During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) accused Senate Republicans' of trying to bypass the Senate Parliamentarian in order to pass their tax breaks.
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NewsTranscript
00:00on the move by Republicans to go nuclear.
00:09America's in crisis. We know that. We can feel it.
00:14This week, the crisis seeps even more deeply into the halls of the United States Senate
00:20by what the Republicans are trying to do.
00:23Senate Republicans are so hell-bent on cutting taxes for billionaires,
00:29they're now willing to detonate the rules of the Senate,
00:33violate norms and traditions, and break their word.
00:38Break their word to get it done.
00:43Republicans are doing something they said they'd never do.
00:48They're about to go nuclear.
00:51Republicans know their so-called current policy baseline gimmick won't likely fly.
00:56It's hocus-pocus.
00:58Even right-wing Republican Chip Roy called it fairy dust.
01:03So now they're getting ready to decide for themselves
01:06which rules of the Senate to follow and which rules to ignore.
01:09They know that this is so fallacious, so ridiculous,
01:12and was ruled against them by the parliamentarian when Trump was president the first time
01:19that they decide they're going to break the rules, the norms, their word,
01:24because they're so frenetic, frothing at the mouth almost,
01:30to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies.
01:35It's a low day for the Senate.
01:38By ignoring the parliamentarian, Republicans are going nuclear.
01:43They're trampling all over rules that have governed the Senate for decades
01:47in order to give massive tax cuts for their billionaire friends.
01:50Whatever happened to those promises we heard from Republicans, including the Republican leader,
01:55that they wouldn't touch the Senate rules?
01:58Not three months ago, Leader Thune stood right here on the floor
02:02in his first address as Republican leader and said,
02:05quote, one of my priorities as leader will be to ensure the Senate stays the Senate.
02:10Well, that sure isn't happening right now.
02:13In the past, he has indicated repeatedly, Senator Thune has,
02:18that he would not topple the 60-vote threshold they're now seeking to undo.
02:23So I guess when it comes to cutting taxes for billionaires,
02:27suddenly Republicans don't care much about the Senate rules at all
02:31and don't care about breaking their word, what they promised they would do when they came in.
02:35But frankly, this isn't justified about Senate procedure.
02:39This is much bigger.
02:41This is about Republicans being afraid to tell Americans the truth behind their agenda.
02:48Republicans know that if they make Donald's tax cuts permanent
02:53through this current policy baseline,
02:56they will add $37 trillion to the debt in the next 30 years.
03:02$37 trillion.
03:05About as much as the total debt we've accumulated over the last 240-some-odd years in this republic.
03:12Amazing. Horrible. With horrible consequences.
03:17Our children will be saddled with soaring interest rates and a crippled economy.
03:22The ultra-rich will become even wealthier.
03:25And Americans who live paycheck to paycheck will suffer more.
03:29Republicans know their agenda is deeply unpopular with the American people.
03:34Donald Trump knows it too. That's why he sends out all these smokescreens every day
03:38to try and divert our attention.
03:40Greenland, Panama, Gulf of America.
03:44He knows it. They all know it.
03:47They're just too afraid to have the debate.
03:50They won't come here on the floor and say the vast majority of their tax cuts are for the wealthiest of America.
03:57They won't dare say it. But it's true.
04:00That's who the Republican paymasters, these rich billionaires who want their taxes cut,
04:07that's what they want and that's what they're doing.
04:11They're afraid to admit they're taking away Medicaid from millions of Americans.
04:1670 million Americans benefit from Medicaid.
04:22So instead they go nuclear in a self-serving effort to hide the truth,
04:29use phony accounting, fake math, which will hurt us.
04:35They're increasing the deficit by a lot no matter what paper they try to slide before us.
04:42They try to hide the cost of their billionaire tax cuts.
04:46It's not going to work.
04:48As in Wisconsin, across America, the American people will see right through it.