers partisan bill, we could actually do this work together and actuallyan lor costs, health care costs, for our constituents. but right now it appears they are determined to pass this devastating bill.

we are going to continue to speak out about the harms it will cause, about the trillions and will add to our deficit, about the health care providers who will need to close their doors, about the real dangers this provides to the health, the security and the economy of our state and of our country. thank you. >> well done, maggie hassan. just against the heard everything is getting worse. the more you look at the built the worse it gets. it's now a trillion dollars in cuts. it's over 800,000 job loss committee of the nursing homes in rural hospitals. just remember they depend on i have been in nursing homes downstate upstate, world, they are all worried they're going to close. 70, 80% of of the revenue is medicaid. same with rural hospitals. you had medical problems to it and healthcare provider of some of the bigger hospitals will be devastated and have to lay off

people and not be able to treat people as well. but for the rul hospitals and the small hospitals, this is really death. bottom line is this is going to be devastating for america. i think if a republican colleagues, confident if they passed this bill and you becomes law turn the clock he had the sake of why didn't we do that? why did we do that? questions on the subject. roughly 1.4 million immigrants losing their coverage under state-funded health programs. introducing federal payments to states to provide coverage undyed immigrants a reform -- >> look, the bottom line is this overall bill is so awful. they want to income if it got specific issues can aim at.

just do a the reaction or chainsaw across the board to cut everything, everything everything. i don't know if the numbers are accurate. these are gop numbers but it doesn't matter. the bottom line is this goes way beyond even what you're talking about and hurts everybody. next question. next question. >> considered elon musk robust opposition to the bill and the fact he has not returned the call to the speaker of the house, we do try to bring into the fold to help kill this bill insist request he's not, not my cup of tea, to put it mildly. but republicans are already listening to him. they are already listening to him. you heard some of the right wing groups of the elon musk against donald trump. yes. >> one of the thinks it sounds like he wants to bring back tax credits that state at a reconciliation bill. as i you agree with elon musk.

>> i as i spoken forward to doig overall an energy is just ridiculous. it's going to raise peoples costs thousands of dollars in terms of their of the . number two, over 840,000 jobs would be lost. number three it gets all the keys to. >> translator: we have to reset the entire energy package and i'm beating with, i met, i met several times with my democratic celebrate of my democratic colleagues, senator wyden was in his meetings. and we're reaching out to republican colleagues as our indices that are affected. 80% of these new clean energy industries are an republican states. the whole thing needs revamping. the whole thing needs revamping come just like in healthcare. yes? for are you urging members to vote against the changes affect? >> i voted no. there is division in our caucus on the issue. the reason i voted no is because it did nothing to stop donald trump and his family from engaging in self enriching

activities. this. >> was omb sent precisions packets to the hilt. i'm wondering what you think about in light of russ vought argument says he doesn't -- [inaudible] you think sending that with sensations packaged undermined his political point? >> i would set the pot what is the rescission package is something we democrats very much vehemently oppose. how are you going to the budget? how are you going to put together budgets if they will try to do rescissions? what's the point of doing a budget? the good news is there a good number of republicans who, don't like itt, either. last one. >> leader jeffries yesterday told us he thinks there's this package, that it will not pass here. do you agree? >> look, were going to fight -- i haven't even sent over to us yet. so we can't, of what's come we'll see what happens in the house, but i think there is broad democratic opposition.

okay. thank you, everybody. >> thank you. >> thank you, guys. alsobrooks,, blumenthal, blunt rochester, cantwell, cortez masto, duckworth, gillibrand, heinrich, hirono, kim, markey, murray, padilla, rosen, sanders, schatz, and whitehouse. ms. smith, no. mrs. hyde-smith, aye. mr. mullin, aye. ms. baldwin, no.

>> it's up to them to have a good scholastics program have good athletic program and to be inviting to people. in my old public school i was the presidentno of they starteda trace program within the school so maybe a four year degree and $100,000 in debt is a which are supposed be, they become a well to make 100 thousand oaks without that. to have different pass to guess at the box. it's an exciting time for you to be the madam secretary. do you think we can incorporate all this voucher program and education tours have betterfo public schools and all that could come together? , wrong? >> i really think we do need -- you're not wrong at a a thinkn you to focus on making sure that our cultural key point about of education is not always the child of a four-year degree. because there are other ways to have a great fulfillment of a career and provide for your families with skill-based training. plumbers and electricians hc 80 not only that protect them to develop its that we are seeing.

we ought to start that more. middle schools, high schools leading into those career programs. that's one of the things our workforce government programs will show success for doing. >> thank you so much madam secretary and without i give my time back. >> i think the judgment of recognize the gentlelady from michigan, ms. stephen. >> thank you, mr. chair and madam secretary, i realize you're in the cabinet with the president and you are the first cabinet secretary i've been able to speak with this mr. andu could please pass along to the president that 55 terrorist announcement in 100 days are killing us in michigan. i know the president kim omission to settlement -- tariff -- to settle registers 100 days. i know this is outside technical the purview of your administration. we put hiring an old that suppliers small businesses telling me today that operations

are going to shut down. certainly we think it's question of unemployment and job training and prevention programs. now, the department of education was passed into law in the close vote in 1979. four years prior to that the house of representatives signed into law the investing into civilis education act, i.d.e.a. we want to see special education fully funded in the united states of america. and michigan just since 2023 missed out on $700 million in i.d.e.a. funding. i have worked so closely with my school districts all across my state frankly on the missing pieces of the budget from special education funding gaps. can you speak to some of the changes that are going on in the administration or in your very agency right now and if there is an opportunity for michigan to

access more special education dollars? >> well, as i testify to earlier, the i.d.e.a. funding is going to continue. level funding going into the different states. now, there are six programs that are going to be consolidated into a single stream of funding that a think you could apply for in those days and help get the governor or the superintendent of education to direct more of those funds. >> while i don't agree with the reckless language of shutting down the department of education and the dismantling of the job loss, at a no some of these individuals in michigan who lost their department of education jobs come we will gladly take every special education dollar that you can give us. and then as you know trio grants are grants that help low income

first-generation college fettered and disabled students who we care about so much apply and successfully complete college. several schools use trio grants to support students. so why did the administration this idea to limit the trio grants program or what's happening to that when? >> trio grants for the funny that's in place now are continuing for the balance of this fiscal year. they are not, they are not, they have been zeroed out in the next budget. what we fell with trio and looking, hey, i think editor testimony, i've heard a couple senators even yesterday say then the people who benefit from trio and i'm sure there are many people who have but there are other programs in place that would also help students who are now being benefited by trio for we also found out that the trio programs, you know, they had been put through with a lot of heavy lobbying.

the department of education will he doesn't have the ability to go in and assist total accountability that's how it's written. >> well, if that's the case we can look at expanding pell which many of us support. we need to see pell grants expanded. we want to continue that discussion with you and on the record but with my remaining time and as you are a cabinet secretary for the second time in a row in the administration of president donald j. trump, please just know we are competing with china. we are competing on a world stage in a place right so privileged to call home is right in the middle of that competition. we need these engineering jobs. we need the apprenticeship programs. we want to see our government function to the best of its ability and deliver the standards and there i say the efficiency that are taxpayers pay into. but when we see tax bills at a

cutting investment in manufacturing, new manufacturing come 42 plants in michigan, when we are fighting for all the technology, we can get, we need you to double down on this. we need your partnership and we would like to show this to your first day. i do a program called manufacturing monday. i visited hundreds of small businesses over and over and over again. i have a real with these people, and the students are in first robotics and yes michigan has a largestds number of first robots teams which we would also love to showcase to you and your office. but tell this president slow down of what he's doing to otters, manufacturing sector anticonsumer cost. thank you and that yield back. >> i recognize the gentleman from guam. >> thank you, mr. chair. and secretary. thank you very much for your testimony. i would like to bring attention to the territories now. as you know from guam we often

in country unique challenges. we have small economics and we have geographical isolation. it takes me 20 hours to fly back home and door to door, plus you change a date like the effect i think it is like to 30 or so in the morning tomorrow in guam. so we are way out of the park will send devastating natural disasters. we just don't only go to super typhoon spirits like gigantic tornado happening in some of the states that it covers over the entire island. plus with the military build up with the indopacom situation. my question is how does administration plan to invest in american students in the outlying areas where the roles of response those of the federal government are much different than that in the states? >> what i would like to do if i may, outside of the hearing their specific areas that we could talk about and how what my

position at education may be would be helpful for you. i would welcome the opportunity to have more thorough discussion with you. >> i appreciate that and we need to get you do want as well. that would be great. going onto another question did. against pacific on long. we often fail to recruit and retain special education specialists. understand that nationwide by making a burdensome for special students to attend public and even charter schools. so how can this administration support guam and addressing these gaps? >> again that really is more local use of funding and not controlled by the department of education. >> when we get to our meeting we will also discuss how often we face financial hardships in the island. when it comes infrastructure improvements or, and academic competitiveness how does this initiation time to invest in uplift these students? and other concerned my for the island and other territories?

