Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill that does nothing, not one thing to address the Republican healthcare crisis amid a cost-of- living crisis.

More than 20 million Americans will have to pay double, even triple their monthly insurance premiums in just a matter of weeks, and this bill leaves families without even a glimmer of hope that their costs might go down.

Energy prices are up. Grocery prices are up. Housing costs are up. When two-thirds of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck, you can understand why the most important issue on their mind is affordability.

What does President Trump say? Affordability is a ``con job.'' How out of touch can he be? The President should start to listen to the American people, not his millionaire, billionaire friends.

President Trump and my Republican colleagues refuse to address this issue. They continue to avoid it. They were so intent on avoiding it that they shut down the government instead of dealing with it.

Speaker Johnson has indicated that he will not deal with it. He has shown no interest in holding a vote on extending the healthcare subsidies, which would prevent monthly costs from soaring.

Republicans have tried to say they will deal with this problem their own way, but they have no plan. They are trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as they have been trying to do unsuccessfully for 15 years. However, they are poised to succeed, which is why it is so important for this continuing resolution to fail.

President Trump and Republicans' plan is to drive up prices for everybody, compounding the cost-of-living crisis. More than 2 million Americans are expected to lose their health insurance next year because it has simply become too expensive.

There are more than 50 pages of healthcare provisions in this bill. Not one of them stops costs from skyrocketing at the beginning of next year. Not one of them offers relief to American families being squeezed tighter and tighter by the Republican crisis.

There is one group of people, however, who will receive some relief thanks to this bill: United States Senators who may have participated in an insurrection. Snuck into this bill at the eleventh hour by Senate Republicans is a provision to pay out at least a million dollars each to eight United States Senators implicated in the January 6 insurrection. Understand, this is a corrupt precedent. This is where Members can profit from their own votes. It is the fleecing of the American people, which they get and understand.

At the same time, this bill excludes a provision that would order a plaque to be hung that honors the police officers who put their lives on the line to defend our democracy from that same insurrection. What a contrast.

It is yet another instance of this administration's shameless corruption that is financially ruining American families. While there is $230 million for the President to pay himself from the Department of Justice, $8 million for some of his closest Senate allies, $200 million for a pair of private jets for the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, and $40 billion to Argentina, the American people are left with nothing but higher costs.

This bill also fails to fully cover the Toxic Exposures Fund, which was created to support veterans exposed to burn pits and Agent Orange. We made a promise to stand by the men and women who served our country in uniform. This bill does not live up to that promise.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans need to stop taking photographs with veterans and then vote against their healthcare.

Those who lead in the appropriations process here believe in the constitutional power of the purse. Over the past month, President Trump has been firing Federal workers en masse. When his administration has failed there, they have made life so miserable for Federal workers that they had no choice but to leave.

Federal workers should be ``traumatically affected.'' Those are the words of the Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, an unelected bureaucratic.

The Federal workforce has dwindled by 200,000 since January, jeopardizing the public services that so many people rely on. I say: Spare us your false concern.

Mr. Speaker, since January, this administration has been stealing from our communities, withholding as much as $410 billion in funding approved by Democrats and Republicans--House and Senate--signed into law. They are illegally blocking authorized funds from being distributed.

Even now, as we debate this bill, the Trump administration is arguing to the Supreme Court that they should be allowed to withhold food stamp funding that Congress lawfully approved. They were ordered by three separate courts to distribute food assistance and are still fighting to withhold it.

It is not connected to opening this government. They have the money. They have it now for food stamps. They just refuse to use it. Imagine using food as a political weapon. It is unspeakable and immoral. It seems like their only plan is to strip children of food assistance, while kicking their parents off their health insurance.

They have demonstrated that that is who they are. These are their true colors. We cannot expect Democrats to go along with any bipartisan funding deal if that agreement can be undone with a party line vote. Congress must assert its authority over the power of the purse.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I remind the majority leader that for a 60- year-old couple earning $82,800 per year, their premiums will rise by over $17,000. This is a 255 percent increase.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Wasserman Schultz), who is the distinguished ranking member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this slush fund for Senators bill that will force healthcare costs to explode for millions of Americans.

