September 03, 2025

Chairman Aguilar: Donald Trump and House Republicans manufactured this health care crisis because they decided to put profits over people

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, Vice Chair Ted Lieu and Caucus Leadership Representative Steven Horsford held a press conference to discuss how President Trump and Republicans’ agenda is raising costs and putting Americans’ health care at risk. You can read the transcript below and watch the full press conference here.

CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning and welcome back. I know you’re all thrilled that we are here in town. Great to be back. So thankful to be joined today by our newest Democratic Caucus Leadership Representative Steven Horsford from Nevada. You'll hear from him shortly. And of course, Vice Chair Ted Lieu. Throughout the August District Work Period, the number one thing that we heard from our constituents was the concern about rising costs—especially the skyrocketing cost of health care. Thanks to Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill, which became law earlier this summer, over 15 million Americans are now getting kicked off of health care. On top of that, 24 million Americans who buy their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act will see those costs go up by as much as 75 percent. These might sound like big numbers, but they have very real consequences. Your neighbor might not be able to pay for the cancer treatment that they desperately need, or someone in your family might struggle to pay for the prescription drug costs that are rising on a daily basis. And we need to remember how we got here—Donald Trump and House Republicans manufactured this health care crisis because they decided to put profits over people, and to give billionaire buddies tax breaks at the expense of working families. Republicans claim to care about the economy, but Donald Trump promised to lower costs on day one, and the American people are still seeing right through their lies. Our constituents deserve better. And that's why Democrats are doing everything in our power to expose the truth about Republicans’ cruel agenda that puts Americans’ health care at risk and to hold this Administration accountable at every turn. Now, I'll turn it over to Vice Chair Ted Lieu.

VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. Under the policies of Donald Trump and House Republicans, prices have gone up, up and up. The latest inflation report shows that core CPI rose by the highest it's been since the last six months. Energy prices have gone up. Electricity is skyrocketing in a number of areas, more than doubling the pace of inflation in some of these areas. We know food prices have gone up. For example, one pound of beef has gone up 12.8 percent in the last six months. One pound of chicken breast has gone up nearly six percent in the last six months. And if you want to finance a new car with a car loan, it's gone up about $400 in the last six or seven months. And what is Donald Trump and House Republicans doing about it? Nothing. In fact, House Republicans today on the Judiciary Committee are holding a hearing on European laws in Europe that govern what Europeans can say about speech. That's what they're talking about. Instead of addressing inflation or the Epstein files. And then Trump's tariffs are going to make these costs even worse.

We're asking House Republicans and Donald Trump to focus on what the American people want, which is to bring down costs. We know, as Chairman Aguilar said, health care costs are going to skyrocket as well because of this Big Ugly Bill, you're going to have deep cuts to Medicaid as well as the ACA and an additional $500 billion to Medicare. We saw today that the Trump Administration is trying to rebrand the Big Ugly Bill. Turns out you cannot rebrand crap, right? You can call it fecal matter. You can call it poo. But at the end of the day, it's still crap. And that's because the Big Ugly Bill has massive cuts to health care, the largest in U.S. history. And in exchange, they give really large tax breaks to billionaires and millionaires, including a new yacht tax. Try rebranding that. Now it's my honor to introduce Steven Horsford. It's an honor to serve with Steven in leadership. He is a great representative for Nevada, and I look forward to hearing from Steven Horsford.

CAUCUS LEADERSHIP REPRESENTATIVE HORSFORD: Well, thank you very much. It's great to join Chairman Aguilar and Vice Chair Lieu. For their tremendous leadership, thank you for including me in today's press conference. I am Congressman Steven Horsford, representing Nevada's Fourth Congressional District, and as the new Democratic Caucus Leadership Representative for the five-terms-or-less members, I'm eager to bring those insights of our newer members of Congress into the Democratic leadership discussions, and that starts with health care, which is a fundamental right, human right and an economic necessity.

The American people are scared right now. They're scared because Congressional Republicans have cut health care to the bone to fund tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-rich. Millions of Americans are now one diagnosis, one broken bone and one unexpected illness away from financial ruin. More than 20 million people became covered through the Advanced Premium Tax Credits. Democrats did that when we passed the Affordable Care Act. We fought to protect those tax credits and extend those tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, but they expire at the end of this year, which means Congress needs to act now to extend them. But so far, Republicans haven't just refused, they've stonewalled our attempts to extend them. And believe me, I would know—they were my amendments. Their Big Ugly Tax Scam adds trillions to our debt, kicks millions of Americans off health care coverage by excluding the Affordable Care Act premium tax credit extension and it makes coverage unaffordable for millions more. People that I represent—from North Las Vegas to rural Nevada—people that I'm here to fight for now.

A woman named Andrea, whose daughter has schizoaffective disorder. It took four years of treatment to stabilize her life. Without affordable health insurance, she couldn't have afforded the consistent care that helped stabilize her, find employment and return to being a productive and compassionate member of our community. Another named Evan retired with his wife. He tells me that their two greatest concerns are the cost of living and health care, both of which were not on the horizon at the beginning of this year. And Kenneth, who contacted my office after a motorcycle accident. Kenneth is lucky to be alive today, and also lucky he had insurance from the Nevada exchange. Without his coverage, he could not have come close to covering his medical bills. Some things should rise above partisan politics. Health care must be one of them. Republicans need to join House Democrats now in protecting the health and well-being of our constituents. The time to act is right now. I look forward to working with Chairman Aguilar, Vice Chair Lieu and all of our leadership to make sure health care remains at the top of our priority of what we’re fighting for on behalf of the American people. I yield back.

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