Schumer Announces Plan To Attempt To Pass New Senate Resolution Calling For The Whistleblower Complaint To Be Transmitted To Senate And House Intelligence Committees

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor announcing his plan to request unanimous consent of the Senate to pass a resolution calling for the whistleblower complaint to be provided to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. Below are his remarks, which can also be found here.

We continue to read reports containing additional information about the nature of President Trump’s phone calls with Ukrainian President Zelensky and his administration’s conduct in the weeks and months before and after those communications. Ignoring for a moment the political reporting, we know that someone inside the Intelligence Community found the president’s conduct alarming enough to warrant an official whistleblower complaint. The complaint was so alarming that the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, appointed by President Trump, said that it was “credible” and “urgent.” It’s a complaint that, by law, must be submitted to Congress. This is not one of those discretionary moments. The law says this must be transmitted to Congress.

Well, we still have not received the whistleblower complaint and Congress has been advised, in writing, by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community that the Trump administration is preventing us from getting this report.

So later today, I will request the unanimous consent of the Senate to pass a resolution calling for the whistleblower complaint to be provided to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, as prescribed by law. Let me repeat that. Later today, I will request the unanimous consent of the Senate to pass a resolution calling for the whistleblower complaint to be provided to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, as prescribed by law.

It is our job in the Congress to provide the necessary oversight of the executive branch. To take these matters—matters of foreign policy, national security, and constitutional integrity—with the utmost gravity. To seek the facts and then grapple with them. I made several requests of the Majority Leader yesterday in an effort to collect the facts, to which I’ve received no response.

Today, I will seek approval for a simple resolution calling for the whistleblower complaint to be transmitted to the relevant committees in Congress. I hope the Majority Leader and Senate Republicans would not block it. I hope they will rise to the occasion and realize this is their constitutional duty, and realize that this involves the security of the United States.

I will have more to say on the matter before requesting my colleagues' consent to pass this resolution later today.

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