Social Security

Once again, House Democrats saved the day by helping pass a continuing resolution, averting a catastrophic shutdown of the government. A total of 106 Republicans, nearly half of the entire House Republican Conference, voted against the continuing resolution and were prepared for a government shutdown. This is now the third time that Democrats have stepped up to prevent a shutdown. With the passage of this legislation, we have extended the deadlines to pass our appropriations bills to March 1st and March 8th.

To finish out the legislative year in Washington, the House of Representatives voted on the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill authorizes a staggering $886 billion in new spending for the Department of Defense. Our greatest security threats have no military solutions, and it is time our budget reflected that. Therefore, I could not, in good faith, support its final passage.

Last week, Republicans on the House Budget Committee hosted a hearing centered around the idea of creating a so-called “fiscal commission.” The hearing made it crystal clear what their real goal is: decimate Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors. Over a decade ago, I served on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, better known as the Bowles-Simpson Commission. That commission failed, but not before its co-chairs tried to make deep cuts to the American people’s hard-earned Social Security and Medicare benefits.  

Right now, we are only four days away from a government shutdown and Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans continue to put forth extreme legislation that has zero chance of passing the Senate. Republicans would rather shutdown our government than reach a bipartisan agreement. What we are seeing is a total collapse of the proper operations of government on the part of the Republicans.

For far too long, our laws have allowed Big Pharma to rake in record profits by increasing the costs of lifesaving prescription drugs. Americans pay two to three times as much as people in other countries for the same prescription drugs. Thanks to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act last year, Medicare will be able to negotiate for lower drug costs. Not a single Republican in Congress voted for this bill. 

Last week, Republican chaos resulted in an early start to the August work period, leaving 11 appropriations bills to be discussed when we get back to Washington next month. To pass the budget on time, all these bills must be signed into law by the end of September. Unfortunately, many of my Republican colleagues would rather facilitate a government shutdown than support pragmatic policies in these must-pass bills.

After seven straight weeks in Washington, I wish I could tell you that Congress passed legislation to better the lives of everyday Americans. Unfortunately, I cannot. House Republicans spent the majority of the time putting forward legislation that has no chance of becoming law. Last week was a perfect example. In a partisan power grab, House Republicans voted to censure Rep.