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Congressional Daily Record
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August 4, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextWorking Families Tax Cuts
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, a week or 2 ago, I came down to the floor and talked about growing up in a small town in South Dakota. As I said in those remarks, I carry those South Dakotans with me in a special way in my work here in Washington.
of impact they will have on those Americans, on hard-working people without a lot of extra money in the budget, on people living paycheck to paycheck or, as was the case with some of the farmers I grew up with, harvest to harvest. I think about how to ensure that government isn't standing in their way or taking up all the extra money in their budget.
with who were at the top of my mind when Republicans drafted our landmark tax relief legislation back in 2017. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cut tax rates across the board, doubled the child tax credit, and nearly doubled the standard deduction. It put more money in hard- working Americans' pockets, money that they were able to use for their particular needs—from childcare to home repairs, to medical bills, to a family vacation.
tax relief permanent, and that is exactly what we did. We made the lower tax rates permanent. We made the increased child tax credit permanent. And we made the increased standard deduction permanent.
But that was just the beginning. We weren't content with a permanent extension of the 2017 tax relief. We wanted to do more for working families, and so that is what we did.
As I said, our 2017 tax relief bill doubled the child tax credit. Well, the Working Families Tax Cuts not only made that permanent; it increased the child tax credit even further and then indexed it to inflation so its value will never go down.
deduction. Well, the Working Families Tax Cuts boosted the standard deduction even further.
And we didn't stop there. We instituted two big new tax relief measures: no tax on tips, no tax on overtime. That meant major new tax relief for a whole host of working Americans—waiters, delivery people, bartenders, Uber and Lyft drivers, nurses, factory workers, paramedics, police officers, and many others.
And that still isn't all. We instituted a new $6,000 bonus deduction for seniors, and we created new tax-advantaged investment accounts to help parents save for their children's future, starting with an initial $1,000 investment from the Federal Government for babies born between 2025 and 2028.
generation get a headstart on their American dream. The Working Families Tax Cuts also made some significant improvements to the traditional 529 education savings plan, allowing those savings to be used for a greater variety of education-related expenses, like tutoring or home school materials and vocational and continuing education.
reforms and put downward pressure on the cost of college degrees. We also made permanent a policy I authored that allows employers to pay off a portion of their employees' student loans, without the employee having to pay taxes on the repayment amount.
will provide financial assistance to Americans in shorter term skills and career training programs, whether they are just starting out or looking to switch careers or develop new skills in their current field.
deduction for older Americans. More than 29 million American workers were able to deduct overtime pay from their taxes, resulting in substantial tax savings. And more than 7.5 million workers deducted their tips on their taxes, ensuring they were able to keep more of their hard-earned money.
who were able to take advantage of the increased standard deduction and the enhanced child tax credit.
Tax refunds were up this season, and it is no surprise. It is the Working Families Tax Cuts at work.
cities, but I spent a lot of time in smalltown South Dakota. And whenever I am there, I am proud to be able to share the details of the Working Families Tax Cuts and report that Republicans are delivering for working families.
Cuts to expand opportunity and make life more affordable for hard- working Americans.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The Democratic leader is recognized.
Nomination of Todd Blanche
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, Senate Republicans seem to think Todd Blanche became a different person somewhere between the confirmation hearing and today's vote. It is obvious he didn't. Blanche remains Trump's personal lawyer—same client, same corrupt record, same playbook. He is the same guy. Nothing has changed. Thanks to Blanche, Trump and his family still have a permission slip from the IRS to take in tens of millions of dollars through tax fraud—tens of millions of dollars—and they exempt him from tax fraud even though he has had so many brushes with the law before.
the one who facilitated the President avoiding any tax liability, which an overwhelming number of Americans despise? It is crazy. It is amazing how our Republican friends just tie themselves in pretzel knots to allow Trump to do illicit things, to allow the country's morals to go down the drain when it comes to finance ethics.
