Overnight, Republicans put the outline of their budget bill up for debate — the “one big, beautiful bill” Trump demanded. It puts together a massive hike on the debt ceiling that they need to get away with their tax giveaway to billionaires and corporations paid for by cuts to programs like Medicaid.
We started voting around 8 PM on a Friday night because they knew doing it in the dark of night would minimize media coverage. And they do not want the American people to see how blatant their handover of our government to the billionaire class is.
But I think it’s important you know because we all need to be shining a spotlight on what is going on. So let me explain what happened last night and what we did to fight back.
This bill is the core of Trump and Republicans’ billionaire first agenda. They put up a bill that gives $4.6 trillion in tax cuts to the wealthiest corporations and people — paid for by the rest of us. They want to slash popular and necessary programs like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and SNAP.
Last night’s vote was a required procedural step to move this bill forward. It’s just an outline of their plan, but with it, any senator can offer as many amendments as they want. So my Democratic colleagues and I did just that.
Now, we knew that Republicans would largely oppose them unanimously, but we had two objectives here. One, Republicans were forced to put their opinion on record on the most corrupt parts of Trump and Musk’s agenda. Two, I remain committed to making every process and procedure as slow and painful as possible for as long as my colleagues choose to ignore the constitutional crisis happening before our eyes. And the good news is that, with your help, more and more of my Democratic colleagues are joining me in this effort.
So what did we propose? We made them vote on preventing any cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. We made them vote on the White House’s corruption — from Signalgate to Trump’s crypto currency — and the seemingly unlimited power being given to Elon Musk and DOGE. Every single one of them was voted down.
I put forward an amendment to simply say that people making more than $500 MILLION per year should not get a tax cut. It would take someone making $10 an hour 2,857 years to earn $500 million. But, they voted it down.
On almost every single amendment, Republicans universally opposed it.
Republicans are not too ashamed of their corruption or theft to change course. They just want to hide it in the dark of the night. The whole game for Republicans is taking your money and giving it to the wealthiest corporations and billionaires — even if it means kicking your parents out of a nursing home or turning off Medicaid for the poorest children. That’s the “disturbance” that Trump claims the American people are fine to pay.
It sounds an awful lot like what Lord Farquaad said, “Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make.”
Look, they know this shit is deeply unpopular, and they simply do not care. This is the agenda the billionaires literally paid for. In 2024, six donors each spent more than $100 million on the election. Every single one of them was a Republican.
This is what we’re up against, and it’s why we have to do everything possible to mobilize the American people en masse and fight back to save our democracy.
Thanks to your pressure and support, I hope you’ve noticed more of my Democratic colleagues have joined my effort to do everything we can to make sure they cannot destroy democracy and steal your money in the dark of the night. We are being loud about what is happening. We are using the tools available to us.
I’m going to continue to grind the gears of Congress down as much as possible to make it that much harder and slower to get away with this corruption. That’s why the votes lasted until nearly 3 AM. It’s why I stayed in the Senate right alongside Cory Booker for 25 hours as his wingman to make sure he could pull off that extraordinary and historic measure. It’s why I’ve opposed every single Trump nominee — even perfectly qualified ones — for the past two months. Extraordinary times require extraordinary tactics and risks from us.
It is easy to feel hopeless in dark times like these. So I just want to be clear: I believe it’s still in our power to stop the destruction of our democracy with mass mobilization and effective opposition from elected officials.
That’s why I’m hitting the road to go to Republican districts and hold town halls. And you’ve got a role too. I need you to amplify what’s happening, support the leaders who are fighting for you to make sure they can continue speaking truth to power against Musk and Trump’s billionaire cronies, and show up at rallies and town halls. Use every tool at your disposal to send a message loud and clear about how you expect my colleagues to lead and fight in this moment.
Every best wish,
Chris Murphy
