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Dear Fellow Vermonter,
I wanted to take this opportunity to update you about the very serious set of developments which are unfolding in Washington.
Last Friday, I voted against a very dangerous bill that will not only be a disaster for working families, but will undercut the very foundation of our democracy. This bill – known as a continuing resolution – was written in a 100% partisan manner. The only people involved were extreme right-wing Members of the Republican-led House of Representatives. They had no input from anybody but themselves.
With this bill, Congress gave over its own constitutional responsibility to determine how federal funds are spent, deepening President Trump’s efforts to move our country toward a more authoritarian form of society. It undermines the extraordinary wisdom shown by the Founding Fathers who created a government with clear separation of powers between the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch. By handing over Congress’s spending powers to the President, this bill puts a dangerous and utterly unprecedented amount of power into the hands of an unelected few in the White House.
Further, this bill enables Donald Trump and Elon Musk to continue their war against the working families of our country. This bill will make cuts to housing, veterans’ needs, transportation, nutrition, small business and education – among many other areas. Even worse, this legislation – now law – gives Elon Musk and Donald Trump the explicit permission from Congress to move forward with their plans to eviscerate successful and important programs that benefit working families.
Above and beyond this legislation I am extremely concerned about the Trump-Musk assault on Social Security which is so very important to the 150,000 older and disabled Vermonters who receive Social Security benefits. Right now, it is far too difficult for people on Social Security to get the assistance and information they need from the Social Security Administration because staffing levels are inadequate. In fact, they are at a 50-year low. Despite that, Trump and Musk have announced plans to cut up to 50 percent of the Social Security Administration workforce. This would be an absolute disaster and result in the deaths of many thousands of Americans who would not be able to obtain the benefits to which they are legally entitled.
As the former Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I am also concerned about the cuts being made to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Trump and Musk have already laid off thousands of employees there, and have announced plans to cut 83,000 more. This will mean that our veterans will get lower-quality healthcare and have to wait longer for the benefits that they are owed.
I should also mention that in the coming weeks, the Republican leadership in Congress will be bringing forward a major “reconciliation” bill. That bill will likely include an $880 billion dollar cut to Medicaid. If that happens, millions of low-income and working-class kids will lose their health care, including thousands of people right here in Vermont. It will also be devastating to the approximately two-thirds of people in nursing homes whose care is supported by Medicaid.
This reconciliation bill will also include significant cuts to public education, nutrition programs and rules that protect us from polluters and corporate thievery.
And why do Republicans want to cut all these programs that are so important to the working families of our country?
The answer is very simple: they want to give massive tax cuts to the richest people in America. In their proposed legislation, they are planning to give over $1 trillion to the top 1%. In other words, they are cutting programs that help working families and the poor in order to make themselves and their billionaire friends even richer.
Let me conclude by saying that we are living in an unprecedented moment in modern American history. We are seeing the growth of oligarchy – a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires. We are seeing the growth of authoritarianism – presidential attacks against the Congress, the federal courts and the media. We are seeing terrible attacks against programs that tens of millions of Americans desperately need in order to give tax breaks to the rich. And we are seeing a coordinated, concerted effort to funnel taxpayer dollars into private, for profit corporations that serve no one but their wealthy shareholders.
As your senator, I will do everything I can to fight back. In my view, if we stand together we can defeat this assault against the Constitution and the rights and needs of ordinary Americans.
Best,
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