WATCH: Hickenlooper Rips Into Trump’s Backwards Priorities on Senate Floor

Hickenlooper: "[Trump] corrupts everything he touches"

WASHINGTON - Yesterday, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper took to the Senate floor to call out President Trump for wasting taxpayer dollars on vanity projects and unwanted wars instead of fixing the cost-of-living crisis crushing Americans, including refusing to sign the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act into law.

"Whether your biggest worry is fuel and fertilizer or gas and groceries; whether you live in a mountain community or in an inner city; whether you're surrounded by cows or concrete, this administration's misplaced priorities are making life harder for most Americans," said Hickenlooper. "President Trump isn't working to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies or reverse the Medicaid cuts that will kick 240,000 Coloradans off their healthcare. His reflecting pool got a makeover while your insurance pool was gutted."

Watch his speech HERE.

Yesterday, Hickenlooper demanded Trump personally reimburse the American taxpayer for his failed $16 million no-bid renovation to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that resulted in algae growth, dead animals, and an embarrassment to our nation's capital.

"President Trump promised to drain the swamp. Instead, he's turned the reflecting pool into an algae infested bird killer," he said on the Senate floor. "The administration awarded a no-bid contract for this project to President Trump's neighbor and donor. The renovation was supposed to cost $1.5 million. It has now cost taxpayers $16 million and the job STILL isn't done."

Watch Hickenlooper's remarks at yesterday's press conference HERE

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the most consequential housing legislation in decades. The bipartisan legislation would help address the national affordable housing shortage by cutting red tape to build more homes, investing in programs to lower the cost of buying a house, and preventing corporations from dominating the housing market.

"It's ballrooms for him. No housing for you. Once again, Trump is putting himself first over lowering costs for you and your family," Hickenlooper wrote on his social media accounts yesterday after Trump canceled the bill signing.

Hickenlooper is fighting to stop the president's corrupt agenda that has rigged the system for the Epstein class while leaving working families behind.

"First, we must stop the bleeding from this administration. We must end this illegal war and disastrous tariffs. We must curb ICE's lawlessness and repair our social safety net - reversing the administration's cuts to healthcare, SNAP, and student aid," Hickenlooper said. "Then we must get back to making your life better again. We must lower the cost of living, create more jobs, and protect our public lands."

He emphasized that Congress needs to stand up to Trump's nonsense and prioritize legislation that will actually address the cost-of-living crisis, just like they did this week when they passed the most consequential housing bill in decades.

"We worked with Senator Warren to diminish Wall Street from buying single family homes and limit their influence in the housing market. This matters to every Coloradan because homeownership is one of the best paths to economic stability and upward mobility," Hickenlooper argued. "It is a reminder that our government works best when it works for working people. When it does, good policy reflects our highest values. And the values that made this country have always been about opportunity for all - not wealth at all costs."

Hickenlooper has fought against the president's disastrous budget bill that gutted health care to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. He's doing a state-wide tour of local hospitals and clinics to meet with Coloradans and hear how they are grappling with the increasing costs of health care. He helped defeat Trump's effort to sell off millions of acres of public lands to pay for his lavish tax cuts. He is working to permanently end Trump's slush fund for Tina Peters, Proud Boys, and January 6th rioters.

For a full video of Hickenlooper's remarks, click HERE. A full transcript of his remarks as prepared for delivery is available below:

"Mr. President.

As an English major, one of the great tales from Greek mythology is the legend of King Midas.

As the story goes, Midas was granted a wish. He wished that everything he touched would turn to gold.

At first, it seemed like a blessing. Twigs became gold. Stones became gold. Midas thought he found true wealth.

But he soon realized it wasn't a blessing. It was a curse.

Midas's food turned to gold. His water turned to gold. And eventually, even his daughter turned to gold.

The lesson is simple: a man who mistakes gold for greatness will end up with neither.

President Trump never learned that lesson. And he corrupts everything he touches.

Take his gold-plated ballroom. The President promised it wouldn't cost taxpayers a nickel, but those promises were nothing but fool's gold.

The costs have skyrocketed. President Trump now wants to spend $300 million of your taxpayer dollars to pay for it. He's not building affordable housing in Denver or Durango. He's building a ballroom for himself and his rich friends to enjoy.

