Chuck Schumer: “on reconciliation, we have arrived at a pivotal week in the U.S. Senate, a week where Senate Republicans have to make a…”

“on reconciliation, we have arrived at a pivotal week in the U.S. Senate, a week where Senate Republicans have to make a choice: either stand up for your constituents, stand up to defend Medicaid, stand up to protect millions of good-paying jobs or stand with Donald Trump and his billionaire friends. That is the fundamental choice Republicans face with their so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Before the week is out, we expect Republicans will bring their bill to the floor for debate. That means, very soon, the Senate is going to have a long night of vote-arama. When vote-arama begins, Democrats will be ready. We will pick the Republicans' bill apart. We will put Republicans on record. We will force Republicans to explain in multiple ways, again and again and again, why they want to cut taxes for the rich at the expense of working people. Even now, many Senate Republicans know their own bill is poison. One reason is that their bill will decimate rural hospitals even more than the House bill would, as bad as that was. It will do that by curtailing the provider tax that many States use to fund Medicaid. Now, they know it is terrible so it sounds like Senate Republicans are trying to sweeten this bitter deal by adding a rural hospital fund in the hopes of easing the worries of some Members among their rank. But make no mistake about it--and the rural hospitals and the American Hospital Association know it--this won't work.”