In fact, this legislation guarantees only two things: Republican Senators suspected of helping Trump try to steal an election will get a whole lot richer, and life will get more expensive for everyone else.

That is because this bill adds rocket fuel to Republicans' larger assault on Americans' access to quality, affordable healthcare.

Remember, Mr. Speaker, Republicans already slashed $1 trillion from Medicaid, $500 billion from Medicare, and let Trump steal billions in medical research. With this bill, Republicans dump massive healthcare price hikes on struggling Americans. Millions will be priced out of any coverage at all, which will drive coverage costs up and health services down for all of us.

It is a health budget nightmare for America's families and a slush fund lottery win for eight Republican Senators. That is because the one thing we can all agree on, unless you are Jeffrey Epstein's best friend in the White House, is that the cost-of-living is out of control. Rent, home insurance, and electric bills are all soaring. The cost of beef, coffee, and vegetables just keep climbing.

People are really struggling to get by, yet Donald Trump continues to block SNAP benefits to 42 million struggling seniors, parents, and veterans.

How anyone could swipe food from the plates of nearly 20 million children like that is simply disgusting, but that same moral bankruptcy is embedded in this bill.

This bill unleashes huge health insurance hikes on 203,000 people in my district alone. Mr. Speaker, 82,000 people will lose coverage altogether due to the impact of the big, ugly law and soaring ACA prices.

Worse, this bill also reneges on our commitment to veterans. As the ranking member of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, I take our promises to veterans personally and seriously.

Just this summer, I secured bipartisan support for my amendment to restore $51.7 billion in advance funding for the Toxic Exposures Fund. This is funding, mind you, that President Trump sought in his budget.

Yet, as Republicans slipped a slush fund for Senators into this bill, they gutted a critical funding protection for veterans.

Just so we are all clear, average Americans will see their kitchen table budget blow up from the health coverage price hikes, and veterans will see their future healthcare funding for toxic exposures put in jeopardy, all so billionaires can keep getting huge tax breaks.

It is hard to pick between the worst moral outrages behind this bill. Was it covering up for Epstein's best friend for nearly 2 months just so Republicans could vacation and avoid negotiating a better healthcare plan for our struggling families, or is it the slush fund that personally enriches Republican Senators and will haunt everyone who votes for this bill?

Well, House Democrats will oppose this partisan spending bill that guts America's healthcare, and we will keep fighting to extend healthcare tax credits.

Donald Trump and Republicans broke their promise to lower costs, and this bill certainly cements that betrayal.

Democrats will stand by our promise to lower costs, and we will make sure every American knows Republicans are responsible for this devastating healthcare crisis.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I have the greatest honor to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished Speaker Emerita and, I might add, probably the epitome of the best Speaker that this Nation has ever had, in addition to which millions of Americans have healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act because of Speaker Pelosi. She is also Italian American.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Kaptur), the distinguished ranking member of the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
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Ms. DeLAURO. McCollum), the distinguished ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee.

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Ms. DeLAURO. DelBene).

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Ms. DeLAURO. Barragan).