President Trump promised to drain the swamp. Instead, he's turned the reflecting pool into an algae infested bird killer. The administration awarded a no-bid contract for this project to President Trump's neighbor and donor. The renovation was supposed to cost $1.5 million. It has now cost taxpayers $16 million and the job STILL isn't done.

President Trump isn't working to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies or reverse the Medicaid cuts that will kick 240,000 Coloradans off their healthcare. His reflecting pool got a makeover while your insurance pool was gutted.

Now President Trump wants to build an enormous arch near Arlington Cemetery. While planning this project, he unilaterally went to war with Iran - promising immediate victory - "total and complete." What he's delivered is one of the greatest failures in our nation's history. He made America less safe. He made America's economy weaker. And 14 American servicemembers lost their lives.

When asked about those tragic casualties, President Trump said: "There will likely be more before it ends. That's the way it is."

That's the way it is?

Our heroes deserve a Commander in Chief who looks out for them. Not a monument looking down on them.

This administration seems to believe the key to making America Great Again is more bullion and more branding. Like King Midas, they don't understand where true wealth comes from.

American prosperity isn't measured in monuments. It's defined by dreams. Dreams that are only made possible here.

Those dreams are what brought me to Colorado as a geologist 200 years later. And they're what inspired me to enter public service, so that one day my sons and your daughters will inherit a country where everyone has an equal shot at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

But right now, the American dream is slipping out of reach because the deck is stacked against working people.

Whether your biggest worry is fuel and fertilizer or gas and groceries; whether you live in a mountain community or in an inner city; whether you're surrounded by cows or concrete, this administration's misplaced priorities are making life harder for YOU.

It doesn't have to be this way.

First, we must stop the bleeding from this administration. We must end this illegal war and disastrous tariffs. We must curb ICE's lawlessness and repair our social safety net - reversing the administration's cuts to healthcare, SNAP, and student aid.

Then we must get back to making your life better again. We must lower the cost of living, create more jobs, and protect our public lands.

This work will not be easy. As we mark America's 250th anniversary, many are questioning whether we are capable of meeting the magnitude of this moment:

A moment where technological revolution promises unthinkable innovation at unprecedented speed - like a runaway train. But also leaves us more isolated and struggling to discern fact from fiction.

A moment when the consequences of climate change are increasingly impossible to ignore - with unprecedented wildfires, drought, and more destruction.

A moment when wealth is flowing to the wealthiest Americans at an unprecedented rate.

I'm not immune to skepticism, frustration, or despair. But a better and brighter future requires that we work harder and harder and harder. And requires us to Giddy up!

Progress is possible because we've seen it.

This week, Congress passed the biggest housing reform bill in decades. We worked with Senator Warren to diminish Wall Street from buying single family homes and limit their influence in the housing market.

This matters to every Coloradan because homeownership is one of the best paths to economic stability and upward mobility.

It is a reminder that our government works best when it works for working people. When it does, good policy reflects our highest values. And the values that made this country have always been about opportunity for all - not wealth at all costs.

But earlier this morning, right as the bill was about to be signed, President Trump decided to hold the legislation hostage. Instead of passing this commonsense bill, he wants to peddle a voter suppression bill that has nothing to do with housing.

There is a clear choice before us: Speaker Johnson and Senator Grassley should sign this housing bill and send it to the White House or they should not adjourn Congress for the July 4th recess. It's as simple as that.

This saga is exactly why Americans have lost faith in this president. He's had every opportunity to lower costs. But he chooses not to.

The Coloradans I meet on the Front Range and Western Slope aren't looking for more attacks on mail-in voting. They aren't looking for more ballrooms, bombs, and billionaires. They're looking for help - all while looking out and helping each other.

I see it across Colorado. People showing up for their neighbors. Families sharing whatever they can-meals, clothing, rides to school.

America's wealth has never been found in monuments, reflecting pools or arches.

It's found in our families. In our communities. In YOU.

Our charge has always been to help each other and to keep the American dream alive for the next generation.

That's what it means to be a Coloradan.

That's what it means to be an American.

And that is worth more than gold.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor."

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