Ranking Member Press
Budget Committee Democrats Express Frustration Over Lack of Hearing on President’s Budget
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 - The Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee sent a letter to Chairman Mike Enzi today expressing their frustration over the chairman's decision to not hold a hearing on the president's Fiscal Year 2021 budget request. "This year, the President's budget proposes tax cuts of $1.4 trillion while at the same time calling for funding cuts for vital health care programs by a similar amount. Budget Committee members deserve the opportunity to highlight these proposals and ques… Continue Reading
02.10.20
Sanders Calls on Congress to Reject Trump’s Budget “Of, By, and For the 1 Percent”
WASHINGTON, February 10-In response to the release of the Trump Administration's federal budget proposal, Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said:"The Trump Budget for 2021 is a budget of, by, and for the 1 percent. It reflects profoundly unethical priorities and shows that the president is-and it gives me no great pleasure to say this-a liar. Just last week, President Trump told the American people in his State of the Union that he would 'always protect your Medicare'… Continue Reading
11.06.19
Sanders Statement on the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act
Nov. 6 - Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement as the Committee prepares to mark up S.2765, the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act: "While I appreciate Chairman Enzi and Senator Whitehouse's hard work in putting together a package to reform the budget process, I do not support the bill in its current form. "Though this bill has some positive aspects, at its core is the creation of a new, expansive 'budget reconcili… Continue Reading
05.06.19
Sanders Statement on the Retirement of Senator Mike Enzi
WASHINGTON, May 6 - U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement regarding the retirement of Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY): Although we have had serious differences on policy issues, I consider Sen. Enzi a friend whom I've enjoyed working with in our time leading the Budget Committee and the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security. I wish him and his family all the best in his retirement.… Continue Reading
03.26.19
The Senate Republican Budget: Cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Education to Pay for Tax Breaks to the Top 1 Percent
The Senate Republican Budget is immoral and bad economic policy. In almost every instance this budget ignores the needs of ordinary Americans and what the American people want, while at the same time protecting the interests of the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country - many of whom are the largest GOP campaign contributors. This is a budget that moves this country rapidly in the direction of oligarchy. It constitutes a massive transfer of wealth from the working class to the b… Continue Reading
03.20.19
The Trump Budget for 2020: State Fact Sheets
On March 11, 2019, President Trump released his Fiscal Year 2020 budget, a document that is breathtaking in its degree of cruelty and is filled with broken promises. What follows is a list of some of the most egregious proposals from the Trump Budget. If Trump's Budget for 2020 became law, it would: Repeal the Affordable Care Act, eliminating health insurance for 32 million Americans, abolishing protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and substantially increasing premiums for… Continue Reading
03.13.19
The Trump Budget for 2020: Promises Broken. Billionaires First
The Trump budget is breathtaking in its degree of cruelty and filled with broken promises. Donald Trump promised the American people that he would be a different type of Republican, that he would be a champion of the working American and that he would not cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. But his budget does the exact opposite of what he promised the American people during his campaign. Read the full report here.… Continue Reading
10.15.18
Report: If Not for Republican Policies, the Federal Government Would Be Running a Surplus
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 - Following an announcement Monday from the Treasury that the federal government ran a deficit of $779 billion in Fiscal Year 2018, the Democratic staff on the Senate Budget Committee released a report showing that the federal government would be running a surplus today if not for four Republican policies. Without the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the enormous post-9/11 defense buildup and two rounds of costly, regressive tax cuts, the federal government would be running a $… Continue Reading
02.15.18
Trump's FY19 Budget Would Be Devastating for the Country
On February 12, 2018, President Trump released his Fiscal Year 2019 budget. The Trump Budget is not a moral budget. It is a budget that takes our collective resources and hands them to the wealthiest families and largest corporations in this country and ignores the needs of the most vulnerable among us. What follows is a list of some of the most egregious proposals from the Trump Budget: Eliminate health insurance for 32 million Americans by repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Ac… Continue Reading
12.19.17
Parliamentarian Determines Three Provisions in Republican Tax Bill Are Impermissible
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - The Senate parliamentarian advised Tuesday that three provisions in the Republican tax bill violate the Byrd rule, including a provision allowing for the use of 529 savings accounts for home-schooling expenses, the short title: "The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," and part of the criteria used to determine whether the endowments of private universities are subject to the legislation's new excise tax. These provisions may be struck from the conference report absent 60 votes. Sen. … Continue Reading
07.27.17