>> i get i look forward to our meeting to discuss this. >> okay. just violate another one for our topic of discussion. as you work guam struggles with the needed infrastructure upgrades. our storms and costs of getting materials to the island is tremendous. especially with our public schools it's very costly. how does the administration another we can discuss plan to discuss critical issues like these injuries we can make our educational institution in the outlying areas world-class like all american institutions should be? >> i really do look forward to our meeting. i think i can address things better by having city done having a better understanding. >> okay. likewise will get your meeting we will talk about the shortages of medical physicians and nurses. we know nationwide but even more stressful for the territories. in addition, how the skinny

budget has affected our special education funding. likewise, for skilled trade and workers and high skilled at degrees and medical professions how we can better that for our territories. pretty much i'm looking forward to a long discussion with you as soon as possible, madam secretary, prescient. >> and i will make myself available for. >> wonderful and we will teach you a trip to guam. thank you. >> i i thank the gentleman and recognize the judgment from texas. >> secretary mcmahon, thank you for joining us here today. right now the administration that you are a part of is pushing for a massive tax break for billionaires, paid for by massive cuts to health care and food assistance for everyday americans including to the children that you are charged with educating. you yourself and your family as a billionaire family, wealth of

about $3.2 billion, can you share with us, do you know how much you and your family will receive in tax benefit if the republican tax proposal gets pushed through? >> no, i don't set and i worked with my counts of what tax dash i can tell you -- >> do you have a general sense? [inaudible] >> so you think under this proposal you would will ne other billionaires get millions or tens and hundreds of dollars in tax been the? >> i think that's kind of a ridiculously. >> no it's not ridiculous because he is what's important. biggest building pushed by your administration for your average extremely wealthy person would give about $4 billion benefit. your family is worth about $3.2 billion, so i imagine that i imagine that you would get millions of dollars in benefit from this tax bill. doesn't make sense? does at checkout? >> i don't know. i would have to let you know.

>> asked the member spitted chairman comer chairman, my question. i'll refer to the secretary. so achille, the our families watching at home from my district they could lose their health care, and they want to know why their health care would get taken away and what it is paying for is oval obama tr the wealthiest people in the country. and so what would you spend the $4 million on that you would get the benefit of at least -- >> educational line of questioning. i expect what with those families who lose her healthcare who are watching, what would you spend the $4 $4 million on ts worth more than their health care? >> i'm not going to address the questions relative to me be proslavery either as a secret of education and i spitted so as the secretary of education, do you think, yes or no, that kids will be better off in school if they have healthcare and other

food needs met, yes or no? >> we all do better and children will do better in school if their health needs are met. i agree with that. >> good. and so i guess for those kids which there's going to be hundreds of thousands or millions of kids that lose their health care, how is it okay that they're going to lose their health care so that billionaires and billion of families, i'm not even thinking like you can get attack? >> you to even how many billions of dollars it is you get. how is that worth it? >> i, not correspond to the question i think this is because it's not worth it. it's not. if you've got 3.2 billion or 5 billion or $10 billion spitted off the premise that we healthcare that is going to be removed from his children are not sure that is correct premise so -- >> everything organization that's looked at this bill knows that millions of people will lose her healthcare.

the latest estimate at least 11 million people and families because you wouldn't get the enormous savings that the republican majority on this committee is looking for unless you kick those millions of people off of their healthcare. so how can we educate our kids if they do have a roof over their heads come if they can't see a doctor. they don't have food assistance? so i'll ask you, do you think it's right for kids to not have food to eat at home before they go to class in order to make sure that a billionaire that doesn't even know how many more millions of dollars they are going to get to just get a few million more? >> i'm going to make sure of the secretary of the department of education at the president's plan to make school choice available to every student in a country is what we follow. >> the president's plan specifically takes money away from those kids come

specifically takes food away from those families. specifically takes money and since it to big contractors, the companies and sends millions of dollars to billionaires like you who don't even know how many extra maids of dollars going to get it before his member of cox i help run an afterschool program at a high school where many of the kids were getting driven to school in the same car that they slept in at night. they didn't have committee of them couldn't see a doctor they struggled and class. we should be passing a bill to make sure that they've got a decent classroom expense, republican food and health care, not a bill that finals who knows in your opinion how many millions of dollars to billionaires like those in president trump's cavett ideal expert now recognize the gentleman from missouri. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you, secretary mcmahon, so much for taking the time to come to testify before us today. first of all i would like to

apologize for the contemptible way that my democrat colleague treated you. i just want to say parenthetically that absolutely i'm a physician who is taken care of medicaid insured patients for over 30 years, and absolutely zero children will lose their healthcare under the big, beautiful reconciliation bill. but i would like to discuss with you some of the damage done by the biden administration to education policy in the united states. one of the worst policies of course was the department of education's treatment of title ix regulation. it of course radically reinterpreted sex to include gender identity and sexual orientation which resulted in an infiltrated women's sports much to the detriment of fairness in safety and very where women have made enormous progress over the years. thankfully a federal court vacated that regulation earlier this year. there was another aspect of

biden's title and regulation of us also damaging but didn't receive as much attention, and that is the erosion of due process during title ix adjudication of misconduct on campus. the biden administration uniformly lowered the evidence standard required for student to be convicted of misconduct in such an adjudication. this is serious in federal courts have found some students were wrongfully disciplined or even expelled in that process. the trump administration has worked to improve the situation, preserving the integrity of the process for sexual misconduct victims. at the same time discouraging false accusations because if false accusation of tolerated, it weakens the voice of actual victims. i believe we need a permanent legislative solution to protect victims of misconduct and those accused as opposed to

ping-ponging back and forth with changes in administration. unfortunately the biden administration was not alone in disrespecting the satellite due process rights over the years. after title ix adjudication that occurred, after overlearned college change the schools procedures, the sixth circuit of u.s. court of appeals strongly reprimanded the college noting that in this country we determine guilt or innocence individually rather than collectively based on one's identification with some demographic group and conclude these additions expulsion of a student was arguably inexplicable. a similar case out of purdue university for the university refused to allow the accused to see the evidence against him. secretary mcmahon, could you talk about the efforts of the department to ensure that education and educational institutions know their obligations under title ix to

protect the due process rights of their students as well as the victims of misconduct? >> well, certainly i think this administration has shown that is absolutely committed you know to protecting you know title ix not only with keeping it out of women's sports because we do know that women are absolutely girls and women are absolutely put at a disadvantage when men are allowed to compete. just something because they can ms. scholastic opportunity as well as for the own personal safety. i absolutely believe we are correct and enforcing those title ix efforts and the president has issued an executive order to that effect as well, as well as the fact that i do believe it's under title ix. the due process portion at a university i think it's very important that we continue to look at that to make sure as you

said that victims and those who are accused of protected under due process. >> i think that's correct and i think too many times these title ix adjudications are run by folks of a dei bent and many times there can be a guilty until proven innocent assumption and a lack of due process. i thank you and, of course, the trump administration for your commitment to restoring title ix to its original purpose as opposed to being weaponized for ideological political ends. thank you so much for being before us here today, madam secretary. i yield back. >> i recognize the gentlelady from minnesota. >> thank you, chairman and thank you madam secretary, for being here with us. is it fair to assume that you are aware that when a student

loan borrower is deformed by school that there's a provision of law called the borrower defends? >> sim. >> okay. it is a straightforward context that students should not be forced to repay loans to schools that lied to them. we know that millions of federal grants and loans go out the door while students are left with education that is not worthy. i was actually surprised a few weeks ago when your department quietly rescinded $37 million in fines that was placed against grand canyon university. can you explain why that happened? >> let me see for a second. i'm going to review my notes on that because there were a couple of things i wanted to make sure i covered with you. we really found that the accusations against grand canyon, which is a faith-based

organization and we looked at all the facts of the case. [speaking in native tongue] imf's familiar with -- my question is, how would the students going to be made whole if you are not allowing the university to pay the fines? what's the plan? >> i'm not sure that that's the right analysis of it but i will look into it for the get back to. >> and you will get it back and budding to be? >> yes well. >> are right there because we know that the president in whom you serve had a fraudulent university called trump university and he himself settled three lawsuits before becoming president. we know there are roughly 1.4 million borrowers who have been approved for a borrower defends discharge and are still waiting for that process. how are you clearing out that backlog? >> in terms of the borrowers defense fund?