Blanche still hasn't put up any meaningful guardrails to Trump's $2 billion MAGA slush fund. We all know what that was—one of the grossest things any President has ever done. He sues the government as a private citizen and then asks the government for $10 billion and then shakes hands with the government that he gets $2 billion to do whatever he wants. It makes you nauseous, what he is doing to the morals of this country.
who should be Attorney General, he would be at the back of the line because he is so unethical. Ethics matter in this job more than just about any other.
General. Todd Blanche hasn't changed, and neither should the votes of anyone who plans to oppose his nomination.
Government Funding
Mr. President, on the CR, from the start, Senate Democrats said we wanted to keep the government open and keep politics out of the appropriations process. This CR gives us the time we need to continue hashing out a budget that helps make life more affordable for the American people while crushing the chaos and the corruption of the Trump administration.
efforts to withhold Federal grants from vital projects. Trump wanted to pick grants in the States and politicians he liked and eliminate them from others. Nothing could be more against the Constitution, more against the government, more against fairness, more against bipartisanship than that. He wanted to do all that. People were amazed.
Oh, I like this project in a red State. Go for it.
No rationale, no reason other than political malignance.
People were really revolted by what he was trying to do. Taxpayers fund these grants. Taxpayers deserve to see that the money is invested in their
communities, not withheld by Trump because of partisan retribution.
and we are going to continue to fight for the American people in the weeks and months ahead.
Head Start
Mr. President, now on Head Start, Donald Trump believes the Federal Government exists to serve him and no one else. Even though he acts like a toddler three-quarters of the time, he is not eligible for Head Start, so if the program doesn't benefit him, what does he care?
of how it will hurt hundreds of thousands of children. After trying and failing to defund it altogether, Trump is putting the program to the torch by rolling back Federal standards that ensure Head Start will be high quality. That means no math or literacy requirements, no health or safety screenings, no guarantee that children can access medical and dental services. Trump's changes will hurt America's most vulnerable children and leave their families in the lurch.
three jobs, knocking themselves out almost 24/7 just to help their kids by making ends meet. Does Trump really think these families can afford to spend more on finding care for their kids?
approach to governing laid bare. Better outcomes for Trump, worse outcomes for our kids—that is Trump's America. Donald Trump uses his office to help himself and his billionaire friends get ahead while holding back our children, while holding back our working families.
this effort that undercuts our children, particularly the most vulnerable. Early education works. It gives kids a headstart. It makes America more prosperous as a whole. Trump doesn't give a damn.
Reflecting Pool
Mr. President, Trump's Reflecting Pool saga continues to show how his corruption comes back to bite him.
Last Friday, Jeanine Pirro, the FOX News host turned U.S. attorney— he loves these television hosts to have places in his administration whether they are qualified or not. Look at the Defense Department. Well, this host is U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and she admitted in court that Trump's own grifting caused the Reflecting Pool renovation to fail.
How dare she. How dare she speak the truth against Donald Trump when one of the requirements of being chosen by Trump for any important office is that you just go along with him.
I will tell you this: If we had serious people leading the DOJ and serving as U.S. attorney, we never would have had these nonsense legal cases in the first place.
What did Trump expect? Shoddy work is inevitable when you award a multimillion-dollar, no-bid contract to your personal pool guy at the taxpayers' expense.
be funny—except we American taxpayers are paying for it. Some nearly faced jail time for it. Trump is so delusional, he would rather prosecute innocent Americans than own up to his own failure.
have the right priorities? Trump keeps spending his time and American tax dollars on these vanity projects.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Government Funding
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the American people deserve a government that is open and is functioning. The American people know that government shutdowns cause significant pain to them personally and harm to our Nation.
Democrats—and the Democratic leader just left the floor—have caused both of them. Democrats have proven that they are willing to make life harder for Americans, and they do it every time they shut down the government. They think it helps them politically.
in October of 2025, Schumer and the Senate Democrats chose to shut down the entire government, shut it down for 43 days. That is a record—a record—in the history of our Nation. And Senator Schumer actually said at the time—he said:
Every day gets better for us.
