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John Hickenlooper: “They want to give Trump unchecked control over our nation's…”

Featuring: John Hickenlooper, Democratic | U.S. Senate from Colorado

Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues

Published March 12, 2025 | Video Starts at 09:00

I mean, that's just irresponsible. And it led us to the brink of this shutdown. Buried in their proposal is, well, it's a power grab, a dangerous power grab. They want to give Trump unchecked control over our nation's spending. I mean, our Constitution is clear. Congress holds the power of the purse. This bill would wipe out congressional oversight, letting Trump cut and redirect funding however he wants. (09:00–09:05)

CLAIM

Asserts that the proposal aims to give Trump unchecked control over national spending.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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John Hickenlooper

“They fired over 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 18:18-18:23
“They fired another 2,300 workers from the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Indian Affairs.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 18:24-18:37
“Trump has already fired 6,000 veterans who are dedicated public servants.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 20:37-20:44
“The House budget resolution calls on the committee that oversees Medicaid to cut $880 billion from their budget.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 22:10-22:17
“60% of the seniors in nursing homes are able to be there because they're covered by Medicaid.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 22:51-23:00
“The news that the Trump administration is planning to fire 80,000 staff from the Veterans Administration is beyond words.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 45:22-45:35
“Roughly 30% of the federal workers are veterans.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 46:21-46:27
“California, where they just lost over $250 billion from the recent wildfires alone.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 54:52-55:01
“70% of the benefits from the Inflation Reduction act are these investments are going into red states, not blue states.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 56:13-56:21
“Real opponents of democracy have won elections and they're attacking every level of our government.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 05:29-05:37
“We've watched President Trump propose deep cuts to Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the ultra wealthy.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 05:36-05:44
“The Republican's budget is a blatant attempt to strip critical services like Medicaid from Americans to fund tax breaks for the…”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 05:36-05:44
“President Trump is firing workers across government with no plan, leaving our national parks, our veterans, even our weather services in the…”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 05:54-06:06
“Colorado roads, bridges, airports, modernized through the bipartisan infrastructure law.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 06:56-07:03
“The PACT act expanded health care for our veterans to a larger extent than ever before in history.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 07:02-07:11
“The Inflation Reduction act is cutting energy costs, creating jobs, and driving the clean energy transition.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 07:10-07:19
“The House Republicans passed a, so called a continuing resolution to fund the government through September. They put together this bill…”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 08:26-08:42
“Congress holds the power of the purse.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 09:07-09:11
“This bill would wipe out congressional oversight, letting Trump cut and redirect funding however he wants.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 09:10-09:19
“We have bipartisan appropriation bills that have been negotiated, came out of their committees with bipartisan majorities.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 09:56-10:04
“Our strategy to fight back against the Trump administration's effort to. Well, they're trying to dismantle the federal government.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 11:34-11:44
“Congress is granted the power of the purse in the Constitution.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 13:12-13:16
“Many of Trump's cuts to funding passed by Congress are by any measure unconstitutional.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 13:16-13:24
“There are currently something like 100 ongoing legal challenges to the Trump administration policies, and about 41 of those rulings have…”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 13:43-13:59
“Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump's request to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 13:59-14:07
“The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to comply with the lower court order to unfreeze the federal funds.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 14:06-14:19
“Republicans may have a majority in both houses of Congress, but it is slim.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 14:53-14:58
“There are something like 50 districts where Republicans are vulnerable.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 15:01-15:08
“In 2023, outdoor recreation economy generated... maybe it's more than $17 billion for Colorado's economy.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 17:40-17:50
“Outdoor recreation... employed... 130,000 Coloradans.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 17:42-17:55
“Coloradans overwhelmingly support protecting our public lands... 75, 80, sometimes 85% of voters.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 17:59-18:09
“We've got a million Coloradans that are enrolled in either Medicaid or CHIP.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 22:43-22:49
“President Trump says he wants to rid the government of fraud and abuse, but this budget would balloon our national debt by over $4 trillion.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 23:09-23:15
“The average tax benefit for people who make less than $400,000 a year is about $400.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 25:47-26:00
“He's going to have to cut $880 billion from the budget. That means coming after Medicaid.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 26:28-26:34
“He's going to balloon our deficit to $4 trillion.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 26:33-26:37
