Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, denounced President Trump and Republicans’ partisan budget bill that will massively raise costs for working-class Americans in order to deliver $5.3 trillion in tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. In his speech on the Senate floor, Padilla stressed that these tax breaks for billionaires will require cuts to services Americans depend on like Medicaid and nutrition assistance.

Padilla tied the budget bill back to Republicans’ tax cuts for the wealthy during the first Trump Administration, asking “when is enough enough?” He emphasized that Trump’s tariffs will only further compound the challenge of rising costs for Americans.

• “What Republicans were successful in doing was passing a historic tax break for the wealthiest Americans. It added nearly $2 trillion to our nation’s debt. Deficit hawks, are you listening? $2 trillion that could have gone to improve public schools, could have gone to address the housing supply challenges in our nation, could have gone to helping lift children and families out of poverty. But no. A tax break for the wealthiest Americans and some of the largest corporations on the planet.”

• “When is enough enough? Because since the day Donald Trump took office for a second term, we continue to see prices going up, not down. Yes, the President that promised to lower prices on day one, through his statements, through his rhetoric, through his policies and actions, has led to price increases across the board.”

• “Consumers are paying more. It’s like a tax increase. … So where’s the money going? This is the deja vu part. Their efforts to once again cut taxes for large corporations and the wealthiest in America, the billionaire class, if you will. … So I ask the question again, when is enough enough?”

Padilla underscored that over 70 million Americans and 15 million Californians rely on Medicaid, yet Trump and Republicans’ partisan budget plan would mean hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the program, despite Republican claims that it is not on the chopping block. He later spotlighted stories about recipients of California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, who fear the catastrophic consequences of Republicans’ attempts to cut lifesaving Medicaid services again.

• “They continue to pursue their agenda of relief, tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans because they need some extra spending money at the expense of the health of children and families. When is enough enough?”

• “A vote for this budget — there’s no way to add it up differently — a vote for this budget resolution is a vote to cut Medicaid, no ifs, ands, or buts. Republicans in the House have been clear, and it’s the only way to read the bill before us today. So to my colleagues, again, when is enough enough?”

Padilla highlighted his personal upbringing, growing up in the working-class community of Pacoima, California where for 40 years, his dad worked as a short order cook and his mom cleaned houses. He emphasized that lower-income families and communities like the one he grew up in will be devastated by rising costs and the elimination of their hard-earned benefits.

• “Our home was filled with a lot of love, a lot of discipline, a lot of sacrifice. There were times when it was tough. There were times when money was more than just tight. So when you hear people talk about, oh, families that live paycheck to paycheck, I know what that means. I know what it means for so many families across the country who just a couple hundred dollars difference makes a huge difference. I know the stress, the anxiety of when the car unexpectedly breaks down, and you look at your savings account, and on the one hand, you may not have enough to pay for repairs, but you also know… you can’t afford to not get to work.”

• “It’s the same spirit of families like mine and the community like the one I grew up in that says I’m not interested in a handout. I just want a fair shot. I’m willing to work hard to get ahead. I’m willing to work hard to provide for my family. I’m willing to work hard to make sure my kids have a better shot at the American dream than I do. But that is not the spirit of the bill that we’re going to be entertaining today. In fact, it’s the opposite.”

• “This Republican tax/budget bill makes life harder for working families, makes working families pay more to subsidize tax breaks for the rich. You know what: to add insult to injury, where they’re seeking to cut to afford these tax rates for the wealthy are the very benefits that hardworking families have paid into through their taxes. These are benefits that they have earned. And so I ask again, colleagues, when is enough enough?”

Padilla closed his speech by making clear that the vote on the budget resolution shows where every Senator stands on supporting working families or billionaires and big corporations.

• “Let the history show: do you stand with the wealthy or do you stand with the working class? I choose to stand with the hardworking families across the country that work hard to make communities in our country thrive.”

Video of Senator Padilla’s full remarks is available here.

Footage of his remarks can be downloaded here.

Senator Padilla has been a vocal critic of the Republican budget bill that lays the groundwork to give massive handouts to billionaires at the expense of working-class Americans. Last week, Padilla criticized Republicans’ billionaire-first tax plans at a rally alongside other lawmakers, labor and grassroots advocates, and hundreds of Americans from across the country who will suffer because of this harmful tax proposal. Earlier this year, Padilla outlined Republicans’ misguided budget proposal in a Senate Budget Committee hearing. He also recently proposed a concurrent resolution would simply demand basic transparency by requiring that any tariff used to offset tax cuts for the wealthy be explicitly written into the Republicans’ partisan budget reconciliation bill. Padilla continues to raise the alarm about Republican efforts to cut critical services and benefits Californians rely on, including Medicaid, Social Security, and nutrition assistance.

###