Sheldon Whitehouse: “I think this is my first time with you presiding, so it is good to see you. This power grab--this attempted power…”

“I think this is my first time with you presiding, so it is good to see you. This power grab--this attempted power grab--that took place today in flagrant disregard for our separation of powers has a home not in the Constitution but in Project 2025. The American people hate Project 2025, so Donald Trump spent his campaign trying to distance himself from Project 2025, but then he put one of the authors of Project 2025 in charge of the Office of Management and Budget, who is, as we saw in the Budget hearing, out of one side of his mouth saying ``Oh, President Trump doesn't have anything to do with 2025; he disavowed it'' and, as President Trump's appointee to OMB, is merrily implementing Project 2025. This is exactly aligned with the Project 2025 playbook that Americans rejected so much that Trump had to lie and pretend he rejected it too, in addition to being unconstitutional. That is not just an allegation any longer; a court today here in the District of Columbia found it to be unconstitutional and has ordered a stop to this pause. That is a relief because for people in my State, today was a scary day. Medicaid was stopped. The portal to the Medicaid system that the State reaches into was closed. People say: What is Medicaid? Medicaid is how a great many American seniors pay for their nursing homes.…”