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'Nothing More Than A Big Fat Grift': Chuck Schumer Delivers Scathing Diatribe Against GOP's Budget
Forbes Breaking News
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5/14/2025
During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about cuts to clean energy in the Republicans' budget reconciliation bill.
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00:00
There's really nothing, nothing to celebrate about Republicans, quote, big, beautiful bill, unless you're a billionaire or an oil company.
00:10
But for everyone else, this so-called big, beautiful bill is, in fact, nothing more than a big, fat grift.
00:19
Taking money away from people, raising costs on average Americans, all to help the billionaires.
00:28
And today I want to talk about how Republicans' big grift is an assault on America's clean energy,
00:36
the bill that was just released by the Energy and Commerce Committee, or at least that part of it.
00:42
Now, Donald Trump and Republicans claim to want America, to want American energy dominance.
00:49
But from the moment he became president, they've been hell-bent on killing the clean energy investments
00:55
America needs to meet the energy needs of tomorrow.
00:59
They say they want more energy, and then they cut off the cheapest, quickest, most available form of energy
01:05
for ideological and grift reasons.
01:10
In a moment, I'll talk about the awful Republican bill that just came out of committee.
01:15
But first, I want to talk about a specific project.
01:21
Donald Trump's clean energy vendetta is wreaking particular havoc on New York's offshore wind industry.
01:36
And it's a warning, a warning to the rest of America how he will deal with clean energy projects.
01:42
What's happened here is utterly despicable, amazing, and awful.
01:48
A few weeks ago, the Trump administration suddenly and without explanation issued a stop work order
01:55
on New York's Empire Wind Farm, a $7 billion project already underway by the company Equinor.
02:03
This is not some project in the planning stages.
02:06
No, no, no.
02:06
This was approved years ago.
02:10
$3, $4 billion has been put into developing the offshore windmills that will provide energy
02:16
for hundreds of thousands of homes, clean energy, cheap energy.
02:20
And all of a sudden, out of the clear blue, the Secretary of Interior says,
02:29
you must stop the project because the environmental statement, the environmental impact statement was rushed.
02:37
The company asks why.
02:39
And the Interior Secretary says, well, there's a report that NOAA has issued,
02:45
that's in the Commerce Department, that says it, that says this was rushed and inadequate
02:53
in terms of the environmental impact.
02:56
So the company asked, I have asked repeatedly, for the Commerce Department to show us what the reasoning is,
03:08
which we think there's none, to show us the specifics of why they halted this project out of the clear blue,
03:17
a project employing hundreds and hundreds, thousands of people,
03:21
a project where there are boats, I think, close to 50 of them, right offshore,
03:27
actually building these offshore wind turbines.
03:34
Now it's stopped.
03:35
But there is no explanation.
03:37
This is like a dictatorship.
03:39
No due process, no explanation.
03:43
Out of the blue, just as billions have already been spent
03:47
and just as construction is underway off the coast,
03:52
just as 30% of the project is built,
03:57
Donald Trump and Howard Lutnick say halt.
04:02
It's outrageous.
04:04
Give us a reason, says the company.
04:06
We've invested billions here in America.
04:09
They're a Norwegian company, one of the largest offshore wind companies in the world.
04:13
They're well-qualified, they're well-known, they have a good history.
04:19
Give us a reason.
04:21
Show us what's wrong with the approval previously, two, three years ago,
04:26
of the environmental statement.
04:31
And there's silence.
04:33
No answer.
04:35
No reason.
04:37
And the project is now on hold.
04:40
All the boats are out there.
04:41
The workers are out there.
04:44
No explanation has been given.
04:46
Nor has Equinor been given any opportunity to discuss and address potential problems.
04:53
This is not how businesses operate.
04:58
Our friends on the other side like to talk about running government more like a business.
05:01
Well, this is just outrageous.
05:04
And every week that empire wind sits idle, it costs $50 million.
05:10
So now the project may die altogether.
05:15
Why?
05:16
We know why.
05:18
Donald Trump hates offshore wind.
05:21
He hates offshore wind
05:23
because supposedly years ago they built a wind farm off the coast of his Scotland golf course.
05:31
He fought to kill it.
05:33
He lost.
05:33
So now he's taking it out on all offshore wind to the detriment of the American energy needs.
05:41
In a way, that is like, it's like a dictatorship.
05:49
Stop, they say.
05:51
We're not giving you a reason.
05:52
It's outrageous.
05:58
It's malicious and intentional sabotage.
06:01
It's an outright attack on New York jobs, on New York workers.
