Senate Democrats hold a press briefing to decry the Republican budget resolution and President Trump's tariffs.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Having a good day?
00:03Oh, just started.
00:04Looking forward to the afternoon.
00:16Just pull it over a little bit.
00:18Can we come together now?
00:22Oh, okay.
00:23All right, thank you for coming, and I'm happy to be joined
00:27by my colleagues, Senators Wyden, Klobuchar, Cortez Masto, and Ben Ray Lujan.
00:33It's great to be here with all of you.
00:35Now, this week, Donald Trump made one of the dumbest decisions he's ever made as president,
00:42and that is saying a whole lot.
00:44Instead of fixing inflation, which he promised to do,
00:48Donald Trump unleashed a wave of tariffs that will make inflation much, much worse.
00:54It is estimated the average American family will pay $5,000 more a year because of these tariffs.
01:03It is believed that these tariffs will hurt our economy and families from one end of America to the other.
01:10Here's what the nonpartisan chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, just said.
01:15It will increase inflation and slow growth.
01:20So, I am introducing an amendment to the Senate budget resolution with Senator Klobuchar and many other Dems
01:28that says that the amendment will make sure that any tariff put in place after January 20th, 2025,
01:40will be rescinded if they have increased the costs of groceries, medicines, or other secondary goods.
01:47We leave in place the tariffs only on China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
01:53Now, Trump promised to lower prices on day one. Remember that?
01:58Well, they've gone way up.
02:00And why is he doing these tariffs?
02:02Why would he do something like this?
02:04Because the Republican Party is in the vice grip of a group of very greedy billionaires.
02:11They have a billionaire bubble.
02:13And they say, yeah, all this money from tariffs could help make our taxes lower.
02:18It's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace.
02:22The amendment that we're doing calls for rescinding Trump's disastrous, chaotic tariffs that are hurting Americans.
02:30Everything's going to go up.
02:32Groceries, medicines, cars, gasoline, furniture, clothing, you name it.
02:39It's going to go up.
02:41Because this is across the board, across the world.
02:45And by the way, businesses hate this.
02:48Not just big businesses, small businesses.
02:51They need certainty.
02:53And when they hear about all these tariffs coming in, they don't hire any new people.
02:59They don't expand any services.
03:02They don't build a new plant.
03:05They say, uh-oh, these tariffs are coming. I've got to keep my money in my pocket.
03:09Increasing the chance of a recession significantly.
03:13The major banks have just increased the chances that we'd have a recession where it's harder to get a job, keep a job, pay the bills, than under more normal circumstances.
03:22So we have here a pincer of pain.
03:24On the one hand, Trump and the Republicans are taking away vital services in health care and in housing and in food and in so many other things Americans need.
03:35And at the same time, on the other side of the pincer, they're squeezing them by creating higher prices.
03:42So, all day long, Democrats are going to come to the floor to expose the sheer destruction of the Republican agenda.
03:51People are learning.
03:53They're learning that the Republicans, that Donald Trump, Musk, Bush, and the Republicans are not on their side.
04:02They're learning that these people are doing things just for the billionaires.
04:09And they are learning that Donald Trump is not only breaking his promise to them, but he's betraying them.
04:16Senator White.
04:18Thank you, Leader.
04:21So, here's where-
04:23Oh, I mentioned, forgot one point. It's one of my favorite ones. I left it out.
04:28The TAGRA tariffs are so poorly planned. Sorry.
04:32The tariffs are so poorly planned that he's taxing penguins, not Putin.
04:38Because the tax is levied on the herd in McDonald Islands, where only penguins live.
04:44But he's leaving Russia alone.
04:46Thank you for that little addition.
04:51So, here's where things are right now.
04:54It's a bloodbath in the markets again today.
04:59And what you have all over the country now is Americans wincing as they look at their retirement accounts.
05:08And people are petrified of getting the calls about their jobs, their own personal finances.
05:15So, they're hurting, but the billionaires, on the other hand, have got an ace in the hole.
05:23And that's their friends in the United States Senate, the Republicans.