I am not sure who the “us” was. It is not the American people, not the people who were suffering in the long lines at the airport, and with TSA and the flights that were canceled and people that weren't getting paid. Every day got worse for the American people. It might have been better for Senator Schumer but not for people at home in my State and in the Presiding Officer's.
collateral damage as they tried to make a political message. Servicemembers weren't able to pay their mortgages, as they had to wait for their paychecks to come in. Flights canceled, airport screening lines stretched—I remember the video. They stretched for hours. Park rangers, TSA agents all missed paychecks. Democrats said it got better for them every day. Government employees living paycheck-to-paycheck had to struggle to make ends meet, to pay the bills. We saw people lining up at food banks. The American people responded and offered help to their neighbors. The Democrats said it got better for them every day. People on food assistance lost that assistance.
And less than 4 months later, the Democrats did it again. That time, they blocked funding for the Department of Homeland Security. That shutdown lasted 75 days for the Department of Homeland Security.
Democrats voted to defund America's law enforcement Agencies. That seems to be their mantra: defund the police; get rid of ICE, get rid of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; open the borders; let anybody in. That is who that party is now, and we are seeing it even today in the Michigan primary, where they have radical, extreme, dangerous, scary people running and who may win primaries and have been winning primaries in the Democrat Party across the country. These are people that put the safety and security of the American people at risk. They do it because they think it may give them a political advantage. It doesn't help the American people.
of Homeland Security, we in this country faced terrorist threats. In Texas, there was a man wearing clothing that said “Property of Allah.” He was arrested. He shot into a crowded restaurant, just shot into the restaurant. People were killed. “Property of Allah.” Apparently, that is OK in some people's minds. Most Americans don't think so.
truck full of explosives into a synagogue. Over 100 children and their teachers were inside. This is the threat we face.
the safety of illegal immigrants—and specifically illegal immigrant criminals—above the safety and security of American citizens. That is whom the Democrats choose to prioritize, and we are seeing the Democrats do that in campaign ads and in campaign speeches all across the country as the most radical of the radicals seem to be winning Democrat primaries this year.
We were able to get on the bill yesterday. The onus is on them. The Republicans are ready to move forward.
We have an appropriations process. That is the way that government funding is supposed to work. Right now, the Democrats are stonewalling every single Appropriations Committee right here in the U.S. Senate, and it is shameful.
chair of the Appropriations Committee. She has a history of working with bipartisanship, and integrity is so much a part of her leadership style. Democrats have rejected every good-faith measure that she has put forward in terms of the Appropriations Committee.
Biden was in the White House, Senator Schumer blocked 11 of the 12 appropriations bills from even coming to the floor, even coming here for debate. He didn't want any of them—none.
resolution. That is what we voted to get on last night. It keeps the government open. So that was just the first step. Now we have to move forward. We will see what the Democrats say today.
Here is the choice facing every Senate Democrat this week: Vote to keep the government open or force the Nation into another painful shutdown. We are going to find out.
shutdowns over the last year. People don't want a third. They have suffered enough. Senator Schumer this morning said he wants to avoid a shutdown. Time for them to prove it.
up to the extremists who have taken over their party? We are going to find out.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
(Mr. SHEEHY assumed the Chair.)
Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hagerty). Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent to enter into a colloquy with Senator Durbin for up to 30 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Social Security
Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I just told my colleague from Illinois: It has been a ride. We have been trying to set up a process, a process whereby Congress would consider a solution—not prescribe a solution, consider a solution—for Social Security, a process that would have Members of the House and Members of the Senate come together fully open for input from stakeholders, from citizens, to have something to present among all the proposals that are out there—two proposals, three proposals—and whatever we put up would not be the final solution necessarily. It could be replaced by any other Member of the Senate with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
And people won't even set up a process. We are not talking about a solution. We are talking about a process that would come to a solution maybe that still has to get 60 votes in the U.S. Senate.