State Waivers Largely Violate Senate Rules, According to Parliamentarian
WASHINGTON, July 27 - The Senate parliamentarian determined Thursday that portions of Section 207, "Waivers for State Innovation," of the Republican health bill are not permissible under Senate rules. Notably, the part that would have amended Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act to allow states to waive essential health benefits and other pre-existing condition requirements so long as their proposal does not increase the federal deficit violates the Byrd Rule. Under current law, 1332 waivers… Continue Reading
07.25.17
More Provisions in Republican Bill Violate Senate Rules, According to Parliamentarian
WASHINGTON, July 25 - The Senate parliamentarian determined Tuesday that additional provisions of the Republican "Better Care Reconciliation Act" released on June 26, 2017, violate the Byrd Rule. Should the Senate proceed to the bill, these provisions may be struck from the legislation absent 60 votes. "Not only is the legislation being proposed by Republican leadership a disaster for the American people, the process has been a travesty. This is legislation which impacts every American and one-… Continue Reading
07.21.17
Sanders Vows to Challenge Health Care Side Deals Benefiting Individual States
BURLINGTON, Vt., July 21 - U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement Friday after the Senate parliamentarian determined that the "Buffalo Bailout," a provision of the Republican health care bill specifically targeting New York state, is in violation of Senate reconciliation rules: "Today, the Senate parliamentarian made a determination that at least a dozen provisions in the disastrous Trump-McConnell "health care" bill are in violation of Senate rules and cannot be includ… Continue Reading
07.21.17
Parliamentarian Determines a Dozen Provisions in Republican Health Care Bill Are Impermissible
BURLINGTON, Vt., July 21 - The Senate parliamentarian determined Friday that certain provisions of the Republican "Better Care Reconciliation Act," released on June 26, are impermissible under Senate reconciliation rules. Should the Senate proceed to the bill, these provisions may be struck from the legislation absent 60 votes. "The parliamentarian's decision today proves once again that the process Republicans have undertaken to repeal the Affordable Care Act and throw 22 million Americans off… Continue Reading
06.06.17
Statement on Parliamentarian Health Care Ruling
WASHINGTON, June 6 - Following the Senate parliamentarian's ruling on the House health care bill, Josh Miller-Lewis, a spokesman for Sen. Bernie Sanders, issued the statement below: "The parliamentarian has ruled in favor of the Republicans on one narrow procedural issue, but it remains to be seen whether the House-passed bill qualifies for reconciliation in the Senate. Specifically, Republicans have yet to prove they have met their deficit reduction targets in both the Senate HELP and Finance… Continue Reading
01.04.17
Sanders Blasts Republican Budget Slashing Health Care for Millions of Americans
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) slammed a Republican budget plan introduced Wednesday that he said would throw millions off health insurance, drive up already-skyrocketing prices seniors pay for prescription drugs and pave the way for cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. In a Senate floor speech, Sanders also called on President-elect Donald Trump to pledge to veto any legislation that would break his campaign promise to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. He cited a Trum… Continue Reading
08.18.16
CBO Report: Rich Get Richer, Poor Get Poorer
BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 18 - Total wealth in the United States doubled between 1989 and 2013, but the wealth of the American family right in the middle of the economy barely budged in that time, according to a new report prepared by the Congressional Budget Office for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). "Over the period from 1989 through 2013, family wealth grew at significantly different rates for different segments of the U.S. population," CBO wrote. "The distribution of wealth among the nation'… Continue Reading
07.07.16
Sanders Supports Treasury Department Regulations to Prevent Corporate Tax Dodging
WASHINGTON, July 7 - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday submitted formal comments to the Department of the Treasury on regulations issued to prevent corporate tax avoidance. The Treasury Department regulations, which were issued on April 4, effectively enforce the existing law that is meant to prevent corporate inversions and a tax dodge known as "earnings stripping," which allows corporations that are foreign-owned or inverted to avoid U.S. taxes. The regulations were the result of calls… Continue Reading
02.09.16
Committee Democrats Question Unprecedented Decision to Forgo Hearing on President’s Budget
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 - The Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee sent a letter to Chairman Mike Enzi today expressing their disappointment over the chairman's unprecedented decision to not hold a hearing on the president's Fiscal Year 2017 budget request. This is the first time in the committee's history that it has not held a hearing to discuss the president's budget. Even in 2004, when all Senate office buildings closed because of the presence of the toxin ricin in a Senate office, the Senat… Continue Reading
10.28.15
Sanders Statement on Budget Deal
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on the bipartisan budget deal, which also raises the national borrowing limit until March 2017. "This is not the budget I would have written. It doesn't ask the most profitable corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes and it increases Pentagon spending too much. But I will support it because it's much better than across-the-board budget cuts, increased premiums for Medicare, cuts t… Continue Reading