our list of that. i be happy to get back to you with those never. >> while the students wait, can you give us a commitment that you're not going to collect that debt? >> i've had to get back to you on that. with the situation is an speech i don't understand why that's a difficult question to say yes to the they had been defrauded. they're waiting for relief. while i wait for the relief -- >> if they -- >> they should have to pay back that debt. >> if it been defrauded and is been adjudicated that the event defrauded, then i'll get back to you as to what the timeframe is i'm why there's a holdup, if there is. i'm not sure as i sit here right now. >> wonderful. there was, , i know that you hae been questioned a lot on i.d.e.a. and its funding. i won't relitigate those questions. i just have to make particular questions to address or to make areas to address. we know that the i.d.e.a., that

you have gotten rid of the legal team that guides states in implementation. how are you going to rectify that. >> i do know what you mean by we got rid of the legal team. we have had some reduction in force of speedy there was a firing of the entire legal team. >> we have other lawyers in place at the department of education and we are fully speedy the entire team that was, that was for i.d.e.a. has been fired. so how are you addressing that? >> because we have other lawyers who are in place that can handle those things as i mentioned before we are, have not missed any of our statutory requirements. >> i do believe that that firing hurts the implementation. we also know that you've guided the office of civil rights -- guided. when it already investigation backlog.

how are you going to fix the discrimination claim cases -- gutted -- that are out there? >> there are cases that we look into and again we have not missed any of our statutory requirements in terms of ocr. we also have tested speedy so there's a backlog. there are a lot of cases, kids in a school are waiting for relief. when you get rid of the people that are supposed to carry out those investigations, how are you to assure that those kids when i continue to be hard to? we are talking about so many situations where kids are being discriminated against, and you got rid of people that investigate those investigations. so those kids can protect themselves from the discrimination. >> weay still have a very strong and capable staff in ocr. >> you wouldn't have backlog if that was the case. there's current backlog and i

would love for you to stop just saying words and to actually do the work that you are charged by statute, and they give expert i think the gentlelady and recognize now the gentleman from pennsylvania mr. thompson. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you, secretary mcmahon for being here today and for your continued public service to our country. as you likely know i coach of the bipartisan career and technical education caucus for more than a decade. i'm proud to be the champion for cte here on the alongside my good friend congresswoman mona nietzsche. madam secretary, during her confirmation hearing i was glad to here about your commitment to providing more alternative pathways to traditional four-year degrees. leaning on protective education 12 achieve that goal. as the author of the shrinking critical education for the 21st century thank you to lava of president trump in 2015, i'm thrilled to see the growth and

success of these programs. typically when i visit these programs today i see waiting list. i see schools investing in brixton or to expand the footprint to be able to accommodate more secondary and postsecondary students. really working to restore rungs of the ladder of opportunity for so many. today a record nearly 12.5 million students nationwide, and number that number that is continue to grow since 2018, certain career and technical education programs. at the secondary level streets are graduating from cte pathways at an amazing 96% rate. far higher than the national average. high school cte concentrator are also more likely to be employed full-time and of higher earnings agers post graduation than their counterparts. great pathway to success in life. madam secretary, would you agree

cte programs help incentivize workforce come skills and those? >> yes, i do. >> the reason we obviously know this information is, at contract success can track, was because of data. with up-to-date it's hard to make the decisions as members of congress. i've read about this issue before but i'm still concerned about the department decision to cancel the national evaluation of career and technical education under perkins. this five evaluation was mandated by law in perkins. ..

we want to make sure the perkins program is some of the data collecting we're doing. i'm not sure as i sit here this moment if that's pertinent to the perkins data and innate scoring and other educational policies and i'd like to bet back as i collar fie that.

>> yeah, we need consistency; right in terms of data and it's important in the statistical collection of data and quite frankly, i look forward to working with you and go back for the process in the way we legislated and the first five years and setting us nicely for a great perkins six and great authorization. additionally the administration's fy2026 budget proposes re-prioritizing ct grants to always support middle and high school students at district level. under current law, states are granted flexibility to best split ct resources between secondary and post-secondary systems as post-secondary ct systems provide valuable pathways for learners of all ages and they're incredible programs that i take every opportunity to be able to visit nose and see the fruits of the legislative work i did with

president trump. they're seeking to limit them beyond high school including into a atinnitusship and post-secondary pathways and another area that i look forward to, wonderfulling personally >> budget's executive order preparing for high paying skilled jobs. >> the action was contrary to that and -- >> gentlewoman's time expired. i recognize the gentleman from north carolina, mr. harris. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and madame secretary for being here and your patience and endurance

throughout this hearing. there's been a lot said about the closing of the department of education and activities that are being ensued but, madame secretary, i want to ask you, is education mentioned in our constitution? >> i don't believe in terms of directives or agencies mentioned in the constitution. >> correct. our tenth amendment said power is not delegated to the federal government by the constitution and are reserved to who. my wife teaches u.s. history and it must fall to the states and to the people and some of the federal judges need to go back to the eighth grade and have that kind of class.

should a single judge be able to stop the actions of the president? >> that's a question that's before the courts. and it'll be properly adjudicated. >> that's what happened and going for the education and executive orders including the one directing you to take steps to close the department. i want to take a moment to set the record straight for the nation. and ask you did the department ever tell you to ignore the law? >> no, in fact says specifically in the executive order to do it lawfully. >> exactly. "the secretary of education shall to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the

department of education and return authority over education to the states and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which americans rely". seems that congress is the one out of line with the constitution in establishing the department of education in the first place. i for one happen to agree 100% with you and president trump that we must send education back to our states. that process doesn't mean ignoring the laws on the books. what tepeds have you taken to carry out president trump's lawful order to move the department of education towards closure? >> what i said from the beginning, in fact in my confirmation hearing and statistically working with congress and we look at the plans for shutting down the department of education through the agencies that can carry out

fumbling through the department of education and going through the goal and it'll take congressional action going for congress to do that . >> going for them and discussing to help and accomplishing their task. >> they're going to come and sit down as we lay out more of the plan and what we think to accommodate for the accommodation. >> another subject and madame secretary, do you agree it is a privilege for foreign students to attend foreign universities and not a right? >> it is a privilege. >> is it a privilege for universities to enroll foreign students and not a right?

>> right to the education here in -- i think it is a privilege for the foreign students to come and attend our universities. >> do you agree that the safety of american students should be a top priority especially when considering who to let on campus? >> p yes, i co. >> department of state announced temporary pause and interviews with r student visas with plans to update the policies on screening even social media for applicants and this comes after we've seen just the incredible rise in the violent and anti-semitic protest on college campuses across the nation. i want to ask you in closing segments, has your department noticed a connection between schools that fail to follow l law and take organizations and going for them? >> one thing we've asked is this is not exactly one of the issues that came up with harvard. we are looking at all universities now and investigating to make sure that under that section 117, they are as they are required, reporting

the amounts and sources of those donations to the universities. >> excellent. thank you so much, again, for the work that you're doing and mr. chairman, i yield back. >> thank you, and thank you, madame secretary for being here today and hopefully i with get some quick answers going for them and do you intend to comply with the may 22 court order? >> may 22 in which we're joined in this particular aspect. can you be more specific? >> court ordered issued on may 22 requiring you to be prevented from dismantling the state.

>> indicated proposals with the department of education going forward and count on receiving those proposals as they're made and we've asked for those information. >> certainly like to comply with congress and provide you with those. >> can we get a commitment from you that you'll cooperate with office of inspector general and department of education as the law requires. >> yes, on the 2026 budget, a lot of work force development programs are combined with the dust celting and a 23% cut and work development programs. >> we're looking at work force development and wanting to make sure that social security treated fairly and right now, the united states government is taking taxpayers that are

footing the bill for about 75% of that and we want to reverse that and we want the businesses or universities to pay the 75% in taxpayers to pay 25%. it was more of the work force development >> the reconciliation bill and that's the one that has tax breaks for the wealthy and healthcare going for them and changes going to make the bill. cutting through the loans and pee lines brantleys and going for them on work study on top of the cuts. >> i would appreciate the opportunity to respond to those

if they were written questions and we can explain thanksgiving them better. >> title 1, you said it was level funding and do i assume it meant it was protected and assume it was level funded without adjustment for inflation? >> level funded. >> no adjustment? >> no, level funded. >> okay. trio problems we valuating the program and the department of education now evaluate trio programs for effectiveness? >> we'd like to be able to and have full accountability for the programs and the way it's strucked. jaire some believe the way the department has evaluations right there in the department of education and do you deny they exist? >> there are some valuations that are in for the trio going

and longer effective trio and specific language that presents -- prevents us from doing it. i would like to have the ability if trio is re-appropriated that we would be able to change that line and go in and understand the full accountability of the program. >> on student loans, would you commit to working with us and about 2 million students and student loan borrowers that apply for income-driven repayment plans caught up in a backlog and count on you to work with us and be not dis-ed a vantaged in >> working relative to all the loans that are in default with several different programs for repayment, and we urge students who have borrowed money and in default now to go to our -- >> they're in a backlog and will you work with us to make sure

the office of civil rights investigates violations of title iv? >> yes, we do that. >> and imply that -- in hit 6 going for the ground and going for them to comply with the requirement and head of the federal agency and must file with the committees of the house and senate and bring legislative jurisdiction over the program or activity involved with a full written report of the circumstances and grounds with such action, no such action shall become effective till 30 days after the filing of such report. do you know if the department of education filed a report with this committee on any action you've taken?

