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Peter Welch: “Folks who need Social Security absolutely depend on that…”

Featuring: Peter Welch, Democratic | U.S. Senate, Vermont

Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall

Published February 26, 2025 | Video Starts at 1:04:14

Well, you know what? He may have his 400 billion or whatever. He's got to back him up. But Folks who need Social Security absolutely depend on that check every single month. And that's why we have to fight and get the word out that this is real. Because what I see with a lot of my Republican colleagues is that they say, oh, it's just him talking. (1:04:14–1:04:19)

CLAIM

Asserts that people depend on Social Security checks monthly.

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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Peter Welch

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“What Trump is doing right now is totally disregarding the appropriations decisions of the Congress. That is unconstitutional.”
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“The other thing I'm seeing that's illegal and cruel are all these emails that go out to people that are working, whether it's USAID or our…”
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“We have Vermont farmers who, with the commitment of the federal government, signed a contract where, if they borrowed money to do…”
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“If [the Department of Education] is abolished, that means all that burden is going to come back to the property taxpayer in Vermont.”
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“If [the Trump administration] want to change something and they claim it's better, they have to have a plan to make it better.”
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“A person in the Judiciary Committee said if the president ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, that would be okay.”
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“Trump has flipped sides and now we're basically supporting Putin, including firing people in the Justice Department whose job it was to run…”
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Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 44:29-44:32
“Two out of three folks in a nursing home, it's Medicaid.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 50:50-50:54
“We have a strike force number of them in the Senate among the Democrats, and I'm the head of the health care one with Tammy Baldwin.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 51:06-51:14
“They have fired 6,000 veterans for no reason.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 53:56-54:02
“Doge, run by Musk, who's had $38 billion in taxpayer subsidies.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 54:03-54:10
“The biggest threat to health care in access to health care is the cost of health care.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 59:26-59:32
“We in this country pay 3, 4, 5, 6 times what you pay for that same drug in Europe.”
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“United Health Care is ripping off the taxpayer billions of dollars by requiring nurses and doctors to over diagnose people.”
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“We've got a rig system in health care where some of these private actors are able to just charge whatever they want.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:00:05-1:00:13
“You terminate these grants, like to UVM for scientific research in institutions all around the country.”
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“You fire people, like at the Department of Agriculture in Vermont Rural Development, and then they're gone.”
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“Eight months later, a court says those people can come back or those grants shouldn't have been terminated.”
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“The plan is to destroy these institutions.”
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“It's not on the level the way DOGE is operating.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:09:08-1:09:13
“If you're going to take a program, and I think we should look at everything from food programs to the Pentagon, can we do it better?”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:09:12-1:09:20
“What is happening with DOGE is they're sending out firing notices and that's the end of it.”
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“We had a bipartisan agreement at the end of last year on a budget deal.”
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“It included, for the first time, a reform of the pharmacy benefit manager rip off.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:16:56-1:17:03
“Trump, at the behest of Elon Musk, called up Mike Johnson, the speaker, and said, you got to kill that deal.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:17:04-1:17:12
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Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:22:59-1:23:04
“We have to respect the rights of everybody, everybody.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:29:36-1:29:42
“We're proud of our tradition in Vermont of doing that [respecting rights].”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:29:43-1:29:49
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Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:29:48-1:29:57
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Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:32:35-1:32:42
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Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:32:48-1:32:53
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Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:34:29-1:34:37
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