Folks say: We need more time. Dick Durbin just chuckled. He goes: They have had 44 years. They have had 44 years. How much more time do they need?
I have got a couple cartoons just to make the case. I think that if we don't set up this process, Congress will be kicking granny off the cliff. That was made famous long ago. There it is. She earned it; she deserves it; she counts on it; and Congress will not set up a process by which to address the issue. Mr. President, 75 million retirees, widows, widowers, others rely on Social. In 6 years, the program, the trust fund—the trust fund goes insolvent. And when that happens, according to the actuaries, there will be either an almost 29 percent benefit reduction or a 40 percent increase in payroll taxes on working Americans.
If that trust fund goes insolvent and that benefit is cut 28.5 percent, as the actuaries say it will, the rate of poverty among Americans over age 65 will increase by 50 percent—by 50 percent.
So here is another cartoon. Congress made a promise, and some people want to ignore it. She paid in; she earned it; she relies on it. But if you ask: Should we do something about Social? Apparently, for some people, the time to do something on Social is never.
Don't disturb Congress. They don't want to take a tough vote—even if that vote only sets up a process—it doesn't even propose a solution—a process whereby Congress is required to fix the issue.
By the way, Social has always been important. It is even more important now that Americans are living longer. And every year we delay fixing Social, the amount of cuts required to balance it increase or the amount of taxes required to fix it increases or the amount of money we have to borrow to fix it increases. There is no good thing about waiting except it allows Congress to dodge its responsibility.
I want to compliment my colleague from Illinois. He came up to me and he goes: Bill, I am leaving the Senate. We need to make a run at fixing Social.
I am leaving the Senate. We need to make a run. By the way, we have a solution, but we are not saying it has to be our solution. All we are trying to do is set up a process by which solutions can be considered. And running out the clock, it may be politically convenient, but it is the wrong thing to do.
I have another cartoon here just to make the point. It is not just older people affected; it is younger people. Sorry, young folks. You are getting left behind because some say it is not our problem. The Social Security system is going insolvent, and these folks can pay into it. They will never receive a benefit.
contributing every month on the wages they are getting to a system that will not be there for them unless we do something now.
So before I defer to my colleague, I will just say once more: All we are doing is setting up a process to propose solutions that may or may not pass, that any Senator can bring their own bill and have it as an amendment in the nature of a substitute. It is up to Congress, though, to find a solution.
of addressing the issue or whether because it was politically advantageous, politically expedient to kick the can down the road once more, even though the road is about to end in a dead end, or, in the case of one of our cartoons, a cliff.
Here. We built a bridge and decided not to finish it. Here. The folks that need to get across the bridge of Social Security will get to it someday. We have got to get to it now. That is the point.
Let's set up a process to be considered. We are talking about the PROMISE Act, which is a Dick Durbin—lead author—Bill Cassidy bill. And there may be another way, but let's set up the process. With that, I defer to my colleague.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
Mr. DURBIN. What a treat it is to be on the floor of the Senate with a colleague from the Republican side of the aisle working together— together—to try to solve the problem. It doesn't happen much around here. You see these empty desks? They are empty almost all the days, week in, week out, month in, month out.
We do important things like nominations. There is nothing that is trivial about that. But we don't tackle the issues that really affect people at home with their families.
Here is one: Social Security. Mr. President, 75 million Americans rely on it. Half of them, it is their only source of income, so a Social Security check means a lot.
So the experts on Social Security tell Dr. Cassidy and myself that just in a few years—6 years—Social Security will be unable to make full promised payments. It will be cut by 22 percent in terms of benefits.
Let's take an example. The average Social Security check now is around $2,400 a month. If you reduce that by 22 percent, it means that people receiving Social Security will receive about $450 to $500 less a month.