>> we may very well have done that but i'd like to get back to you to confirm my answer. >> the gentleman's time expired. >> one more quick answer. >> the lack of university of violation of title 6. >> the jet lman's time expired and i ask the secretary to respond later. >> thank you, your honor, mr. chairman. you can see my line sitting here and going for them on the question and thank you for being here and it's a privilege to be able to ask you questions and i want to save you one follow up from the meeting and don't have to meet with the accountant and we're not lowering any rates and it'll be none. you'll continue to may pay what you haven't paid and i don't know why people continue to lie

about that . i want to ask you about something different. >> i speak to you as the father of jewish boys and a harvard alum and i didn't see those professors anywhere when i was there. as a jewish conservative at harvard in the 90s, despite the fact they tried to kick me out twice, i never felt unsafe. never once. sometimes felt persecuted because of political views but never once in six years because i went there twice, did i ever feel unsafe. but students do now. i wear that kippa now, it's a new habit of mine at my sons' requests because of all the students that don't feel safe wearing theirs. with my 17-year-old, when he was born actually, 17 years ago, i had a dream that he would follow

me to where i went to school. and now we're in the next few weeks where it's time to think about where he's going to apply to college, i don't even know if he should go to college at all in the days we live in and days we are in. my question to you is this, given that jews are scared, there's things we can do obstructing cerumen the college campuses and i thank you for what you're doing but i believe that a lot of the problem is coming from foreign influence and the universities are taking money from countries that don't share values or politics and don't like our people. those dollars come at a process. what they dorks they don't just give a donation, they say we're going to endow a school. endow professorship and take our students. and from other countries and working together so that countries like china and quart r

are not looking out for the interest of our kids in the higher education system. >> thank you for that . i'm glad you felt safe because there's clearly so many students now that don't feel safe, and i've talked to them. they've told me, no child going to college or any school today should feel unsafe in the environment of their education. so i regret that . we've launched and reaffirm that had for the compliance and they're already requiring to report this and they're not. we're requiring them to report do nors and amounts and -- nors and amounts and make -- donors and amounts and there's no foreign influence but that's what we're supporting.

>> it's in the creation of what i'll call pre-starbucks employment degrees like gender studies and these other silly things where you kent get a job and just factories to get people to go and protest. i'd like to work with you on that and i also want to ask you this, we subsidize these degrees and schools walk around saying they're private is false. they couldn't operate without the beneficiary of this and going to make sense for us to look at ideas of saying if you want to get a student loan to go to college in the united states, you've got to get a degree in something where you might be able to do something useful when you're done with it. >> that's one thing i was discussing before that i would like colleges and universities going to have more skin in the game. >> they're going for them to provide and going for them on

the books for part of that money and >> i want to close by thanking you and president trump for what you're doing and one of the backlogs here in the democrat values going for them and it's conveniently not worked on when he was president and thank you for dealing with that backlog but know that i'm prepared to work with you and the president on any of the issues whenever you need it and thank you for being here today. >> thank you, chairwoman. the last person for word and questioning. mr. messfertilizer. >> thank you, chairman and thank you, madame secretary being here. we hear all the allegations that you're ignoring the law and fraud, waste and abuse in the department.

that's simply ridiculous. can we hear trust worthy you that your department is following the law and will continue to execute all laws passed by congress? >> yes, sir, we will. >> thank you. also, how will the department ball languages the needs of flexibility in their cte delivery to respond -- is agree. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: p department of state, edward walsh of new jersey to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the united states of america to ireland.

>> live look at the senate floor and earlier senators voted to debate on michelle bowman for vice chair of supervision and walls as ambassador to ireland. later today at 2:00 p.m. eastern, the senate will vote to limit debate on james o'neil to be deputy secretary of health and human services. be sure to watch here on cspan2 for all votes on the senate floor. >> we have a choice in competitive factors in our states. we are seeing the levels across all schools rising tide lifts all boats and does give opportunities when we have the choice that the president would like to see. >> thank you. and in indiana, we have the highest utilization of charter

schools in low income minority areas and benefits those students the most. thank you. >> thank you. this is not indiana, but i have visited some of the charter schools and lower economic areas and seen the results because it's often those lower economic students are so often overlooked and said there's no need to waste any money there because that's where we need to spend money to make sure that they have equal opportunities as well. >> thank you. appreciate your support. i yield back my time. >> i thank the gentleman and the committee for your support and the committee for your diligence be r here and patients and time -- patience and it was a long hearing and appreciate you being here. there are no further questions and now i recognize the ranking member for his closing remarks. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank the secretary for being here with us today. we're here today to consider the

effect of the president's 2026 budget within the jurisdiction of creating education through work force and beginning that consideration while legislation cuts funding for programs that gives access to college while adding trillions of dollars of additional debt. on top of the cuts in that bill and 2026 proposal and further cuts bell grants and reducing work study and eliminates trio programs and consider the 2026 budget, we also consider the federal court orders that have ordered administration to stop dismantling the department of education without congressional

authorities and handcuffs are not locally imposed and not on federal government and there's no federal role in curriculum and teacher quality or hearing anything like that and emphasized with the department of education responsibility is and basically civil rights to make sure that all children have access to a quality education. we've heard some support of going for the university and it's a violation of title f and have we'll get that -- title and have get that as an answer later going for them and every action

under title and have claiming anti-semitism or title 6 and give notice to the committees of jurisdiction and she indicated she may have given notice and if so you haven't chair that had information with the democrats on the committee and i'd like to see that because requires before any action can be taken, provide a complete report on that situation and wait 30 days before any action is taken. going for the answer from you but we have a lot of work to do. we're trying to improvement education, and from a federal -- . mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. what we have come to realize is under the last administration,

the american people really suffered from open borders, crime, and lawlessness. and they spoke out about this, and in november they issued a mandate to president trump. and of course we talk a lot about the economic impact of that. we talk about the health, but we also focus on the make america safe again provisions. and i will say this, since he was elected in november and sworn in in january, president trump has done exactly that. he has worked to make this country safe, to make our communities safer. and what we have seen in operations across the country is that the trump administration

has committed to getting criminal illegal aliens out of our communities and off of our streets. we have seen that in tennessee. now in recent weeks the department of homeland security has worked with the tennessee state highway patrol, and they have arrested 196 criminal illegal aliens in nashville, tennessee. now, these are people that ought not to have ever been in the country. they're violent criminals, members of tren de aragua, members of ms-13, drug dealers, sex traffickers, human traffickers. and you know what?