05:28So, while the economy is burning thanks to Donald Trump's reckless tariffs,
05:32the bill the Republicans are scrambling to pass is essentially a bailout for them and big corporations.
05:40And he is taking the United States back to economic policy that predates the nightfall.
05:50He's driving up prices across the board.
05:53He did such an incompetent job.
05:56As you heard, we're talking about penguins.
05:59I guess, as a ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, I've got to be ready to maybe protect koala bears.
06:04Who knows what's next?
06:06Donald J. Hoover says he's not going to back down.
06:12And that is bad news for everybody who's counting on a steady paycheck to get by.
06:18But the well-connected billionaires who helped Donald Trump get back in power
06:22are safe in the knowledge that Senate Republicans have got their backs.
06:27The reality is, unless you're way up at the upper end of the income scale,
06:33any benefit you get from this Republican tax bill is going to get blown out of the water
06:38as the Trump tariffs continue to hike inflation.
06:41Trump, meanwhile, is completely out of touch.
06:45And, as you have heard, they don't even really care about the harm they're causing.
06:52Donald Trump said so himself.
06:54He talked about auto manufacturing and said, quote,
06:58I couldn't care less if they raise taxes.
07:01But what's even more striking is yesterday, after the market crash,
07:05Donald Trump was asked about his tariffs and he said,
07:09I think it's going very well.
07:13You walk into a coffee shop in my home state and you said something like that,
07:19that response you would be getting from people would be devastating,
07:24starting with the fact that they would call him a hypocrite
07:28because he said he was going to be concerned about the cost of living
07:31and he's working on practically everything else.
07:34Senator Klobuchar.
07:35Thank you, Senator Schumer.
07:37So, while we debate this Republican budget on the floor,
07:42which clearly gives two-thirds of the benefits to the wealthiest people and big corporations,
07:49at the same time, he's hit us with these tariffs.
07:55And I call these the Trump tariff tax.
07:59That's what this is.
08:01It is a $4,000 tax increase on every single family in this country.
08:08That's the average, $4,000.
08:11So Elon Musk can afford this, right?
08:13He doesn't care.
08:14In fact, he's getting a $50 million benefit from this budget they're putting out there.
08:19That's his tax decrease.
08:21But for families, for small businesses, for small farmers in my state, this is devastating.
08:28They already are operating on a month-to-month budget.
08:31So it's really important to see this in that context,
08:35that the budget and these tariffs at the same time,
08:38the people that are going to most suffer, everyone on TV, Wall Street, they all talk about them.
08:43And I was on shows with some of them.
08:45They're like, and they're right, this is devastating for the street.
08:48They've never seen a market like this.
08:51It's really bad.
08:52But you've got to take it from Wall Street to Main Street.
08:55And what these tariffs do is raise taxes on American families by nearly $4,000 a year.
09:02What do they do with cars?
09:04$3,000 increase for average family to buy a car.
09:08New homes for young people, $20,000 on average for a new home.
09:14It hits everyone in our economy.
09:16But perhaps those that are most scared right now are people who are depending on their savings.
09:21Not in the long term, but immediately.
09:23Seniors depending on their savings.
09:26This might not mean much to Elon Musk, but it means a lot to average families.
09:32It means a lot to the people I met within rural Minnesota on my 14-county tour.
09:36When they would come up, show up at these things, never gone to a political event before,
09:41and say, because of what's happening with Canada now, I've lost a market.
09:45I don't think I can make it anymore.
09:47Our economy is a global economy.
09:51And he is cutting us off from the rest of the world.
09:53Just ask anyone of those 70% of Canadians that have canceled their trip to the U.S.
10:00It's not just manufacturing and farming.
10:02It is also our service industry.
10:06It is people in hospitality.
10:08It's those small cafes.
10:10It's those hotels.
10:11They are all going to suffer.
10:13That is the impact of the tariffs.
10:15And all we need is for our Republican colleagues to stand up.
10:18Four of them stood up when Senator Kaine and Senator Warner and I put forward the amendment
10:25and the resolution involving Canada.
10:28We passed that.
10:29So they need to stand up to all of this.