$2,400—just lopped off $400, $500 from your monthly payment. How does it affect you? Paying your rent; paying your mortgage; paying your utility bills; paying what it might take at the grocery store to get by. It is going to be a real hardship.
that those under the poverty level will increase by 50 percent. We can't let that happen. We have to do something about it.
doesn't pick a solution—although we can come up with a couple. It doesn't pick a solution. It just says: Don't waste any time. Start talking about it; start debating it; let the American people engage in this conversation with you; and vote on some alternatives.
Now “vote” is a word that used to be part of being a Senator. Not so much anymore. Except when it comes to nominations, there aren't a lot of votes on substantive issues around this Chamber.
I know a little bit about this. I have given more than half of my life to Congress: 14 years in the House, 30 years in the Senate. I know what you are saying: It sounds like a career politician. Well, maybe I am—and proud of it and particularly proud of serving in this Chamber.
bipartisan basis, but it takes a couple Senators, maybe more, to stand up and say: We have got to do something that is risky and controversial but important.
This is not the first time I have faced Social Security. When I was a Member of the House elected in 1982, came to serve in 1983, I was told that in a matter of months Social Security would run out of money.
Imagine that. You are a brandnew Member of Congress scared to death you won't be reelected, and they tell you, you have got to make a big change in the biggest social program in America. It scares you to death. But you know what? We did it.
Our goal was simple: 50 years of solvency in Social Security. Can we change Social Security and guarantee 50 years of solvency? We made a lot of changes. And you know what we got for it: 2032—1983 to 2032, we kept our word—50 years.
keep it solvent for 50 years. We can do it. And the longer we wait to do it, the more difficult it becomes.
political career, which was only a few months old, but it turned out no Member of Congress—Democrat or Republican—in 1983 and 1984 lost an election because they voted for Social Security changes.
they accepted what we did. We bought 50 years of solvency—that is an amazing thing when you consider how important this program is.
Senate rules. The Senate is a Chamber of tradition. Down here, a few of you can see it, is a brass spittoon—a brass spittoon. It has been held onto as part of the tradition of the Senate.
impossible to pass except after a long period of time. Weeks go by sometimes; days certainly go by, trying to get from a measure on the floor to an actual vote. The Senate rules are not kindly. They are tough.
redtape and delay and says we will move after several weeks to consider alternatives to Social Security. The bottom line is: It isn't enough to get a majority in the Senate under the current rules, and it isn't changed at all under our proposal. We still need 60 votes to ultimately pass any change to Social Security. Well, Democrats don't have 60 votes; Republicans don't have 60 votes; but together, we think we can reach that goal.
of my colleagues that I have talked to about this said they thought it was a good idea, but on reflection they have decided it is too risky, that we are moving things too fast.
almost anything. We take our time. That is why we are here. The Senate is different than the House, and I served in both and respect both.
time to do it, I want to back up Senator Cassidy. It costs money over time. It costs benefits over time. The solution becomes more expensive over time.
Security. And we absolutely, positively have to save it. Too many people are counting on it.
their own who count on Social Security—either because they are disabled or elderly. I understand that in my own family. I think everybody does.
stand on the floor and don't criticize one another but actually talk about working together. It has been a real pleasure for me, I would say to Senator Cassidy, to be part of the Cassidy-Durbin team.
We are both ending our Senate careers on January 3 of next year. We hoped that this would be one of the things we could achieve before we left. I am still not giving up completely. Miracles do occur. But I had to step up and make a proposal with Senator Cassidy to get my colleagues into conversation.
since we started this effort, and I think it should. The sooner, the better. The more expensive it becomes the longer we wait.
I yield back to Senator Cassidy.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, Senator Durbin is referring to what's called the PROMISE Act. Again, it is a bill which sets up a process to come to a solution. It doesn't dictate what the solution is.
so it is important for our country that Congress tackle this issue. And when I say “our country,” I mean the people who live here. And the people who live here, whether they are older or whether they are younger, they are relying upon Congress to step up to its responsibility.
Thank you, Senator Durbin. We will continue to push on this. It is important for our Congress, important for our country, important for our people.
I yield the floor.