people said i can't believe we had that many drug dealers, sex traffickers, gang leaders, gang cubs that were here in our community. and when you start to look at the crimes of some of these people, mr. president, people are aghast at what they have learned, and they're grateful that president trump, secretary noem, tom be hollan to get these people off our streets and out of our communities. now, here's what we know about some of these. one of them is a salvadoran

national who is affiliated with ms-13. now, he probably l-- he probabl left el salvador because he had been wanted for murder in his home country. that is the charge against him, murder. tennesseans are saying, look, we want to make certain away get these individuals deported. and i was talking to one of our local law enforcement officers, they're in middle tennessee, and i said, tell me what you think about ice and homeland security and the work they're doing. and he said, i am happy to see them here. we welcome them. we're glad they're working with the highway patrol. because when you get these

criminals and these gang leaders off our streets, you make the community safer and you make our jobs a little bit safer. and we're seeing the benefits of these deportations of criminal illegal aliens on a nationwide scale. i give you nashville, because i represent tennessee. ice has arrested more than 66,000 criminal illegal aliens. the vast majority have prior criminal convictions and charges, including, as i've mentioned, violent ms-13 and other gangs, thousands more were charged or convicted of assault, weapons offenses, sex crimes and

murder. and when these criminals are taken off the street, you know what happens, mr. president? crime goes down. safety improves. now, in february, and i think this is a great example of results. so in february ice targeted more than 100tren de argua members. many of my colleagues saw this reporting on the news. now that same quarter, that first quarter of the year, overall crime in the city declined by 22%. that is what happens when you go after people that are breaking the law that have come into the

country illegally, and came in with ill intent. now, despite the success that we have seen, whether it's nashville or whether it's aurora, colorado, my colleagues are still demonizing these efforts in law enforcement and demanding an end to arrests and deportations and some are working to undermine our brave and courageous law enforcement officers. now the mayor's office in nashville has been one that has tried to obstruct these. and they were claiming that ice detainment of violent gang members and rapists as, and i quote them, making it harder to keep people safe. so the mayor's office and the

mayor docked federal law enforcement who were involved in these operations. they released their names, they released details about different operations so they were docking and unmasking the investigator or agent's name. so what happens when the mayor does that is basically you're serving up a treasure-trove of information to the gang leaders. you make the officers less safe, all law enforcement officers. you make the communities less safe, and you encourage -- encourage people to target the

operations or the officers. so what we have seen is this makes the job of law enforcement more difficult, it undermines president trump's efforts to make our nation safe, and in essence, it has turned nashville into a sinth ri city -- sanctuary city, and interestingly enough in the state of tennessee, it is illegal to have a sanctuary city. and because of the actions of the office of the mayor and mayor o'connell, dhs has deemed nashville as a sanctuary jurisdiction. in all of this -- and all of this is happening, as ice agents have seen over the past couple of months, a 413% increase in

assaults. i will tell you i think that our law enforcement officers, our homeland security investigators and our agents deserve our support for removing criminal illegal aliens from our community. so on friday i sent a letter urging bondi to investigate the mayor's actions and actions of his office and determine if he is using taxpayer dollars to aid illegal aliens and to obstruct our federal law enforcement efforts. i will also use every tool in the senate to investigate the mayor and his office and hold him to account for threatening the safety of tennesseans. and make no mistake, if the

mayor is found by the department of justice to be working outside of the rule of law, he should resign his position. and, unfortunately, he's not the only democrat mayor that needs doj to investigate them. we've seen the mayors of chicago and boston and their offices, they've repeatedly stated that their police departments will refuse to cooperate with ice to apprehend criminal illegal aliens. now, think about this. these are criminals that robbing people, they're doing carjackings, they're assaulting people. many of them are abusing children. they're wanted in their home coun countries. and you have elected officials

that are siding with and trying to protect criminal illegal aliens instead of siding with and trying to protect law-abiding citizens. while this obstruction makes it harder for federal law enforcement to do their jobs, they're still working to remove these criminals from the streets of chicago and boston and, of course, nashville. just last month ice announced that they arrested the tren spde argua who shot and killed three citizens. criminal aliens shot and killed three civilians. and ice agents apprehended 1500

illegal aliens during operation patriot, making it the largest ice operation to date in our nation's history. more than half of those 1,500 have major criminal convictions, not just charged, but convictions and charges, murder, rape, drug trafficking, abuse of children all among that number, 1,500. these are horrific crimes committed by illegal alien criminals who were roaming free in american cities until ice comes in and apprehends them. while they continue to side with criminals, these democrat mayors and those city councils, republicans are supporting the president's efforts to maintain the rule of law so that there

are no more innocent victims like lorica thompson, a south carolina mother of two, who was allegedly murdered in cold blood last month by six illegal aliens who were trying to steal her car. or ava nor, an 18-year-old air force candidate who was killed while kayaking in texas over memorial day weekend by an illegal alien, who according to authorities, hit her with a jet ski and then fled the scene. or the 12 people, including a holocaust survivor, who were set on fire on sunday in an anti-semitic terror attack. the suspect, an egyptian national who overstayed his visa

after entering under biden's open borders. mr. president, this has to come to a stop. and tennesseans say, what can we do about this? well, i have the clear act, which we've had for a time. it would ensure that state and local law enforcement officials have the explicit authority to assist the federal government in our immigration enforcement efforts. basically it would codify the 287-g program. this week i'm introducing legislation that is backed by the white house which would establish a deportation shot clock which would require the federal government to deport an illegal alien within 15 days of a court order for removal. right now, it takes 90 days. we think the deportation shot

clock will empower the trump administration to expedite deportations of these criminals and get them off our streets. and following the dangerous actions of our national mayor o'connell and his office, i'm also introducing legislation that will make it illegal to dox federal law enforcement officials who are working to get these criminal illegal aliens off the streets. we realized after this occurrence that they were not included in the covered persons provisions. so i invite my democratic colleagues to join us in this. if not, i invite them to come down here, talk about why they would choose to support criminal illegal aliens instead of working to make our communities

safer and to uphold the rule of law. thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the senate recess following the cloture vote on the o'neill nomination until 4:00 p.m. today. the presiding officer: without objection.

the presiding officer: the senator senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: thank you, mr. president. you know, no one asked for this. no one asked for the biggest wealth transfer in american history from the poorest people in the country to the richest people to ever exist. no one asked for the biggest cuts to medicaid to kick 14 million people off of health insurance. and raise out-of-pocket costs for 20 million people. nobody asked for food assistance to be slashed for millions of children and low-income families. no one asked for higher prices at the pump or on their electricity bills. no one asked for students across the country to lose federal financial aid. no one asked for any of this.

i really mean that. that's not just a rhetorical flourish. i don't think trump voters asked for this. i know harris voters did knot ask for this -- did not ask for this. i don't think anybody really wants this. i think the reason that all of these crazy, harmful policies are about to be enacted is for one simple reason. and that is to generate enough revenue to satisfy the insatiable desire for tax cuts for people who make more than $4 million a year. they are literally taking money out of food assistance and medicaid and affordable care act monthly subsidies. by the way, you don't know if you get a subsidy or not. you just go on the exchange and you pay the thing. the thing is that thing is probably four or five or $600 a

month less than it used to be because of the subsidies. so it's one thing to say 14 million people are going to get kicked off of medicaid and they will. it's another thing to say because of those medicaid cuts, a bunch of clinics and hospitals in rural communities are going to shut down and they will. i think what's a little underrated is many, many more millions of people are going to pay not 50 bucks more a year, not $100 more per month but many hundreds of dollars more per month. why? because when you yank that money out of the system, it is what is called a pay-for-. -- pay-for. it means it generates a ton of revenue. how does it generate that revenue? by screwing a bunch of people. they are racing to pass a bill that does all of these things, that raises the deficit -- excuse me, the debt by many, many trillions of dollars. and i think the problem that some of us have -- and i really

appreciate the presiding officer and when we agree, we work really well together. and when we disagree, we are at least able to stay civil. so i'm trying to take the edge off of this. but one of the reasons that it sounds like i'm frothing at the mouth and saying a ufrm before partisan -- bunch of partisan talking points is because it's hard to kind of believe that any political party would actually do this on purpose. it is quite hard to believe you would cut food assistance and cut health care and cut help for regular working people in order to shovel money to people making more than $4 million a year. but that is exactly what they're doing. it is as if they designed this bill in a lab to make the maximum number of people angry. it's unpopular. it is unnecessary. and they're doing it anyway. hospitals serving rural and low-income communities will be forced to shutter because they

wouldn't be adequately compensated for their services. by the way, again, not a talking point. go and visit any rural clinic or hospital. ask them what percentage of their pair mix comes from medicaid and what would happen if they lost a big chunk of that. a lot of them say, the big ones, in the state of hawaii, our big institutions say we can stay afloat. we'll just have to deliver a lot less care and everybody would end up in the e.r., right? the queens center, the number one center in honolulu is already bursting at the seams. you have multiple people in the hallways. all of the rooms, all of the beds are taken. it was just a couple of months ago they finally figured out a way not to release the psychiatric emergencies right on to punchbowl avenue in their hospital gowns. that's before they do this so the hospitals. -- to the hospitals.

after the aca passed, you go on the exchange, select a plan, and pay a fraction of would you used to way. i think one of the things is that the obamacare is now so old that people forgot how horrible it was before then. really horrible. so now you just go on and you're kind of irritated because it's still money and still feels like too much and still feels like your hmo or provider kind of nitpicks you and don't cover a bunch of care and the copays are too high but it is way, way, way better than it used to be. so this whole enterprise is for one single purpose, and that is to generate enough money to cut taxes for will their -- for billionaire corporations and people who make $4 million or more in revenue. it's very, very few people benefiting and tens of millions of people being screwed. there's little in this bill that will help regular people who are

already struggling to meet their monthly obligations, but there are plenty of rewards for the ultrawealthy. millionaires stand to gain roughly $70,000 in tax cuts while billionaires in the top 1% will see close to $300,000 in benefits. and how do they find that money to shovel to the millionaires and billionaires? i don't mind a millionaire or billionaire. i know like two billionaires, not close but i've like met them. i'm sure i know many millionaires. there are a number of colleagues in the senate who are in that category. it's not like -- i'm not trying to demonize anybody. i'm saying do they need $3 million? i know people who need $300,000. i know people who actually won't be able to stay on any health care at all if these subsidies go away. this is not the closing of loopholes. this is not fiscal discipline. and i want to make this point as clearly as i can.