10:31If they truly believe in capitalism, they need to put their votes where capitalism is.
10:37And that is that competition works.
10:39Our world relationships work.
10:41And Donald Trump is taking us backwards to the Great Depression.
10:48Thank you, Leader Schumer.
10:50I'm pleased to join my colleagues to talk about this.
10:54I think it is important to shine a light for the American public and our businesses.
10:58And what's going on here?
10:59It's very simple.
11:00The fiscal policies of the Trump administration and the Republicans in charge are devastating
11:06American families and our small businesses, impacting negatively our economy.
11:13And I know and I see it in Nevada every day.
11:16And it's not just the tariffs.
11:18And let me get to those.
11:20It is just recently, we got from the JCT, the Senate Republicans, their idea to help
11:27American families and small businesses is to increase the deficit and the debt by $5.5
11:35trillion so they can pass tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy individuals in this country.
11:40$5.5 trillion.
11:42That's not all, though.
11:44They've added another $1.5 trillion to those tax cuts.
11:47So now we're talking $7 trillion to the Senate Republicans.
11:52That's what they've pushed out there to pay for billionaires, give them the benefits,
11:58off the backs of hardworking Americans and our small businesses.
12:02That's exactly what's happening right here.
12:05And they are so bold about it that they're willing to even ignore past practices of the
12:11Senate and come up with some gimmick when it comes to America and say, oh, it's not
12:16really happening.
12:17It is outrageous.
12:19Because at the end of the day, the tariffs and what we are going to be voting against
12:24today, it is actually harming Americans across the country.
12:28I know in Nevada, and I want to talk about that.
12:31Because I see it and I feel it every day.
12:34I get calls from Nevadas.
12:35I'm home with Nevadas.
12:36I'm talking with them.
12:38Let me just add one simple thing here and put it in perspective.
12:42Everybody knows Las Vegas.
12:43If you haven't been there, you're welcome to come.
12:46But everybody knows Las Vegas.
12:48You know that's the main revenue generator for our state, tourism and travel?
12:51Tourism and travel.
12:53You know what happens when you impose high tariffs, reciprocal tariffs on some of our
12:59allies like Canada?
13:00That means we're not seeing people traveling, international traveling, coming to Las Vegas
13:05and to this country.
13:06Do you know the United States, the United States benefits $12 billion from international
13:12travelers?
13:13Over $20 billion annually in 2024.
13:16That's not happening now.
13:19I can tell you in my state, when I talk to folks in my hotels and casinos and I talk
13:25to individuals who are focused on travel and tourism, we are not seeing that.
13:30We are seeing a downturn in the types of travel coming to Las Vegas.
13:35It is having a negative impact, not just directly to those businesses, but indirectly to the
13:41small businesses.
13:42And by the way, Donald Trump may think this is a short-term hurt, but what he doesn't
13:48realize is 90% of American small businesses say trade is an important function for their
13:54growth.
13:55And they have a profit margin that's very slim.
13:58They are not going to be able to survive whatever Donald Trump thinks that this is some short-term
14:04hurt.
14:06Small businesses, which are the backbone of our economy, are getting crushed right now.
14:12I know it because I just heard from my small businesses.
14:14One of them lost a contract with a Canadian contractor.
14:16We're seeing it all the time.
14:18Any of my small businesses that directly or indirectly deal with tourism and travel, they're
14:22getting crushed.
14:23The tariffs, the policies of the Senate Republicans thinking they can add to the deficit and the
14:31to pay for, to help billionaires and the wealthy in this country on the backs of American people
14:38in small businesses, it's just disgusting and outrageous.
14:41What we should be doing and what the Democrats have always been focused on is how do we lower
14:46those household costs for our families?
14:48How do we help those small businesses keep their doors open?
14:52And you don't just have to listen to what we're saying.
14:55Look at our next policies.
14:57Everything that we have worked on has been how to help those families and make sure they
15:03can have a better life, make sure that their opportunities for them in this country still
15:09exist.
