Sullivan: “Democrats Are in Disarray” on $3.5 Trillion Tax-and-Spend Spree
“The supposed most deliberative body in the world is not doing anything in terms of transparency on this massive bill.”
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said yesterday that “Democrats are in disarray” regarding their plan to advance a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. In his interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network, Sen. Sullivan also criticized Senate Democrats for not holding a single committee hearing or mark-up in advance of a vote, providing the American people with no transparency on this largest-in-a-generation spending package.
On Monday, Sen. Sullivan spoke on the Senate floor, calling on Senate Democrats to hold hearings and mark-ups on the “transformational, socialist” reconciliation bill.
Transcript of interview
BARTIROMO: I have to get your take on economic issues. Even in the face of all of this, Senator, your colleagues are driving fast, trying to change this economy, change America in two weeks' time. President Biden postponed his trip in Chicago today so he can stay in D.C. and focus on his economic agenda. The House is going to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill tomorrow. Bernie Sanders is urging progressives to block it until the $3.5 trillion dollar reconciliation bill is passed. Where is this going, senator?
SULLIVAN: As you know, Maria, right now the Democrats are in disarray and I think it's mainly because this $3.5 trillion dollar socialist cradle-to-grave reckless spending bill is finally getting a little bit of attention. This will have not only things like the Green New Deal and the largest tax increase in U.S. history in it, but it's also going to super charge inflation and we are seeing inflation hurting working families across the nation.
There’s one issue, Maria: I was down on the Senate floor the other day making an argument. Here’s something else that’s going on. There's zero transparency on this giant $3.5 trillion dollar bill. The Democrats in the Senate have not held one hearing, no mark-ups. I challenged the Majority Leader, come on down to the Senate floor and tell the American people why you're not doing any hearings on it. Of course, there were crickets. Here’s my view on why they aren’t doing it. They are afraid. They don't want the American people to know what's in the socialist spending bill. I’ll tell you this, they do not want the vision of the budget chairman, who is an avowed socialist, Bernie Sanders, marking up his socialist bill that he authored. That's what the American people would see if we held hearings in the Senate. Right now, they are holding zero hearings. The supposed most deliberative body in the world is not doing anything in terms of transparency on this massive bill.
BARTIROMO: Yeah, I mean, when did you get your hands on the bill, because there's a picture of your colleague, Senator Barrasso, holding the bill. It's 2,500 pages. How irresponsible to have this enormously big bill and it's likely that people haven't even read it. When did you get your hands on it—because I'm wondering if it's even realistic that anybody read this bill. It’s 2,500 pages.
SULLIVAN: The bill is not officially even out there. There's been no hearings. Not one hearing. There's been no mark-ups. At least in the House there was a mark-up. Yes, it was very fast. We haven't done any of that in the Senate and, again, the Democrats are afraid to do it. They don't want the American people to know that this socialist spending bill, authored by an avowed socialist, is coming their way. So, no transparency. We need to keep pounding them on this issue because it is unbelievable.
BARTIROMO: Yeah. Well, it is. Senator, (it’s) the largest bill we've ever seen and there's no debate. That's it. No debate. Dan Sullivan, thank you, sir. We will be watching.
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