we would be in a harder position to argue against this bill if it were actually deficit neutral. right? because traditionally the accusation against democrats is they want to bust the budget and republicans want to be responsible. but this one's weird because this is like under the guys of -- guise of got to do austerity, got to do tough stuff, we've got to cut. then they come up with a bill that actually increases the deficit over baseline even when they do their nonsensical accounting where they basically have stopped counting the tax cuts that are in place because oh, no, that's the baseline. so the whole enterprise -- everybody needs to understand this. they are making everything more expensive. that is food, that is medicine, that is groceries, that is gasoline, that is electricity. and the reason they're making it more expensive is because they are either indifferent to the suffering or more importantly, they just need the money.

and they don't need the money to -- you know, we've raised taxes in the past in the country to fight a are would, right? to beat naziism or we've raised taxes in the past to shrink the deficit or we've raised taxes and raised costs for people to invest in something important. that's not what we're doing here. we are blowing up the budget, and we are harming regular people in order to provide tax cuts for people who literally didn't ask for t. -- didn't ask for it. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i'm here to ask unanimous consent on a very simple measure to make sure that the data systems of social security were not compromised, that no data was infiltrated or bugs

infiltrated and no back doors were left open when elon musk went into social security. i'm talk more about this afterwards but the chairman of the finance committee has elsewhere to be. so i will speak after i've offered this. and he's responded. so i will go directly to my unanimous consent request which is as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule 22, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of my bill, s. 1943 introduced earlier today, that the bill be considered read three times and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there an objection? a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for eidaho. mr. crapo: mr. president, i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. crapo: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent because i have

to leave for a meeting right now that my remarks to explain my objection be placed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. crapo: thank you, mr. president. mr. whitehouse: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island mr. whitehouse: so these remarks would ordinarily precede the exchange we just had but as a courtesy to the distinguished chairman of the finance committee, we're going a little bit out of order. so i will now fill in the statement that i would have made. senator crapo is obviously well aware of my concerns here. as i said at the very beginning, we have reason to believe that elon musk and his little gang of frat boy, tech bro miscreants, call them the muskrats, the doggie boys, whatever you want, that they went into social security with bad intent.

the cover that they went in under was they were going to look for waste, fraud, and abuse. but i think we know that the waste, fraud, and abuse veil in which the doggie boys wrapped themselves was a fake. because if you were actually concerned about waste, fraud, and abuse, you wouldn't fire all the inspectors general. you'd actually probably try to recruit the inspectors general into your so-called government efficiency effort. because what inspectors general do all day is actually look for waste, fraud, and abuse. and you can go through their files and say here, what are the biggest areas we should be paying attention to? and you would work with the inspectors general. instead they were fired. that whole apparatus to actually seek waste, fraud, and abuse was said aside. and in came the doggie boys, a little bit like in cat in the hat, thing one and thing two

except there were a hundred more of them running around doing considerable damage to government agencies and government systems. and two very significant -- and to a very significant extent, doing damage to government agencies and systems was the point. this was not the bug. this was the feature. they went in to try to reck stuff. and it became tinkly -- particularly dangerous around social security. because first of all, there was a propaganda campaign to talk down social security, to pretend falsely that it was riddled with fraud. that took place including right over on the house floor when the president came to speak to congress and repeatedly lied about social security fraud. then you had the infiltration of people who were from tech bro world and private equity world, exactly who would want to take over social security. and then you had people talking

about benefit interruptions like that was an okay thing. well, a benefit interruption would be the excuse to go in and take over social security, to privatize it with tech bros and private equity people. so i think the noise that we made about that headed it off. but there remains the lingering danger that when they got into social security's data systems, they ex-filtrated dit take because data has enor us a value or they -- enormous value or they infiltrated bugs to do damage to the old systems of social security. or, worst of all perhaps, they left backdoors so that elon musk or other folks who were interested in getting access to massive amounts of americans' data can find their way in to social security's data systems secretly. so this is a very simple measure. it asks for an audit of social

security, data systems to make sure that those things did not happen. that really ought to be a bipartisan if not unanimous expression of senate intention, and that's why i hoped that we could generate unanimous consent for it today. with that i yield the floor to the distinguished ranking member of the committee on finance, senator wyden. mr. wyden: i thank my colleague. mr. president, i rise in support of his efforts. he is a valued member of the senate finance committee, and this is a thoughtful approach to bring accountability at social security. the legislation directs the independent nonpartisan government accountability office to conduct a top-to-bottom audit of social security's databases. and in the process determine whether doge left the agency vulnerable to cyberattacks when its agents gained unfetterred

access to agency records. americans want to know whether the doge agents violated federal privacy and intieb security -- cybersecurity laws when they accessed their personal information. now, i've said it once, i'll repeat it against, social security's databases represent the fort knox of americans' personal lives. i see our friend from south dakota here. he is a member of the intelligence committee. we've talked about privacy issues on a number of occasions, and privacy is what the white house legislation is all about. this whole question of the social security databases involves people's bank account numbers, home addresses, work history, salaries, medical records, the list goes on and on. social security understand the direction of the doge appointed acting commissioner let mr. musk and cronies stroll in without raising a finger.

it remains to be seen what's going to happen with mr. musk no longer leading doge and the new commissioner, mr. bisignano, taking the helm at social security. it's clear doge accessed the original records under false pretenses, and they were claiming there was rampant fraud throughout the social security program. as the top democrat on the senate finance committee, i've been demanding evidence from the trump administration for some time now about the existence of all this, quote, fraud. social security has refused to provide me with a single shred of evidence -- the presiding officer: the senator's time expired. mr. wyden: i would ask unanimous consent, mr. president, my friend from social security, for three additional minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: i thank my colleague. social security, as i say, refused to provide me with a shred of evidence, because we already know from the social security watchdog that social security fraud, and colleagues,

this is the relevant number, represents 0.009% of payments. we have known for some time this effort is part of the trump plan to cut americans' social security benefits. i believe in the long-term objective is to privatize the program to be sold off to billionaires and you can weaponize social security to go after groups it wants to target. this effort is also part of what donald trump, mr. musk, and peter thiel made a broad, effort to compile a master list of personal information on each american, pulling from the irs, departments of homeland security, education, and social security. i close by saying, thankfully, federal courts have slowed doge's access to social security records for now, but the fact is there needs to be a comprehensive understanding of the damage and to make sure

americans' data is protected. that's why senator whitehouse's legislation is so important. i urge passage and yield back. rounds rounds round mr. president, i skosh mr. rounds scull i -- mr. rounds sc :i ask we waive the -- the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of james o'neill of california, to be deputy secretary of health and human services, signed by 16 senators. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the mandatory quorum call under rule 22 has been waived. a quorum call is present. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of james o'neill, of california, to be deputy secretary of health and human services shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks.

mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. >> this hearing will come to order. it's 10:00 and as per our disciplined approach, we like to start things on time around here. i know that runs a bit counter

to some of the other activities of the congress but not here. today we welcome testimony from chris rocheleau acting administrator the federal aviation administration. administrator, thank you joining us today as we review the faa's budget request for the coming fiscal year. we've seen air travel rebound since the pandemic with passenger numbers now consistently exceeding pre-pandemic levels across our aviation system. aviation remains a a critical driver of economic growth. commercial aviation contributes more than one trade dollars to our economy and new technologies promise to deliver opportunities while improving the quality of life for all americans. i am particularly excited to see how advancements in the aviation sector provide more opportunities in areas of high growth like the district i represent in northwest arkansas.