06:07
And it's happening for no other reason than partisan ideology and political sociopathy.
06:15
Partisan ideology because the right-wing oil and gas barons hate clean energy,
06:28
even though it's the cheapest way to reduce our energy needs.
06:34
And political sociopathy because Donald Trump hates offshore wind
06:38
because he didn't like windmills off his golf course in Scotland.
06:44
The Trump administration must at least give an explanation
06:51
so the company can answer why they should continue with the project.
06:57
I call on Secretary Lutnik to immediately release
07:00
the National Oceanianic and Atmospheric Administration report
07:06
that was used as justification to halt work on the Empire Wind project.
07:12
New Yorkers, Americans, the company which invests heavily in America
07:16
deserve to know why halt this project.
07:19
What's the deal?
07:20
What's the justification and what's the plan to get the jobs back on track?
07:25
These are good jobs, good-paying jobs.
07:29
If everything's on the level,
07:32
the administration should not fear being transparent with Equinor.
07:37
What's the answer?
07:38
How can they shut the project down and give no explanation?
07:42
We've called the Secretary of Interior.
07:45
He says it's up to Lutnik and NOAA,
07:47
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
07:51
They're the ones who say that this was approved too quickly,
07:59
even though it's been working with no problems for years.
08:03
The work is ongoing and the construction is ongoing.
08:07
And by the way, to everyone investing in America,
08:14
whether you're an American company or not,
08:16
this should be a shot across the bow,
08:18
a warning of what this administration can do.
08:21
out of the clear blue, just say stop.
08:25
No explanation, no reason, no ands, ifs, or buts.
08:30
Our business community should be outraged about how this business is being treated.
08:34
Not just the energy business, they can do this anywhere.
08:42
We need answers, and at the very minimum,
08:46
the explanation is why they ordered this project stopped,
08:49
which I imagine is very flimsy,
08:51
and came from Donald Trump's sociopathy,
08:55
because he hates offshore wind,
08:57
because of what they did,
08:58
he didn't like those windmills,
08:59
off the golf course in Scotland.
09:01
It's well known, that's why he hates offshore wind.
09:05
So what happened with Equinor is just a disgusting travesty
09:10
that must be reversed.
09:14
It is so, so outrageously unfair,
09:21
malicious, and counterproductive for America's energy needs.
09:25
Now, let me talk to the broader issue,
09:32
the Republican bill that just came out of committee on the House side.
09:37
What's happening with Equinor is frankly part of a larger pattern
09:40
of clean energy destruction,
09:43
clean energy destruction from Donald Trump and Republicans.
09:48
Before our very eyes,
09:50
Republicans want to kill American clean energy in its tracks.
09:55
They want to use their so-called One Big Beautiful Bill
09:58
to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act.
10:02
Most of all,
10:04
they want to cut taxes for the ultra-rich and big corporations
10:07
and make Americans pay for it
10:09
with higher energy costs
10:11
by rendering unusable
10:15
the wind and solar tax breaks
10:22
that were put into the legislation in the IRA.
10:27
And what do American people need to know?
10:29
Republicans are raising taxes on Americans' electricity.
10:34
One independent study,
10:36
it's raising costs on Americans' electricity as well.
10:40
One independent study
10:42
shows families and businesses
10:45
will see their electricity bills go up by 10% as soon as next year.
10:49
Hear that, America?
10:50
This ideological craziness
10:52
that we shouldn't have wind and solar.
10:56
Some people don't think, you know,
10:57
there are some, I guess,
10:58
who feel we shouldn't have coal, oil, and natural gas.
11:04
But actually,
11:05
if we're going to meet America's energy needs,
11:08
we need clean energy.
11:09
It's the only way to go,
11:11
even if you're for natural gas
11:16
and oil
11:17
to be used,
11:20
even though those are far less now efficient
11:22
and productive
11:23
than solar and wind energy.
11:25
But to do this,
11:28
to meet the ideological thirst
11:31
to shut this process down,
11:35
to shut clean energy down,
11:37
they're going to raise your electric bills,
11:39
Mr. and Mrs. America,
11:41
all Americans,
11:43
as much as 10% by next year.
11:46
States like Kansas,
11:50
Missouri,
11:50
and South Carolina
11:51
could see prices rise by 15%.
11:54
Wyoming,
11:55
I saw my friend
11:56
from Wyoming in the back there,
12:00
could see nearly a 30% increase
12:02
in energy costs,
12:04
hundreds of dollars a year extra
12:06
for families and businesses,
12:08
for a family or small business
12:10
already dealing with inflation in a trade war.
