Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday renamed President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" the "We're All Going to Die Act," slamming the package over cuts to Medicaid.
The Senate Minority Leader said Republican senators who support Trump's budget bill are "tenured at best, suicidal at worst," implying a vote for the legislative package will have negative consequences at the ballot box.
"For many Americans, health care coverage is the difference between life and death," Schumer said. His new name for Trump's budget bill comes from a recent remark by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. In response to jeers from a crowd about how cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would cause people to die, Ernst retorted at a recent town hall event, "Well, we're all going to die."
TRUMP CRITICIZES RAND PAUL OVER TAX BILL OPPOSITION: 'VOTES NO ON EVERYTHING'
"According to Ernst, 'Fear not. We're going to die anyway.' Tell that, the American people have heard. Let me be clear. Democrats are ready. We are ready to fight,' Schumer said. "We are doubling down. We're ready to show Americans what's really at stake here, because this fight won't be won in just the Capitol. As Abe Lincoln said, public sentiment is everything. And when public sentiment hears about this 'We're All Going to Die Act,' they're going to hate it, and they're going to tell their senators they hate it. And if the senators think they can get away with a yes vote and explain it, they're sadly mistaken. The cuts are too deep. The cuts are too real. The cuts are too devastating for people."
He continued, "Why are they being so mean? Why are they being so cruel? And why are they being so politically tenured at at best, suicidal at worst? All to give tax breaks to billionaires. They are in total obeisance. Donald Trump is, and his colleagues are to very very, the small group of very wealthy, greedy people who say, 'I don't care what you do to everyone else, cut my taxes. And by the way, get rid of any regulations.'"
Schumer said that the Congressional Budget Office found that the estimated number of people who would lose their health insurance coverage if Trump's budget bill passes could increase from 13.7 million to up to as many as 16 million people.
STILL A NO: RAND PAUL SAYS $5T DEBT INCREASE IN 'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL' A DEAL-BREAKER
"New calculations show Medicare is under the knife," Schumer said.
A handful of Republican senators have expressed hesitation to Trump's "big, beautiful bill" over concerns it will increase the national debt and budget ceiling, but Senate Majority Leader John Leader said the upper chamber remains on track to pass the package by a July 4 deadline as negotiations are ongoing. Trump and the White House, meanwhile, insist the bill will evoke massive growth for the nation.
Schumer alleged Trump "is just lying about the bill."
"We've been told 11 million people cut off from affordable food tax cuts for billionaires. "We're All Going to Die Bill.' And that shows the callousness, the callousness of this Republican majority in the House and the Republican majority in the Senate. Repeal and replace. It's that by another name, that by another name."
Schumer addressed Republicans' pledge to fight waste, fraud and abuse by making the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts permanent through the bill.
"Now, Trump and the Republicans claim they want to fight fraud. Bull, bull," he said.
"Let me tell our Republican Senate colleagues what will be enacted is not Donald Trump's soothing words, but the actual reality of harsh cuts where people lose health care, where people's premiums go up, where hospitals close, nursing homes close, and people are laid off," Schumer claimed. "So anyone who thinks they're voting for the nice words of Donald Trump will face a harsh reality when this is implemented."