15:10So, what we are doing today and will continue to do, and I am proud to stand with my Senate
15:16colleagues, is to shine a light on the failed fiscal policies of this administration and
15:22the Senate Republicans in control that are harming our economy and most importantly,
15:27harming our families and small businesses.
15:30Senator Lujan.
15:31Thanks.
15:33Well, good afternoon everyone.
15:35It's good to be with colleagues today.
15:39Well, we're here bringing a fact-based conversation with the American people about what's coming,
15:52what's been happening.
15:54Prices are getting more and more expensive.
15:57Constituents visit with me when I'm at the grocery store asking, when is Donald Trump
16:03going to keep his promise and lower prices?
16:05If they don't see it, they can see things getting more and more expensive.
16:09During the campaign, Donald Trump spent a little bit of time out in Detroit, Michigan
16:15and told the auto workers that he was going to fight for them, but we are now seeing,
16:20because of the Trump tariffs, more and more auto workers that are being let go.
16:25He doesn't care about them.
16:28And while we're here doing all of this, it's my understanding that Donald Trump's
16:34Now, I don't know if he's playing today or if he's counting for somebody.
16:38I don't know if anyone trusts him to be counting, but that's what he's up to.
16:44When Donald Trump's out there putting the eraser in the scorecard and cheating on his
16:49scores, people across the country are just trying to put a meal on the table, trying
16:53to figure out if they're going to get to eat or not get to eat.
16:56It just shows the disconnect from this president and what we're seeing with these tariffs.
17:01Then you have another billionaire who's in commerce, who somehow is trying to convince
17:06the American people that he gets it.
17:08He says that if his mom doesn't get a social security paycheck, that it's not going to
17:13matter, that the only people that complain are those folks that are up to no good.
17:18Well, he should travel to New Mexico and visit with my constituents, visit with our families.
17:25As soon as they get that check, they may not have a roof over their head, they may
17:28not have a meal.
17:31It's just showing more and more the hypocrisy of what's happening here.
17:34The false promise that this president is going to lower prices when everything is going up
17:38and up and up.
17:41While he's doing that, you also have this administration going after nutrition programs,
17:47food programs, the kind of programs that put a meal on a plate for a student going to school
17:54or for a senior citizen or for someone with a disability.
17:57And then to boot, this president fired all the people that are supposed to deliver the
18:01meals on wheels programs to our seniors, folks that may not even be able to leave their home.
18:06He doesn't care if people are going to go hungry right now because he's making it harder
18:09and harder and harder.
18:11That's what these tariffs are doing.
18:13And then as I close, look, the guise of what's happening today and what's going to be on
18:18the floor here momentarily is under this false narrative from my Republican colleagues
18:25who once professed to be fiscal hawks, care about the economy, care about our debts and
18:30deficits.
18:32They say they want to lower them, but now they came up with this gimmick, which is essentially
18:36a lie to the American people, that these Trump tax scams don't cost a penny anymore.
18:42Five trillion bucks, all of a sudden, poof, gone, zero.
18:46I guess the next thing we're going to hear from my Republican colleagues is the debt
18:49in America is now zero.
18:51No more annual deficits because of their new math.
18:54Let's see how that works for people back home who now have to put something on the credit
18:58card and that bill's coming up, who have a mortgage or rent payment.
19:01Let's see what's going to happen to them.
19:03Do they get to say, nope, I'm using the Republican math and I don't owe a penny anymore.
19:08That's the nonsense that's at play right now.
19:12After all of this, I hope I don't hear one of my Republican colleagues profess fiscal
19:17responsibility because they're about to throw it out the door.
19:20Thank you, Ben.
19:21Great job.
19:22And Ben gave me a good idea.
19:24Maybe we can show Donald Trump that the cost of golf balls is likely to go up under these
19:29tariffs.
19:30Maybe we can learn something.
19:32Questions?
19:33Yes.
19:34So you talked about how your amendment is calling on rescinding the tariffs.
19:38Can you explain the mechanism?
19:40Yes.
19:41Does it end the emergency of the trade deficit?
19:43What does it do?
19:44It basically says tariffs are repealed if the cost of goods goes up based on cumulative
19:51costs of price increases that we know regularly.