12:12
An extra 10% in costs
12:14
could mean the difference
12:16
between staying open
12:17
and shutting down.
12:19
If Republicans repeal the IRA,
12:21
a generation
12:22
of American manufacturing jobs
12:24
will also be an immediate risk,
12:26
most of them in red states,
12:28
although they'll be in red states
12:29
and blue states alike.
12:30
The IRA has already spurred
12:33
more than $270 billion
12:35
in clean energy investment.
12:38
And that's in addition
12:39
to the $100 billion
12:40
in domestic manufacturing
12:42
to build these projects
12:43
right here at home.
12:44
All of this will be shut down
12:46
if the House Republican bill
12:49
passes the House
12:50
and passes the Senate
12:51
and is signed into law.
12:55
Here's something
12:56
for my Republican colleagues
12:57
to think about.
12:58
Nine of the 10
13:00
top congressional districts
13:02
receiving manufacturing investment
13:04
from the IRA
13:05
are Republican districts.
13:07
Those investments
13:08
are over $5 billion each.
13:11
For a party
13:12
that claims to be pro-business,
13:14
what they're doing with Equinor
13:16
is so anti-business
13:17
and so disruptive
13:18
of business decision-making.
13:21
And what they're doing here
13:22
is just the same.
13:26
Just the same.
13:27
The restrictions
13:30
they put in the bill
13:31
are such
13:31
that if a project,
13:33
as I understand it,
13:34
if a project is not completed
13:35
by 2028,
13:36
it loses all its credits.
13:39
Which means
13:40
project after project
13:42
after project,
13:44
clean energy projects
13:45
for wind and solar
13:46
and others
13:47
will be shut down.
13:49
So I have a message
13:50
to the House Republicans
13:51
in the Ways and Means Committee
13:52
who just passed the bill
13:53
on a strict party line vote.
13:55
To approve these cuts
13:58
is to approve
13:58
a death sentence
13:59
for energy
14:01
and manufacturing jobs
14:02
for your communities.
14:04
These investments
14:05
include a $700 million
14:06
battery manufacturing plant
14:08
in Fort Worth, Texas,
14:10
the more than $5 billion
14:11
in battery manufacturing
14:13
at new and existing facilities
14:15
in Fayette County, Ohio,
14:17
or multiple solar manufacturing facilities
14:20
in the Phoenix metro area
14:21
of Arizona.
14:22
And mark my words,
14:25
if Republicans gut the IRA,
14:27
it would be a gift
14:27
to the Chinese Communist Party.
14:31
Jobs that should belong in America
14:33
will go to cities
14:34
like Chengdu, China.
14:36
Because China's not cutting back
14:37
on clean energy.
14:39
No way.
14:40
They're going to get way ahead of us
14:42
on this industry
14:44
like they did on electric cars.
14:45
And Americans will pay the price
14:47
in higher energy costs,
14:50
in fewer jobs,
14:56
and in losing the leadership
14:58
on another industry to China.
15:01
But this one didn't have to happen.
15:03
The RA did a great job
15:04
at getting America moving
15:05
and ahead of China.
15:07
And now they're taking it away.
15:08
So putting it all together,
15:12
the Republican bill,
15:13
what does it mean
15:13
for the middle class?
15:14
Higher electricity bills,
15:16
hundreds of thousands
15:17
of good-paying jobs
15:18
erased around the country,
15:20
rising insurance premiums,
15:22
particularly on states
15:24
by the water,
15:26
Florida, Texas, Mississippi,
15:29
South Carolina,
15:30
their insurance premiums
15:31
are going up now
15:32
because we don't have
15:36
enough clean energy
15:36
and there's too much
15:37
climate change
15:39
with tornadoes
15:40
and hurricanes
15:41
and floods
15:41
and, Lord, what else?
15:43
And so insurers,
15:44
they don't want to insure anymore.
15:47
They want to insure
15:48
at such high prices
15:49
that people can't sell
15:50
their homes
15:50
in those states
15:53
and across the country.
15:54
And people,
15:55
young people,
15:55
who want to buy a home
15:56
can't because the insurance
15:57
is too high.
15:59
And it's too high
16:00
because we don't have
16:02
enough clean energy
16:03
and they're cutting it off.
16:06
So these are all
16:07
terrible prices to pay
16:09
just to lower taxes
16:10
for the ultra-rich,
16:12
just to satisfy
16:13
the ideological thirst
16:15
of oil and gas
16:17
and coal barons
16:18
who hate clean energy
16:19
because they know
16:20
it's the future
16:20
and they know
16:21
they are not the future.
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