{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-supports-merkley-on-senate-floor-slams-trump-for-refusing-to-protect-health-care", "Warren Supports Merkley on Senate Floor, Slams Trump for Refusing to Protect Health Care", "2025-10-22", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Warren Supports Merkley on Senate Floor, Slams Trump for Refusing to Protect Health Care\n\n\u201cThe American people are begging us to do something about the skyrocketing cost of living. They are crying out for help. But Donald Trump can't hear them over the sound of the bulldozers that are demolishing a chunk of the White House to build his brand new ballroom.\u201d\n\nVideo of Floor Speech (YouTube)\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in holding the Senate Floor to protest the Trump administration\u2019s anti-democratic actions and the looming health care crisis.\n\n\u201cHolding the floor to protest the Trump administration\u2019s lawlessness is patriotic. Standing up for what\u2019s right? That\u2019s patriotic. And I am proud to join my friend Jeff Merkley in saying this part out loud: Donald Trump is not a king. He will never be a king. And America does not bow down to kings,\u201d said Senator Warren.\n\nSpeaking about the Republican-created health care crisis, Senator Warren highlighted stories from American families across the country warning that they will be priced out of health care coverage entirely if their premiums skyrocket.\n\n\u201cFamilies hanging on by their fingernails cannot afford insurance premiums jumping by hundreds of dollars a month. Those are the families Democrats are fighting for right this minute\u2014and Republicans won\u2019t even come to the table. Republicans are off on vacation,\u201d Senator Warren continued.\n\nShe also called out President Trump\u2019s hypocrisy for refusing to lower health care costs for Americans right now, while preparing to send $40 billion to bail out Argentina\u2019s president.\n\n\u201cThe American people are begging us to do something about the skyrocketing cost of living. They are crying out for help. But Donald Trump can't hear them over the sound of the bulldozers that are demolishing a chunk of the White House to build his brand new ballroom,\u201d Senator Warren said.\n\nShe also listed out 8 alternative investments the U.S. could make domestically instead of sending money to Argentina, including:\n\nStopping health insurance premiums from doubling next year;\n\nRestoring food assistance for families that will be hurt by Trump's cuts;\n\nCancel a chunk of student loan debt for nearly four million borrower;\n\nFund public media;\n\nRestore cuts to humanitarian aid and USAID;\n\nFund child care for military families for almost 20 years; and\n\nFund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for almost 50 years.\n\nShe noted he could even pay for 2 Qatari jets for each governor to match the jet he received from the government of Qatar as president.\n\n\u201cSo my friend Jeff Merkley is exactly right \u2013 we are not in normal times,\u201d Senator Warren concluded. \u201cAll of us need to stand up, speak out, and push back.\u201d\n\nTranscript: Floor Speech with Senator Jeff Merkley\n\nU.S. Senate Floor\n\nOctober 22, 2025\n\nSenator Elizabeth Warren: My friend Senator Jeff Merkley is ringing the alarm bell. He is carrying the momentum of millions of peaceful protestors at No Kings Day directly onto the floor of the United States Senate. For all the spineless Republicans in Congress to see.\n\nI want to be clear here: peaceful protest is patriotic. Holding the floor to protest the Trump administration\u2019s lawlessness is patriotic. Standing up for what is right? That\u2019s patriotic. And I am proud to join my friend Jeff Merkley in saying this part out loud: Donald Trump is not a king. He will never be a king. And America does not bow down to kings.\n\nSo, thank you, Jeff, for reinvigorating that energy and bringing it to the floor of the Senate today and every day. You are a true patriot.\n\nSo, let\u2019s talk for just a minute about what\u2019s going on here.\n\nNew reporting from the Wall Street Journal this morning says that the average cost of a family health insurance plan is now $27,000 a year. Wow\u2014that\u2019s a stunner. $27,000. And that\u2019s after years of rising costs\u2014the cost of health care is rising faster than inflation. Health care is too expensive, and families are barely hanging on.\n\nSo, what do we have to do? We have to protect Americans\u2019 health care and lower costs for families. Seems pretty obvious, right?\n\nNot to Donald Trump! In fact, Donald Trump and Republicans are doing the exact opposite. Their genius plan was to pass legislation that will rip away health care from 15 million Americans. Jack up premiums for millions more. Force rural hospitals and community health centers to close down. And shut down the entire government instead of coming to the table to save health care and lower costs.\n\nNow, Republicans just keep right on bowing down to Donald Trump. They seem to have lost their spines\u2014every one of them needs to go to the doctor to get a spine transplant. But instead, they are willing to make it more expensive for everyone else to go to the doctor.\n\nMake no mistake: our health care system is already broken. But Donald Trump and Republicans are making the problem so much worse.\n\nFamilies in Massachusetts are now starting to get notices this week telling them that their health care premiums are going up next year. We are talking hundreds of dollars a month. Some families are seeing their premiums more than double. Others will get priced out of their plans completely, leaving them with no coverage at all.