rapid growth brings challenges and we seem that very subject in the last few months. we must acknowledge the recent aviation accidents that have renewed scrutiny of our safety systems, tragic crash occurred general trannine at reagan national is still fresh on her mind, a sobering reminder of real-life consequences when multiple parts of our national airspace system falter. incidents like this along with the alaska airlines door plug failure, multiple nemesis in the air and on the ground and a slew of general aviation accidents make it clear our work to strengthen oversight, training and coronation is far from finished. safety must remain our shared unyielding priority. our airspace is becoming more crowded, or complex. the infrastructure we rely on is reaching the industries for life. this committee was take a hard look at how we fund the maintenance and replacement of

and equipment that create the backbone of aviation system. we must work together to ensure all aviation can flourish while maintaining the highest possible standards for safety and efficiency for the millions of passengers who fly every day. your extensive aviation experience will be vital as we navigate these issues together. i know a safe and efficient national airspace system is your number one priority. it is alsots hours. the present request for at the a is 22 billion, vipers and increased above the inactive 25 level, with much of the increase going toward operation of facilities and equipment including our new project list which i'm sure you'll tell us about in your testimony. however, this budget doesn't contemplate the scale of improvement secretary duffy has announced that are necessary. more detailed and information will be required for us to fully

consider this eventual request. we cannot repeat the nextgen boondoggle reloaded program to drag on for decades while technology outpaced its implementation. this committee has asked to consider additional funding for the expectation dfa can complete procurement or deployment through innovative contracts. the faa must do better that did under iija from that bill $2.5 billion for facilities and equipment remains unobligated. as we develop our 26 bill come i intend to work with you, your colleagues at faa and secretary duffy along with the aviation community to ensure we continue to support the safest most complex aviation system in the world. i look forward to our discussion today entered from you about the faa's current pending work. we want to know how you plan to modernize the air traffic system system, address staffing

challenges and encourage safety advancements and innovation. confident we can work together support critical missions, federal aviation administration. i would now like to recognize my good friend and the ranking member from south carolina, mr. clyburn first opening remarks. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. welcome, acting administrator rocheleau. i want to thank you for your service as you assume leadership of the faa and the very difficult circumstances. the purpose of today's hearing is to examine how the faa is using it current resources and proposed fiscal year 2026 funding to advance aviation safety. as chair womack just mentioned, we had an opportunity to discuss with secretary duffy some of the administration's proposed investments to modernize air traffic control system. the discussion cigarette

air-traffic control modernization plan released last month by this administration. while the plan is a great conversation starter, it ignores the realities, of cuts to faa's staff, fair competition, overall costs, and most importantly, how we pay for it. the faa's twinkly six budget request provides increases to back fill our air-traffic controller workforce and sustain faa's aging facilities and technologies, all of which i support. while there are proposed resources set aside for modernizing the faa, i am concern that the committee expense of advance and faa's aviation safety research, engineering, and government programs which are essentially investments to determine the best modernization and safety

solutions for the national airspace system. and though the 2026 budget request proposes hiring up to 2500 new air-traffic controllers, it does not consider challenges of canada's success or retention rates and early retirement among our existing controllers workforce. meanwhile, with the constant shift in tariffs, americas losing the confidence of our partners to deliver and improve air-traffic control system and cost-effective aviation manufacturing. the american businesses include manufacturers and suppliers face uncertainty and increased costs as they are left in the dark. thousands of jobs, many high skilled manufacturing and engineering depend on the

ability of the united states aircraft manufacturers and suppliers to access the global markers on fair and reliable term. this is especially true for manufacturing in my own district and home state of south carolina. the our aviation supply requires certainty from our global partners and the trust we can deliver state-of-the-art transportation and airports. mr. secretary, i strongly support robust investment in aviation but we need to know that the administration's supplemental air-traffic control plan and budget request is backed by action and based on current realities. i remain concerned that we get to see the full potential of existing faa resources being used to address our most

immediate threats brought forward by aging technology and staffing shortfalls at the faa. the chairman, it is our duty on the subcommittee to continue helping the faa modernizer air-traffic controller system and in the year we will need to see more robust investment in faa. my hope is that it does not come at the expense of strengthening safety for other modes of transportation, or keeping our seniors and working families housed. i look for to learning more how we can work together to support the advanced of the faa. i look forward to hearing your testimony, and yield of the of my time. >> thank thank you mr. clyb. we are joined today by the overall chairman of the house appropriations committee, my good friend tom cole. even though you still writing up a bit in pain from a pair of

very difficult losses by the oakland masseuses weekend in baseball and softball, though your gymnastics program is still world-class, and speeded thunder is looking pretty good, , just r fun dress-up at. thank you for joining us to edit recognize you for any comment you have. >> thank you pricks that you brought up an unrelated matter i just want to explain those timid and timely losses by our ou women who have won world series four consecutive times. of course it's hosted in oklahoma city. so we got the team together and said if we win every year, they will just quit coming. so maybe we need to lighten up, some else slip through once and then young ladies, because it's pretty tame, six new stars out of nine and graduate a class that the championship every single year they were in college. so you know going to let texas tech cortexes enjoy one event they will come back. we'll start all over again. but thank you.

i'm awfully proud of those young women. they are amazing. first, thank you, mr. chairman. appreciate chairman womack and thank you ranking member clyburn. welcome administrator thank you for coming before straight d odyssey for decades of public service in uniform and as a career civil servant as well. we appreciate it and in the private sector but you've been around aviation a long time. tunick rattled lot of great things for our country. as we start the fiscal year, mrn providing effective fiscal support to the faa. we know you need resource to ensure the safety of our national airspace come support american manufacturers innovators and invest in infrastructure that includes efficiency and reliability of our aviation system. this subtitle support your your efforts as we develop our fiscal year 2026 budget. this will include addressing some of her aging air-traffic infrastructure which no longer

is a sustainable in its curret form and could become an operational risk. i will reiterate what chairman womack said earlier. our commitment to safety and security will be steadfast and unified. we will begin to do this within the confines of the present budget probably to receive your broader air-traffic control proposal. now as you know air-traffic infrastructure isn't the only challenging aspect of our national airspace system. personnel levels will also systemic concern come in particular the many women who control our skies and trained at the sole faa academy located in oklahoma city. the training provider in oklahoma city is unmatched and i appreciated having beverage and to speak with you several weeks ago about your efforts to improve the completion rate of the talented students who attend the academy. as we discussed the cabin must be successful and to be successful it must be properly resourced with the latest

technology and the best instructors. in fy '24 while i was privileged to be the chairman of the subcommittee i worked to ensure the academy received a a significant increase for air-traffic and technical operations training enhancements to strengthen throughout the air-traffic control system for our trainees. this committee insured that in a final fy '25 appropriation we provided funding to train an additional 2000 air-traffic controllers and understand your budget request for fy '26 contemplates pushing that number potentially to as high as 2500. as we advance the fy '26 appropriation i i look forwaro working with you and the administration and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find critical safety missions and transportation infrastructure needs for the country. with that, let me just add, this is a genuinely bipartisan subcommittee and all of us are in the skies together. we all have friends and family

that are flying. we all are concerned about real safety come concerned about road safety. so i don't find much partisan division you. it's really more about figure out as mr. clyburn said, the ranking member, what's the right thing to do? what an investment we should be making? we rely very heavily under judgment, comes recommendation. one way or another we're going to make investments we need to make. again i don't like to look at what we did in 24 and 25 as cited one-hit wonders. we need assist in process of investment and improvement. it will special number of years. couldn't be prouder to mayors of the subcommittee posts onto the island because of no they got that kind of commitment. i think we're the opportunity in the subcommittee to do something really significant to improve the lives of the american people and the safety of the iraqi people think it's something we can do in a bipartisan fashion.

so we look for tier leadership and your cooperation helping like me to get to where it needs to go. with that, mr. chairman, w back. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i associate myself with your remarks. it is a shared responsibility and we have a lot of work to do to ensure safety of the flying public. mr. rush hello, your full written testimony will be inserted into the record -- mr. rocheleau. the chairman of recognize you for your opening comments before the two questions and answers. >> thank you, sir. chairman cole, chairman womack, ranking member clyburn and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the administration's fiscalun year 2026 budget requet for the federal aviation administration. the faa's mission is to provide the safest most efficient aerospace system in the world. to fulfill this ongoing

responsibility that president's budget invest in the future of the national airspace system, or israel institute, , then asked y requesting $22 billion in the 2026 fiscal year. when coupled with a $5 billion in prison enacted advance annual appropriations, this $27 billion commitment will enable the f8 to fund clinical investment needed to keep pace with industry and enhance the safety and efficiency of our national airspace system. as part of the administration's broader modernization effort to build a state of the art air-traffic control system the faa is requesting a historic $4 $4 billion for our facilities and equipment account to enable the agency to address emerging challenges and technological advancements while preserving the integrity of long-standing capabilities. the budget includes $1 billion

request to accelerate the modernization of the faa's telecommunications infrastructure. the current infrastructure is dependent on outdated technology which is facing discontinuance from service providers and serves as a significant operational risk to nast services. the agency has pivoted to a new initiative to transition rapidly and safely from point to point hardware circuits into a modern internet protocol-based telecommunications network. this new initiative spearheaded by secretary duffy under president trump's leadership will ensure long-standing stability and operational efficiency needed to both support existing operations, future needs, and to meet ever evolving resiliency n requirements. the president budget also requests 450 million total to initiate the radar replacement program, a multi-year effort to

