Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Dangers Of MAGA Extremism And President Trump’s Reckless Calls—And GOP Dangerous Compliance—To Defund The FBI And DOJ

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor calling out the dangers of MAGA Republicanism, extreme legislative measures on abortion, and lack of action on gun reform. Senator Schumer highlights the importance of an upcoming Senate vote to condemn former president Donald Trump’s call to “defund” the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice as well. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

At the start of the year, I warned that Republicans in Congress faced a critical choice: abandon MAGA extremism for the good of the country, or double down on the road to radicalism.

Four months later, too many Republicans have made choice clear: instead of coming to the middle, they have sprinted to the extreme.

Instead of abandoning MAGA, too many Republicans have doubled down. Look at the last few weeks.

Look no further than what happened last week in Florida, where the Republican Governor signed one of the most extreme anti-choice bills in the entire country, a near total ban on abortion after six weeks.

Let’s not kid ourselves: a six week ban is practically a total ban. Many women don’t even know they are pregnant by six weeks. Most Floridians fiercely oppose such a draconian provision, one that will endanger not only millions of women in Florida, but tens of millions of women across the entire south, who tragically have fewer and fewer options for accessing reproductive care.

And lest anyone think that Republicans oppose abortion because of state’s rights, oh no, the decision by a federal judge in Texas issuing a nationwide suspension of mifepristone should make it clear what this is truly about: a national ban on abortion. That is where the Republicans seem to be.

And Republicans seem to be caught – these two weeks made it clear – in a self-destructive dynamic: the more that Americans reject their extreme views at the ballot box, the more these MAGA Republicans seem to double down. We’re seeing this played out on choice.

But we’re also seeing it play out on gun safety. Let me be clear: most Americans support some commonsense gun safety. Parents are tired of worrying about whether their kids are safe at school.

But when tragedy struck a school in Nashville, Tennessee, Republicans reacted not by voting on new gun safety laws, but instead by expelling two representatives of color who dared commit the sin of speaking out against the inaction. That is the antithesis of democracy, it is – the road to outright autocracy.

Even today, Republican extremism was on full display in New York City. Today the Republican House Judiciary Chairman held what he claimed was a field hearing about public safety, but to date Chairman Jordan and his colleagues have refused to denounce President Trump’s call to defund the FBI and the DOJ.

Defunding the FBI is truly unhinged, and every single member of the House and Senate—Democrat and Republican alike—should unequivocally condemn former President Trump for pushing this idea. Very soon, the members of this chamber will have a chance to go on record and denounce the former president’s call to cut funding to our federal law enforcement. I hope everyone in the chamber does the right thing. The FBI, many of them, risk their lives to protect us from drugs, from guns, from terrorism – defund it just cause President Trump in a self-serving moment said so? Where are our Republican friends? Or are they just moving so far to the right they can’t reject something as clear as this?

So, as I said moments ago, Republicans are caught in a self-destructive dynamic: the more that Americans reject their extreme views at the ballot box, the more they seem to double down.

If they continue down this road, not only will our country suffer, but the GOP themselves will suffer as Americans keep rejecting them at the ballot box.

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