Mr. REED. Mr. President, the rhetoric of Donald Trump and Republicans on the budget is all over the map. Here is what is important to know.

Republicans want $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, primarily for the richest Americans, paid for with sharp cuts in programs that help average Americans and the most vulnerable in our society.

Yesterday, I spoke on the floor about one of the most cynical parts of this resolution: gutting healthcare for children, seniors, and Americans with disabilities through extreme cuts to Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.

Donald Trump said that Medicaid and Medicare would be off limits, but the budgets put out by Republicans indicate something quite different.

During the debate on this budget, Republicans will have the opportunity to vote on amendments to show where they stand, and, more importantly, who they stand with--everyday Americans or the roughly 750 billionaires in the United States. That is the stakes--hundreds of millions of nurses, firefighters, office workers, systems administrators, salespeople, and their children versus the interests of roughly 750 people whose wealth grows by millions every single day.

Ripping health coverage away from Americans may be the worst part of this budget, but it is far from the only bad provision. Instead, this budget is part of a broader decision by President Trump and congressional Republicans to force American families to pay more for food, healthcare, and education--again, all so the wealthiest Americans can get a huge tax break.

The “big, beautiful bill” that Donald Trump favors is expected to gut Medicaid by at least $880 billion dollars. The cuts would be devastating for the 80 million Americans who rely on Medicaid and CHIP, who are almost entirely children, seniors, people with disabilities, and working men and women who depend upon Medicaid protection. Forcing struggling Americans to pay more for health insurance or to lose health coverage altogether is heartless policy and a slap in the face to the millions of families who are struggling to make ends meet.

And yet Medicaid is not the only target in this resolution. Food for the dinner table is also on the chopping block with cuts of reportedly at least $230 billion to SNAP. Each of us has seen news reports about the long lines at food pantries in our States. Who hasn't heard that the price of eggs is up 15 percent in the last month alone? Who doesn't remember, also, the campaign promise of Donald Trump to bring grocery prices down on the first day of his term?

Yet here we are with a Trump-backed bill that makes groceries even more expensive for 42 million Americans who qualify for SNAP. Gutting this program, the SNAP program, doesn't lower prices, but it sure will increase the problem of hunger in the richest country in the world.

Put simply, President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" is forcing vulnerable American families to pay more for food and healthcare. Such policies directly contradict the President's campaign promise that ``starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again.

Republicans can't dodge the truth: $880 billion in Medicaid cuts and $230 billion in SNAP cuts will mean more kids go hungry, more seniors can't afford lifesaving treatment, and more households are forced into poverty.

The budget resolution's cost-raising trifecta ends with higher education costs. Instead of making college more affordable and offering young Americans more pathways to prosperity, this Republican budget will increase the cost of student loans and cut other programs that help Americans offset the costs of education.

Education cuts come at, perhaps, the worst time. Most jobs that provide living wages require some postsecondary education or training. A college education, which has long been a ticket to the middle class, is now too expensive for too many families. Meanwhile, the main source of government higher education aid for low- and moderate-income families, the Pell grant, has lost most of its purchasing power. At its peak in 1975 and 1976, the Pell grant--named after my predecessor, Senator Claiborne Pell--covered more than 75 percent of the cost of attendance at a public 4-year college. Today, it covers less than 30 percent.

Unsurprisingly, over 40 million Americans now have student loan debt, which prevents them, in many cases, from purchasing a home or moving to areas where they might be able to use their talents more effectively, and has many other consequences.

Forcing Americans to pay even more for college makes higher education less attainable, weakens our labor force, and will have long-term repercussions for American families, American prosperity, and American security.

Now, many Americans may be wondering: What is the point of all of these cuts?

It is not about reforming programs. There has been no serious cost-benefit analysis of any of these programs. All they have looked at is, What does it cost, and how can we use that money to fund taxes? 

That is not government reform. That is not wise government. That is just ripping off most Americans to satisfy 750 billionaires.

And it is not even about reducing the deficit. As I said, it is just about unlocking a fast-track way to reward the wealthiest Americans--some of whom are now in the Trump administration. 

Republicans have been pretty clear. The central purpose of their budget is to permanently extend the failed 2017 Trump tax bill, which was an unpopular giveaway to the wealthiest Americans. Nearly half of the benefits from extending the Trump tax bill will flow just to the richest Americans, those earning $450,000 or more each year.

President Trump promised on the campaign trail that ``starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again.'' But we are now on day 32, and costs have not come down. In fact, inflation hit 3 percent for the first time in months this January, and the President took no action while egg prices hit record highs--a particular point of pain for many families.

And just like this budget resolution, the President has been intent on forcing families to pay more, not less, for everyday goods. In just 1 month, the President has implemented or threatened tariff taxes on nearly every item imaginable.

Nonpartisan experts are clear: These tariff taxes will not ``make America affordable again.'' The Peterson Institute projects the tariff taxes on Canada, Mexico, and China alone would cost U.S. households $1,200 a year--a tariff tax. Yale researchers have found the President's threat to place reciprocal tariffs on our trading partners would cost families $2,600. Analysts at the investment bank Jefferies projects car prices will jump by $2,700 under the President's Canada and Mexico tariffs, while the National Association of Home Builders found President Trump's lumber tariffs during his first term--which he promised to raise again--in his first term, raised housing prices by $9,000, and he still wants to do it again.

We have also heard a lot about Mr. Musk's DOGE and fraud, waste, and abuse, but that operation doesn't seem to be about preventing fraud, waste, and abuse, or lowering costs.

By the way, if you were really interested in eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Government, why would you fire all the inspectors general? They are independent agents who are charged specifically to root out waste and corruption in the Federal Government. President Trump did that. So this is not about getting rid of waste or anything else. Again, it is finding trillions of dollars to give away to rich Americans.

In fact, the other aspect of DOGE is just to create mayhem to impact so much of government: firing responsible staffers who are handling key issues, weapons--nuclear weapons.

I was in the airport, on Monday evening, flying down from Providence, and a young lady came up to me and said she was fired a few days ago from the National Nuclear Security Administration because she was a probationary hire. But guess what. When they discovered that they could not protect nuclear weapons--not do sensitive maintenance on them so that they would be ready for deterrence--she was suddenly called back.

Not very smart.

DOGE is also trying to fire researchers who are out to cure Alzheimer's disease, trying to get rid of experts who fight bird flu, and seeking access to computer systems at the IRS and the Social Security Administration--which contain personal and financial information for each and every single American.

I don't think most Americans want Elon Musk to know all of their financial information, their personal information, maybe even healthcare information. But that could happen.

It is not combating fraud, all of these things. In fact, it is close to--particularly with the IRS information--committing fraud.

Indeed, the budget resolution we will vote on tonight is just further evidence that Republicans and President Trump have no plan and no real interest in lowering costs for families, and I think that is wrong.

Now, I am all for tax cuts, but it should be tax cuts for the middle class, tax cuts for those struggling with high prices, and tax cuts for small businesses, not 750 billionaires. Forcing regular Americans to cover tax cuts to the richest Americans is not the sort of economic policy we should be pursuing in the Senate.

I urge my colleagues to rethink which Americans deserve their support.