replace the faa's aging radar system. now the faa owns and operates hundreds of radar systems that are essential for detection monitoring tools for air-traffic controllers. these systems are facing more frequent structural deficiencies and maintenance related issues as they get older causing increased outages, delays and risks to the system. the radar replacement program what invest in more advanced radar technology to enhance surveillance capabilities and avoid delays for the flying public. now the faa is in the midst of a multi-year hiring and training surge to ensure we have a level of certified air-traffic controllers needed to meet current and future traffic demands. in february secretary duffy announced our plan to increase recruitment of the best and the brightest air-traffic controllers by streamlining the hiring steps and increasing the starting salary for academy

trainees by 30%. this budget request includes $97.3 million to further supercharge the controller workforce and train up to 2500 new air-traffic controllers in fy 2026. to achieve this goal the faa is filling every seat at the academy, , bolstering the enhane their traffic collegiate training initiative, and offering more opportunities for experienced military controllers to join our workforce. by addressing the ongoing air-traffic controller shortage through this multi-pronged approach, the faa is working to bring staffing levels and increase the safety of the nast. members of the committee, every day the f8 manages more than 45,000 flights that connect almost 20,000 u.s. airports. i appreciate the president of the secretaries strong support as i proudly lead the proudly leave the dedicated men and women of the faa. this budget requests upholds our commitment to maintain the

safest airspace in the world by investing in our nation's infrastructure and our workforce to meet the challenges of tomorrow here we look forward to your support in ensuring the united states remain a global leader in aviation. i thank you for the opportunity to beer today and is afforded to your questions. >> thank you very much. as i said, your full written testimony will be included into the record and we will now begin questions and answers. we will again enforce a five-minute rule so members are advised to get as quickly questions as you possibly can so that you can maximize the amount of time we have available. i want to recognize myself for five minutes. the house and senate provided about $3.6 billion in our fy '21 bills. they never got across the finish line, so the cr that we are currently under froze this level

at 3.2 billion, i think another reason why we should not be living on continuing resolutions, we lose ground. i have a question about sustainability versus modernization. unfortunately, you can't do one exclusively. secretary duffy has outlined his plans for modernization, but you still have to operate a system that you currently have. how does it work? and how difficult will be for us to achieve the overall goals of modernization while at the same time providing the sustainable safety systems that we currently have in place? and how the faa is best equipped to do that? >> thank you, sir, for the

question. our budget request in fact, incorporates the needs to continue to sustain what we have in place today. but clearly we have seen evidence where the equipment today is, as i stated in my testimony, starting to degrade and our operability, and our ability to operate the system. and we see outages and delays associated with that equipment. i am confident in our ability to maintain the system. in fact, i would share with you all that we had a record-breaking memorial day weekend with respect to our ability to manage safely the operations in the national airspace system. at the same time it is imperative we invest in the future of our air-traffic system. we are spending over 90% of our funding right now just on maintaining sometimes and aiding the equipment we have picked so the secretaries bold vision

obviously under the president's direction is to make sure we're able to build a new air-traffic system to put in place to manage what we did it with today and the increase in traffic safely there and at the same time anticipate the needs we need going forward as we think about things like strong integration at the like. the budget were proposing today, in fact, sustained the operation operations map and at the same time enables our success in the future as we think about the new systems we need to come online. >> you making the $4 billion that the new request for equipment. how much of that is strictly sustainability versus how much of that is going to go toward the overall cost associated with full modernization? >> you referenced earlier the project lift. $1 billion of our request is going to go directly to advancing in an expedited

fashion that transition from what we call copper wire or tdm to an internet-based or ipa vipr optic transition period known od able to resiliency efficiency of the system and the ability to make sure as we increase operations that will be able to do that in a consistent manner. without the outages and the struggles we've been facing as we've seen in the news recently. >> given your time at the faa, going all the way back to nearly the turn of the millennia when we started this nextgen project, and we spent billions of dollars on nextgen, how would you grade and you for to my testimony or in my opening remarks about the fact we've got bogged down and the speed of technology was not matching the speed of our ability to improve. how would you grade, if you are getting a letter grade to the nextgen project, how would you grade at? how much of that $14 billion

that we spent on nextgen was, could have been better spent? put it that whisper i would agree with that premise that they could have been better spent. as i think about the advancements, and today we do have systems in place that nextgen generated with respect things like david texting between files, the controlled and the ponds. some of those capabilities came online. at the same time let's recognize that for a variety of reasons, that was not, that vision was not fully realize which is why ipv to what we're trying to do now with this new and bold plan. when the think about the future, when we think about what we are sustained today and where we need to go with respect to new technology, safety technologies and efficiency technologies, this is what we're looking for as a as a think about this to air-traffic modernization plan. >> you didn't give it a letter

grade. but can i assume that you are not advocating that it be on the honorable? >> yes, sir. i can agree to that. [laughing] >> fair enough. mr. clyburn. [inaudible] >> -- relatively small state but in my congressional district you were going fine air force base, ninth army, or ninth air force and the third army. military, we have marine air station. columbia airport, the charleston international airport, all of those air-traffic controllers have been in to visit with me. about the challenges that they have trying to maintain safety with the way things are

currently organized or being implemented. and they are really concerned about the shortages, the resignations, the problem we have getting trained,, air-traffic control up to snuff. how do you plan to do more with less? >> well, i would start by saying i believe the faa can be a more efficient organization. i think that is the charge to me by the secretary and i believe we can accomplish that goal. we have an amazing, amazing work force that comes to work everyday as a mention during the memorial day holiday, just one example of that. to the center of your question, what we are taught what is the ability to continue to sustain what we have today and at the same time accelerate whether

it's on the controller workforce, and by the way such as the controller workforce. we're also target maintainers come state inspectors, engineers, all of the people who go intohu our ecosystem to make sure there's a safe and efficient transportation system. while overlooking of the workforce piece of it we also look at modernizing the equipment that is essential to what your constituents are talking about with respect to safe and efficient is based in the system. i think we're approaching it from multipronged approach. part of it has to do with the workforce and begin supercharging the controllers is so critical to our ability to manage traffic with today and look at what we expect to see in the future. >> looking at your plan i'm still trying to figure out the budget numbers. and the amount of money being requested to do this. seem not to light up with the

amount of work as you probably do, especially in keeping with all of the other lack of numbers coming into the system. and i'm not seeing what i consider to be a definitive plan on how you're going to increase the number of air-traffic controllers. i forgot the number, some ungodly number in terms of the shortages that we currently have. >> yes, sir. so this year we are projecting to need 2000th air-traffic controllers to our system. just a few months ago we realized we may not hit that thanks to the secretary and his leadership with supercharged basso we will get 2000 people into the united states academy, which by the way chairman corker is a gym for us when we think about what we're talking about there in oklahoma city and the ability to put controllers to the system.

as relates to the technology plan, again the million dollars to make sure resiliency in the vipr 46. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of health and human services, james o'neill of california to be deputy secretary. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate >> the senate is in recess. to be members voted to limit debate on this michelle obama three the federal reserve vice chair for super dash and edward walsh to be ambassador. a confirmation vote will be held later today at 6 p.m. eastern. senators voted to limit debate james o'neill toe deputy secretary of health and human services. off the floor work continues on the republican tax and spending

cuts bill. president trump h said he would like the billassed by the july 4 holiday. you can watch more live coverage when members return here on c-span2. >> mr. president there's no doubt about it this is day is a sort in many ways. the proceedings of the united states senate are being broadcast to the nation on television for the first time. >> this week we mark the 39th anniversary of the u.s. senate first live television broadcast on c-span2. join us as senators take to the fort reflect on this landmark moment in american democracy. >> thanks to c-span2, this public service allows our constituents to see the swearing in of newly elected members watching all my sessions during vote-a-ramas, and to and in to history being made. >> that's what on its 39th

birthday senator grassley and i wanted to highlight how important it is for all television providers, including major streaming services like youtube tv owned by google and hulu plus live tv owned by disney to provide the american public with c-span at the opportunity to see their government work on the senate floor. >> c-span does not receive one penny of taxpayer dollars. it's funded primarily from satellite and cable providers. >> we are had a different stage of history and a lot of people are seeing the news this way so we need to expand it and make sure we're on all of those platforms as well as the ones we already are on. so thank you again to senator grassley for working with me to highlight c-span's critical role, , and thanks to everyone o has had a hand in c-span.

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