“I don't support any cuts of any kind to our central social safety net programs, especially Social Security.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 27:38-27:47
“Two thirds of Americans say the government is spending too little on Social Security.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 28:12-28:19
“87% of Americans agree that Social Security should be a priority for the nation.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 28:21-28:28
“The Trump administration continues to allege that they're not going to make any cuts to Social Security, to Medicaid, to Medicare.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 28:30-28:39
“We did make city government smaller.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 30:26-30:29
“We went over all 24,500 rules and regulations and we either eliminated 11,000 of them or dramatically simplified them.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 31:37-31:47
“The Trump administration halted all federal grants and loans.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 32:59-33:05
“Head Start, truly vital Service for over 9,000 low income kids in Colorado, they probably have to shutter their operations.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 33:46-33:55
“Meals on Wheels serves 25,000 seniors.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 34:00-34:04
“Colorado rural hospitals and clinics that serve and deploy our rural neighbors would have been left out in the cold.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 34:27-34:34
“The funding was already appropriated by Congress on a bipartisan basis.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 35:02-35:08
“It's in the Constitution that that right belongs to Congress.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 35:11-35:16
“The Supreme Court ruled against the administration on freezing foreign aid.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 35:56-36:02
“Russia invaded Ukraine.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 37:26-37:30
“Putin is a dictator, not President Zelensky.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 37:29-37:34
“Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been killed or wounded.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 38:04-38:10
“President Trump has weakened U.S. leadership in NATO.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 38:18-38:22
“There is still tremendous bipartisan support for Ukraine.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 39:03-39:08
“There are at least 20 Republicans that previously were outspoken in their belief that we should be supporting Ukraine.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 40:39-40:49
“A broad bipartisan Senate majority supported the PACT act, which allowed veterans who'd been around these toxic burn pits throughout the…”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 43:58-44:10
“This is important in Colorado because we're the proud home of over 400,000 veterans.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 44:34-44:40
“I think we are the highest density of veterans in the country.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 44:42-44:47
“The PACT act, like I said, it's advanced care to over a million veterans.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 45:16-45:22
“Already, over 6,000 veterans have been let go.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 46:26-46:30
“We introduced an amendment during the reconciliation process, which, of course, they ignored.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 46:56-47:01
“Colorado is one of the leading science states in the country.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 48:27-48:31
“The new administration has elevated people into cabinet positions who peddle some of this anti-science claims and mistruths misinformation.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 50:05-50:18
“Funding for things like medical research through the NIH or climate research at NOAA, why it's so important.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 50:25-50:32
“NOAA's a huge part of being able to track this, this, this worsening drought we've been dealing with for the last 20 years.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 51:04-51:12
“At the CDC in Fort Collins, they're doing research there in terms of vector diseases like Lyme disease.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 51:18-51:26
“We’ve already demanded an investigation for those fired from NOAA.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 52:39-52:45
“Probably the greatest investment in addressing climate change, certainly in the history of this country, probably in the history of the…”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 53:31-53:39
“We've invested millions in Colorado, created over 400,000 jobs across the country.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 54:01-54:08
“Roughly 70% of all the benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act go to red states.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 54:13-54:19
“The Inflation Reduction Act, lowered energy costs increases reliability, it creates jobs, but the same time it's addressing climate change.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 55:11-55:26
“The administration is going to try and slash $4 billion in federal funding for critical research.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 59:08-59:15
“In 2023, Colorado researchers received almost $600 million from the NIH.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 59:37-59:45
“Our office gets thousands of calls, emails, I mean, constituents in person, walking in.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 1:03:03-1:03:10
“We're seeing intense backlash from voters at Republican town halls, not just in purple states, but we're seeing the backlash in red states…”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 1:03:19-1:03:30
“The Trump administrations are trying to hurt the most vulnerable in our communities.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 1:03:53-1:03:58
“Our democracy is legitimately being phrased or threatened.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 1:04:41-1:04:47
“All the calls we're getting, especially from Republicans, these are going to push back against the Trump administration.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 1:06:17-1:06:26
“We're already seeing that that public pressure is working.”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 1:06:33-1:06:36
“If you're having trouble with a federal agency like the IRS or the Veterans Administration, Citizenship or Immigration again, the best way…”
Virtual Town Hall with Senator Hickenlooper and Janine Davidson on National Issues | Uploaded March 12, 2025 | 1:07:27-1:07:43