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Ms. DeLAURO. Clark), the distinguished Democratic whip.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, this bill fails to prevent healthcare costs from skyrocketing and fails to address the crisis of affordability. It fails to keep our promise to veterans. It provides a million-dollar jackpot to eight Senators. It fails to protect Congress' power of the purse. I encourage my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I have the honor of yielding 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), our distinguished Democratic leader.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 222, nays 209, not voting 2, as follows: [Roll No. 285] YEAS--222 Aderholt Alford Allen Amodei (NV) Arrington Babin Bacon Baird Balderson Barr Barrett Baumgartner Bean (FL) Begich Bentz Bergman Bice Biggs (AZ) Biggs (SC) Bilirakis Boebert Bost Brecheen Bresnahan Buchanan Burchett Burlison Calvert Cammack Carey Carter (GA) Carter (TX) Ciscomani Cline Cloud Clyde Cole Collins Comer Crane Crank Crawford Crenshaw Cuellar Davidson Davis (NC) De La Cruz DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Donalds Downing Dunn (FL) Edwards Ellzey Emmer Estes Evans (CO) Ezell Fallon Fedorchak Feenstra Fine Finstad Fischbach Fitzgerald Fitzpatrick Fleischmann Flood Fong Foxx Franklin, Scott Fry Fulcher Garbarino Gill (TX) Gimenez Golden (ME) Goldman (TX) Gonzales, Tony Gooden Gosar Graves Gray Greene (GA) Griffith Grothman Guest Guthrie Hageman Hamadeh (AZ) Haridopolos Harrigan Harris (MD) Harris (NC) Harshbarger Hern (OK) Higgins (LA) Hill (AR) Hinson Houchin Hudson Huizenga Hunt Hurd (CO) Issa Jack Jackson (TX) James Johnson (LA) Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (OH) Joyce (PA) Kean Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Kennedy (UT) Kiggans (VA) Kiley (CA) Kim Knott Kustoff LaHood LaLota LaMalfa Langworthy Latta Lawler Lee (FL) Letlow Loudermilk Lucas Luna Luttrell Mace Mackenzie Malliotakis Maloy Mann Mast McClain McClintock McCormick McDowell McGuire Messmer Meuser Miller (IL) Miller (OH) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Mills Moolenaar Moore (AL) Moore (NC) Moore (UT) Moore (WV) Moran Murphy Nehls Newhouse Norman Nunn (IA) Obernolte Ogles Onder Owens Palmer Patronis Perez Perry Pfluger Reschenthaler Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rouzer Roy Rulli Rutherford Salazar Scalise Schmidt Schweikert Scott, Austin Self Sessions Shreve Simpson Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smucker Spartz Stauber Stefanik Steil Strong Stutzman Suozzi Taylor Tenney Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Turner (OH) Valadao Van Drew Van Duyne Van Orden Wagner Walberg Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Westerman Wied Williams (TX) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Yakym Zinke NAYS--209 Adams Aguilar Amo Ansari Auchincloss Balint Barragan Beatty Bell Bera Beyer Bishop Bonamici Boyle (PA) Brown Brownley Budzinski Bynum Carbajal Carson Carter (LA) Casar Case Casten Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Cherfilus-McCormick Chu Cisneros Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Conaway Correa Costa Courtney Craig Crockett Crow Davids (KS) Davis (IL) Dean (PA) DeGette DeLauro DelBene Deluzio DeSaulnier Dexter Dingell Doggett Elfreth Escobar Espaillat Evans (PA) Fields Figures Fletcher Foster Foushee Frankel, Lois Friedman Frost Garamendi Garcia (CA) Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Gillen Goldman (NY) Gomez Gonzalez, V. Goodlander Gottheimer Green, Al (TX) Grijalva Harder (CA) Hayes Himes Horsford Houlahan Hoyer Hoyle (OR) Huffman Ivey Jackson (IL) Jacobs Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson (TX) Kamlager-Dove Kaptur Keating Kelly (IL) Kennedy (NY) Khanna Krishnamoorthi Landsman Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latimer Lee (NV) Lee (PA) Leger Fernandez Levin Liccardo Lieu Lofgren Lynch Magaziner Mannion Massie Matsui McBath McBride McClain Delaney McClellan McCollum McDonald Rivet McGarvey McGovern McIver Meeks Menendez Meng Mfume Min Moore (WI) Morelle Morrison Moskowitz Moulton Mrvan Mullin Nadler Neal Neguse Norcross Ocasio-Cortez Olszewski Omar Pallone Panetta Pappas Pelosi Peters Pettersen Pingree Pocan Pou Pressley Quigley Ramirez Randall Raskin Riley (NY) Rivas Ross Ruiz Ryan Salinas Sanchez Scanlon Schakowsky Schneider Scholten Schrier Scott (VA) Scott, David Sewell Sherman Sherrill Simon Smith (WA) Sorensen Soto Stansbury Stanton Steube Stevens Strickland Subramanyam Swalwell Sykes Takano Thanedar Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Titus Tlaib Tokuda Tonko Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Trahan Tran Underwood Vargas Vasquez Veasey Velazquez Vindman Walkinshaw Wasserman Schultz Waters Whitesides Williams (GA) Wilson (FL) NOT VOTING--2 McCaul Watson Coleman

Ms. SCHOLTEN changed her vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''

So the motion to concur was agreed to.

The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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