00:00Republicans are in complete disarray, they're at each other's throats, and the American
00:08people are suffering for it.
00:10Republicans are divided over things that Americans don't want, but Democrats are united around
00:17things that the people do want, for us to lower their costs, reign in the chaos, fight
00:24the corruption that is endemic to this administration.
00:28Republicans have tied themselves up in knots and torn each other to shreds over Trump's
00:34brazenly corrupt slush fund for his billionaire cronies and January 6th insurrectionists.
00:41They have soiled their reputation by fighting to fund Trump's billion dollar ballroom at
00:47taxpayer expense.
00:48And all the while, Republicans haven't lifted a finger to lower Americans' costs.
00:56Trapped in a corner by their own president, Republicans have their backs to the wall with
01:02no way out, nowhere to hide, no end in sight.
01:07The only way for Republicans to get out of this box is to stop backing the slush fund,
01:13stop pushing the ballroom, and as soon as we get back, join Democrats in fighting to lower
01:21Americans' costs on health care, on housing, on power, on child care, and on so much else,
01:30and to join us in fighting the corruption that Trump just revels in.
01:37Republicans are in retreat, but Democrats are moving full steam ahead to fight Trump's costs,
01:44chaos, corruption.
01:47Senator Durbin.
01:52Is it possible?
01:54Is it possible on May 21st, 2026, the Republicans finally found an ethical bridge too far?
02:02I wonder, could it have been that golden ballroom for a billion bucks that was supposed to be
02:07freebie that Mar-a-Lago golf buddies were going to pitch in for?
02:12Or perhaps it was this incredible slush fund?
02:15I don't know quite what to call it.
02:17It was a Capitol Police cop-beaters relief fund so that those who were convicted of assaulting
02:25the Capitol in their violent attacks will get a special premium payment by this slush fund?
02:31Maybe that was the bridge too far.
02:33I'm not sure we'll ever find out.
02:35This much we know.
02:37When the Republicans return home this weekend, as we do, they're going to find that the American
02:42people are sick and tired of this baloney.
02:44They want to get down to basics.
02:46Gasoline at $5.49 a gallon in Chicago, that's what it was when I left.
02:52Grocery prices up, utility prices up, rent prices up, and nothing from the Republicans and
02:57nothing from Trump to help these families.
02:59That's the real message of today.
03:03Senator Merkley.
03:07This battle over the reconciliation bill is all about costs, chaos, and corruption.
03:13Costs.
03:14$70 billion and not a penny going to healthcare, housing, education, helping people with the
03:23price of gas at the pump.
03:24Nothing that American families are suffering from.
03:28$70 billion.
03:32And let's talk about, well, let's talk about chaos.
03:37Not a single common sense reform for ICE or CBP who have been acting like secret police terrorizing
03:45communities across this country.
03:47And then corruption.
03:51Well, certainly the billion dollars for a ballroom boondoggle worthy of Louis XIV but totally inappropriate
04:02in a democratic republic.
04:04That's certainly corruption.
04:06That's a good question.
04:08But this settlement in which Trump sues his own administration and his former defense lawyer
04:17serving as acting attorney general proceeds to say, I know what, I'll give you $1.8 billion
04:25to hand out to whomever you want.
04:29I mean, that is really a world record in self-dealing.
04:34Think about any other country in the world where you've read about corruption.
04:38Have you read about a president giving himself $1.8 billion to hand out to his friends?
04:43I mean, all of this finally appears to be too much for our colleagues across the aisle.
04:50We are hoping that they will join us in tackling the issues that families face across this country,
04:58join us in tackling the misbehavior of ICE and CBP,
05:02and join us in taking on this profound level of corruption
05:07that is known no equal in our entire two centuries plus of history
05:11and probably no equal anywhere in the world.
05:16Senator Johnson.
05:23Jeff's got a plane.
05:27People are really struggling out there.
05:30They can't afford their health care.
05:32They can't afford their utility bills.
05:34They can't afford to fill their gas tank.
05:36They can't afford their mortgage.
05:38They can't afford their rent.
05:40And you would think that if the political party in charge has basically two golden tickets
05:47to pass major legislation through this process,
05:52that they would prioritize making life more affordable for their constituents,
05:59but instead they want to quadruple the size of ICE,
06:03they want to build a ballroom,
06:05and they want to provide compensation for the people that stormed this capital and beat up cops.
06:13And so don't let anybody tell you there's not enough money in the United States of America.
06:19What they are telling you is that there is enough money for a ballroom.
06:22There is enough money to pay off their friends and violent insurrectionists.
06:27There is enough money to quadruple the size of ICE.
06:32There's enough money to start multiple regime change wars.
06:36What they are telling you is that there's not enough money for you.
06:43Senator Blunt, Rochester.
06:45Thank you, Chuck.
06:48You know, today in this very present moment,
06:53this is actually a victory for the American people.
06:57When we go home to our states, we are hearing from people up and down in Delaware, up and down
07:04the state.
07:05I had a family reach out to us and say that we are no longer able to pay our bills.
07:13We are using a line of credit on our mortgage to pay our bills.
07:20We're not eating.
07:22This woman was 60 years old who wrote to us.
07:25And she said she ended it by saying, I'm a Republican.
07:30Everybody is hurting across this country.
07:33And what this administration is doing is showing us what their priorities are.
07:38Their priorities are a gold plated ballroom.
07:42Their priorities are a new reflecting pool, which we hope is not painted with the face of Donald Trump at
07:51the bottom.
07:53They're showing us that their priorities are building detention centers.
07:59In the 250th anniversary of this country, this is not the direction that we should be going.
08:07People are hurting and this administration is acting as if the American people are their ATM.
08:14And so we stand here today to say we're glad that this happened today, that it was stopped, it was
08:21stalled.
08:22But we know this is not the end.
08:25This is the same group that last year brought you one big, beautiful bill that gave money to ICE and
08:33CBP,
08:34but cut your health care.
08:37And so we're going to continue to fight.
08:40We're going to continue to stand up for the American people.
08:43And as my colleague said, we hope that this is a new day for Republicans in Congress,
08:49that we take our power back because our power stems from the people.
08:55So I just want to thank Chuck for giving us this opportunity.
08:58But just tell the American people to stay tuned.
09:02We know this is not the end of the battle.
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