19:55It's automatic.
19:56It doesn't need the emergency.
19:57It's just done.
19:58So the CPI, then that comes out the next month.
20:01Correct.
20:02They're gone.
20:03That's correct.
20:04Yes.
20:05The amendment says if costs go up for American families because of tariffs, they'll automatically
20:10be repealed.
20:11It's not because of an emergency or anything else.
20:13We know that costs are going to go up.
20:15And you said it would affect all countries except Russia, Korea.
20:18Is that for column two countries, Russia, Korea?
20:20Correct.
20:21Column two countries.
20:22That's correct.
20:23Yes.
20:24Laura Bloomer took credit for the firing of multiple national security officials, including
20:27top staff directors.
20:29What do you make of the fact that a conspiracy theorist has such access to the president?
20:34Well, I don't blame conspiracy theorists who believes both 9-11 and January 6th were
20:41pre-cooked and pre-arranged.
20:43You know what it's like?
20:46It's like when the inmate run the asylum.
20:49Yes.
20:50Senator Schumer, and feel free to answer this, too.
20:53It's simple for Senator Wyden.
20:55President Trump recently announced an extension on the TikTok deadline.
20:58I was wondering if you all had any reaction to that.
21:02My reaction is very simple.
21:04He knows what trouble he's in with tariffs.
21:06This is what he always does.
21:08He creates a diversion.
21:09All he did is extend the 75 days.
21:11He didn't make a decision one way or the other.
21:14But he is so – he knows the American people are so hostile to what he is doing that he
21:20always looks for a diversion.
21:22Sometimes it's Greenland.
21:23Sometimes it's the Gulf of Mexico.
21:25The diversion today was TikTok.
21:27Do you want to say something?
21:28I would just say he's so desperate.
21:32He's flailing around.
21:34He's just lurching from one thing to another.
21:38I mean, under normal circumstances, when you do something colossally bad, you try to fix
21:45that problem.
21:46I mean, this is somebody who said yesterday after the market crash, and he's asked about
21:52the tariffs, I think it's going very well.
21:56So he is the all-time leader for somebody in politics being out of it.
22:01And I share the leader's view that he's flailing around, looking for a diversion,
22:07and that's where we are.
22:09One other thing where he thinks about the bad news that he confronted this week was
22:16what happened in Wisconsin and what happened in those tightening in those Florida races
22:20and what happened the week before in Pennsylvania.
22:23This is not small ball stuff.
22:25In Wisconsin, 10 counties that went to him before went to Judge Crawford.
22:30In the rural areas, and I was in some of them on Saturday, in the rural areas, there were
22:37counties sort of on the Minnesota border that are pretty conservative that flipped 15, 20
22:43points.
22:44So it's not that hard to make the through line in an election that was very nationalized.
22:49It wasn't about which judge had the best qualification.
22:52I believe Judge Crawford did.
22:54But it was about Elon Musk.
22:56It was about what's happening out there.
22:58And in the rural areas, trust me on this, because I've seen them come out in our rural
23:02areas, it's just about the habit, the chaos, the fact that they have nothing to depend
23:07on anymore.
23:08They are social security dependent, a number of them, but they are also dependent on a
23:13farm economy that works.
23:15And he has done literally everything he could to put that economy that's already difficult
23:21into turmoil with these tariffs.
23:24In rural or suburban counties, the American people are getting wise to him.
23:28Every day, they see how bad he is for them.
23:31Every day, they see how he's broken their promises, and he sees it on the side of the
23:37billionaires, not on them.
23:38Last question.
23:39Senator Schumer, do you and your colleagues plan to call for a senator, Senator Marino?
23:43Look, let me say this.
23:45What Senator Marino did is absolutely despicable.
23:50It's anti-Semitic, plain and simple.
23:53It's outrageous.
23:54I lost lots of people in the Holocaust to Hitler.
23:59And for him to use those words, first, we demand he apologize immediately, but we also
24:05demand that his Republican colleagues start denouncing him on something that is so blatantly
24:10anti-Semitic.