Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Condemning President Trump For His Broken Promise To Lower Costs, Instead Focusing On His Largely Unpopular And Costly War In Iran

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor calling President Trump out on his failed promises to lower costs for the American people as inflation rates rise to 3.5% in the US. Leader Schumer emphasized the President is exacerbating the issues Americans are facing by continuing with his unpopular and costly war that is skyrocketing costs. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

This morning, America received another gut punch about rising costs that they have to pay because we learned that inflation rose to 3.5% in March - the highest rate in almost three years.

You know what that means? 3.5% increase in inflation means Americans are paying more and more and more, and it means at a time of rising costs that people hate, Donald Trump's making things worse, not better. The historic blunder in Iran is compounding the increase in prices. There was increase in prices before this bad war that Trump never should have called to begin with. The prices were going up for groceries, prices were going up for electric rates, prices were going up for health care, prices were going up for childcare, prices were going up because of tariffs. And then the war? Gasoline over $4 a gallon, higher than it's been. Price of crude oil: higher than it has been in a very long time. All because of a war where Trump seems to have no direction, no aim, no purpose, no conclusion.

Let me repeat: inflation rose to 3.5%. Higher costs on everything. Higher costs on groceries. On household essentials. On everything Americans need just to get by. And when oil costs go up, so does fertilizer, so does food. So does anything that travels by truck or train. So, these costs are hurting everybody, and it's getting worse.

Donald Trump, do you see what the inflation number means? Costs are getting worse. Affordability is getting tougher. People are paying more. All because of you, Donald Trump.

Trump said he'd bring down costs on day one. Well, here we're 15 months after Trump took office, and costs are skyrocketing so fast they're breaking records.

And as to the war, which is compounding the increases on inflation, Trump has no plan on how to get us out of this quagmire, just as he had no plan when he got us into this mess.

After weeks of leaving Congress in the dark about the state of Trump's disastrous war in Iran, Hegseth came to the Capitol to testify yesterday. What he said was disgraceful.

Here's what he said: "the biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats, and some Republicans."

Give me a break. You cause the war and your boss Donald Trump. You got us into this mess; you can't get us out of this mess and so you try to point a finger. People don't buy that. Maybe a few MAGA listeners of Fox News do, but not anybody else.

So I say to Hegseth, take a look in the mirror. Our greatest challenge in Iran is Donald Trump and Secretary Hegseth and Americans know it. The war is unpopular, they blame Trump for it of course. The greatest obstacle to peace is the incompetence of the Secretary of Defense and of the President of the United States.

Hegseth said the war has been an "astounding victory" and that the American people support it.

Your intel is off, Secretary Hegseth: fewer than one in four Americans think this war has been worthwhile. Let me repeat that to you: fewer than one in four Americans think this war has been worthwhile. And a huge number of Republicans and Independents, not just Democrats, agree. So, stop being partisan, stop pointing fingers, roll up your sleeves, and come to an end to this mess, this quagmire.

As for an "astounding victory," our service members have performed impressively - they always do - but they are saddled with the bad decision-making of this President and his cabinet.

Thirteen American servicemembers have been killed, 400 have been wounded, nearly 400, and the Pentagon says it's spent at least $25 billion on this war so far.

Meanwhile, American families are hurting every time they go to the gas station or grocery store. All for no strategic gain.

Is that what Pete Hegseth thinks is an astounding victory? You're going to take out a brass band and salute that inflation is up 3.5%? Salute that the Strait of Hormuz is still closed? Salute that we still haven't found the nuclear armaments - the nuclear facilities, and potential weaponry that Iran has? None of that has been advanced. So this is not an astounding victory.

It's past time that Senate Republicans join Democrats on our War Powers Resolution. We forced votes on our resolution five times and will force a sixth vote today, and it's going to come back week after week. Republican Senators, you can't escape that. You are culpable. You are preventing an end to this war, which Americans want to see the end to the war.

Tomorrow marks 60 days since Donald Trump officially notified Congress about his attack on Iran. After we cross that 60-day threshold, there can be no more doubts that he's violating the War Powers Act.

Republicans are out of hollow excuses, they're out of hiding places. End this war, Republicans. Bring our troops home, stop bleeding taxpayers dry, support our War Powers Resolution.

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