\n\nAnd it\u2019s not just Massachusetts. Americans across the country are counting on us to lower health care costs. I want to share some of their stories right now:\n\nFrom a family who gets their health care through the Health Care Exchange: \u201cIf (our premium) doubles, we will simply not be able to afford it. Either my husband or I will have to scramble to find a job with benefits in a saturated market, or we will be going without insurance for the time being.\u201d\n\nSo that is the story of a family who could get kicked off of their insurance altogether because their costs will go through the roof. More uninsured people means more costs for everyone else. And that is a lose-lose for the American people.\n\nHere\u2019s another one, from a teacher: \u201cMy health care costs are going up by 39%. How do I even live?!?\u201d\n\nFamilies across this country are asking themselves exactly the same question. Democrats are here right now fighting for every single one of those families.\n\nHere\u2019s a story from someone else: \u201c(If my premiums go up), I\u2019d have to cancel my insurance (be)cause my check would be gone\u2014and I have an autoimmune disease. It would be over for me. How could I raise my two boys and care for my parents? I\u2019m the stronghold of the family.\u201d That is the reminder that this kind of increase that the Republicans are imposing on American families, this increase in health insurance, it has echo effects. It\u2019s not only the person who can\u2019t afford insurance for themselves. It\u2019s what happens to her two children. What happens to her older parents that she\u2019s taking care of?\n\nFamilies hanging on by their fingernails cannot afford insurance premiums jumping by hundreds of dollars a month. Those are the families Democrats are fighting for right this minute\u2014and Republicans won\u2019t even come to the table. Republicans are off on vacation.\n\nHere\u2019s another story I received from a Type 1 diabetic: \u201cI have an ACA plan that makes my insulin affordable. Without it, my insulin would be $1000 a month. Please don\u2019t give up this fight and please continue to stand for people just like me.\u201d\n\nWe will not stop fighting for you.\n\nHere\u2019s another one: \u201cOurs will go from $1300 monthly to $3600 monthly. It is harrowing.\u201d\n\nLook, $1300 monthly\u2014$1300 a month for health care\u2014is already too much. But this family will now have to pay nearly triple. For families already struggling with the rising cost of everything, they cannot afford to shell out an extra thousands of dollars every month for health care.\n\nSo, you\u2019re hearing all of this right. Americans are struggling to get by. Republicans won\u2019t come to the table to fix it and end the government shutdown. And instead of working to lower health care costs for Americans right now, Trump is bending over backwards to dig up $40 billion to bail out his political buddy in Argentina and to help out Wall Street hedge fund investors. $40 billion.\n\nSo, what could $40 billion do for us at home for a whole year instead?\n\nWell, $40 billion could stop health insurance premiums from doubling.\n\nIt could restore food assistance for families that will be hurt by Trump's cuts.\n\nIt would cancel a chunk of student loan debt for nearly four million borrowers.\n\nIt would fund public media.\n\nIt would restore cuts to humanitarian aid and USAID.\n\nAnd to put it even more in perspective, that $40 billion Donald Trump is sending off to Argentina, it could fund child care for military families for almost 20 years.\n\nIt would fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop big banks and giant corporations from scamming people for almost 50 years.\n\nAnd it could pay for a hundred Qatari jets, meaning one for every governor of all fifty states and a backup plane for each and every one of them.\n\n[Senate Suspends for Prayer by the Senate Chaplain]\n\nSo, there you have it. Remember Trump\u2019s promise to lower costs for Americans on Day One? Well instead, Donald Trump is bailing out his \u201cfavorite president\u201d and bailing out rich Wall Street investors who invested in Argentina debt.\n\nThe American people are begging us to do something about the skyrocketing cost of living. They are crying out for help.\n\nBut Donald Trump can't hear them over the sound of the bulldozers that are demolishing a chunk of the White House to build his brand-new ballroom. A $250 million dollar ballroom\u2014a monument to Donald Trump himself\u2014paid for by big corporations that are trying to suck up to the Administration for special favors.\n\nThe American people told Donald Trump to cut the cost of living. Instead, he\u2019s cutting off part of the White House for his new billionaires\u2019 ballroom.\n\nFamilies are missing car payments, but Donald Trump is too busy building his ballroom to notice.\n\nThe price of coffee is up nearly 30%, but at least Donald Trump will have a fancy new ballroom where the White House is supposed to be.\n\nFarmers are going bankrupt, but Trump is too worried about the construction of his ballroom to help.\n\nThe cost of baby strollers\u2014or as Donald Trump calls them, the things you carry babies around in\u2014is going up, but Trump is too busy building his fancy ballroom to notice.\n\nSo, my friend Jeff Merkley is exactly right\u2014we are not in normal times. All of us need to stand up, speak out, and push back.\n\nMy question for you, Senator Merkley, is how is the fight to lower costs for families all around this country linked to the fight against Donald Trump\u2019s authoritarianism?\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-supports-merkley-on-senate-floor-slams-trump-for-refusing-to-protect-health-care"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9439149871468544, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}