Schatz: Illegal Trump Shutdown Causing Pain Across the Country

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) took to the Senate floor today to speak about the Trump Administration's recent decision to freeze all federal grants, ignoring Article I of the Constitution.

“There is real pain starting today because of this funding freeze. Schools, child care facilities, fire departments, community health centers, domestic violence shelters all of them will instantly lose their funding at 5 p.m. today because somebody said, ‘we're fiscal conservatives,’” said Senator Schatz. “You want to enact a fiscally conservative appropriations bill? Pass a law.”

“If you're a disaster survivor in North Carolina or Louisiana, or California or Texas or Florida or Maui, you don't know what happens next,” he continued. “If you're a low-income family that relies on the Women, Infants, and Children Program to get healthy meals for your kids, if you live in a remote area like Wai‘anae or Lana‘i in Hawai‘i, and you go to a community health center to fill your prescriptions or to get a checkup, this freeze on funding means you don't get help.”

Schatz concluded, “What is happening today is unconstitutional. It is also against statutory law. But most importantly, it is causing pain across the country.”

The full text of Senator Schatz’s remarks, as delivered, is below. Video is available here.

Mr. President, the government shutdown that Donald Trump just ordered is illegal and unconstitutional. He is not a king and we do not live in a monarchy. It is Congress's authority to decide on federal funding. The power of the purse is the foundational funding of the Article I branch. Everybody talks like that. Everybody says those things. But now we are all put to the test – Democrats and Republicans. Are we going to forfeit all of our power?

We're the elected branch. We make the laws. And the President of the United States just ordered a funding freeze for stuff he doesn't feel like funding. That is literally not how it works. And today, the White House Press Secretary was asked about specific, popular, essential programs. And you know what she said?

She said, “Have those people talk to Russ Vought and make an appeal to him.” Now there's a couple of problems with that. First of all, Russ Vought doesn't get to decide in an appropriations law, which parts of the law to follow and which parts not to follow. Second of all, let's be really clear about this. Russ Vought is not a government employee right now.

He's a nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget. And so we're supposed to have, I don't know, Medicaid recipients, VA home loan recipients, nursing homes, education organizations, health care organizations, transportation contractors appeal mercy to the king. “Will you please release these dollars?”

That's not how the American system works. This is illegal.

There is real pain starting today because of this funding freeze. Schools, child care facilities, fire departments, community health centers, domestic violence shelters all of them will instantly lose their funding at 5 p.m. today because somebody said, “we're fiscal conservatives.”

You want to enact a fiscally conservative appropriations bill? Pass a law. Pass a law.

I also would like to select the federal funding, which I agree with and fund that, and select the funding that I disagree with and defund that. But I'm not a monarch and neither is Donald Trump.

We're hearing from so many constituents across the country, and I had a bit of a time delay because it's earlier in Hawai‘i, but all of my colleagues were getting incoming texts and calls and panicked people. This isn't about some arcane government program. This is like basic stuff. People are like staged to do construction and told not to show up for work.

Some of these construction projects are in places where you only have a narrow window during which you can even do construction, so a 90-day freeze means wait till next year. I don't care what the law says, wait till next year.

If you're a disaster survivor in North Carolina or Louisiana, or California or Texas or Florida or Maui, you don't know what happens next.

If you're a low-income family that relies on the women, infants, and Children program to get healthy meals for your kids, if you live in a remote area like Wai‘anae or Lana‘i in Hawai‘i, and you go to a community health center to fill your prescriptions or to get a checkup, this freeze on funding means you don't get help.

People are you know how long it takes to get a home loan, VA home loan, or any other kind of home loan. People are showing up to get their VA home loans and saying, “not today”. You might be like 45 days from closing. You're a veteran. You're entitled to this thing under the law. Russ Vought, not a member of the federal government yet, has decided you don't get your home loan today.

What an embarrassing abdication of the role of the Congress.

All of this high-minded talk from my fellow appropriators about, you know, there's two parties. There's really three parties in the Congress. It's the old joke. Democrats, Republicans, and appropriators. Right. And the idea is that the appropriators are the adults in the room, the appropriators are the adults in the room, and they're not going to let nonsense, unconstitutional, illegal acts happen because we're the ones that control the purse strings.

And I want to make one final point in addition to all the pain that's being caused: My goodness, the door swings both ways in Washington.

Imagine a progressive president reaching into the federal budget after an appropriations bill is passed and saying, “You know what? I don't like that thing. I don't like that other thing. I don't like this one. I don't like that one. I'm in charge”.

What are we even here for? And so this is not going to be business as usual. I will tell you one thing. I have never in my 13 years withheld my unanimous consent. I've used a little leverage. Everybody does.

But we better get this straight on a bipartisan basis. Not because I want to score partisan points, not because I want to characterize Donald Trump in one way or the other, but because we all worked so hard and made real sacrifices to get to this place so we could have a position of responsibility to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

What is happening today is unconstitutional. It is also against statutory law. But most importantly, it is causing pain across the country.

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