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roger marshall
Senate GOP Blocks Schumer Bill After Pentagon Accepts Qatari Jet for Trump
"It's a bribe. It's a national security threat," the Senate minority leader said. "But Republicans stood with Trump and blocked my bill."
May 21, 2025
Just hours after the Pentagon formally accepted a luxury jet for U.S. President Donald Trump from Qatar, Senate Republicans thwarted Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's attempt to pass by unanimous consent legislation intended to prevent a foreign plane from serving as Air Force One.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) blocked Schumer's (D-N.Y.) Presidential Airlift Security Act, which the Democratic leader had announced on Tuesday—along with vowing to continue a "hold on all political Department of Justice nominees until we get more answers about this clearly unethical deal."
The jet is "the largest foreign gift to an American president in modern history, one Donald Trump says will go to his presidential library after his term," Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "This gift is outrageous. Donald Trump will berate companies to ' eat his tariffs' and tell parents to pay more for groceries, but is accepting a luxury plane he can use as Air Force One."
"This gift screams national security risk. It is bribery in broad daylight. Donald Trump is thumbing his nose at Republicans and practically daring them to stop him. Well, today, the Senate can," he said, just before Marshall blocked the bill's passage. "Donald Trump accepting this gift reeks of corruption and naked self-enrichment, and Republicans should stand up and support my bill, defend national security, and protect Americans."
The legislation would have prohibited "even a single taxpayer dollar from being used by the Department of Defense to procure, modify, retrofit, or maintain any foreign aircraft for the purposes of transporting a U.S. president," the senator said.
Schumer's remarks followed the chief Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, confirming receipt of the plane in a Wednesday statement.
"The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," Parnell said. "The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States."
Asked about the Pentagon's statement by NBC News' Peter Alexander at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said: "You oughta get out of here. What does this have to do with the Qatari jet? They're giving the United States Air Force a jet, OK, and it's a great thing."
The gifted jet—valued at $ 200-400 million—has sparked widespread concerns, with critics calling Trump "grifter-in-chief" and condemning his plan to use taxpayer dollars to modify the plane so that it can serve as Air Force One, then transfer it to his library upon leaving office, as "indefensible," "incredibly illegal," and "comically corrupt."
According toThe New York Times:
Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, publicly said on Monday for the first time that his government had approved turning over the plane as a gift, rejecting the idea of it being an attempt to influence the president.
"I don't know why people, they are thinking," he said, before continuing: "This is considered as a bribery or considered as, something that Qatar wants to buy and influence with this administration. I don't see any, honestly, a valid reason for that."
He added: "We are a country that would like to have strong partnership and strong friendship, and anything that we provide to any country, it's provided out of respect for this partnership and it's a two-way relationship. It's mutually beneficial for Qatar and for the United States."
"It's a bribe. It's a national security threat," Schumer said on social media Wednesday evening. "But Republicans stood with Trump and blocked my bill. THAT'S NOT AMERICA FIRST."
Meanwhile, in the Republican-controlled lower chamber of Congress, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) expanded his probe into the Qatari plane, demanding answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, by June 4.
"Please provide all documents and communications related to the $400 million ultraluxury airplane, including any communications, agreements, or draft agreements with the state of Qatar, L3Harris, and the Palm Beach Airport as soon as possible," Raskin also wrote. "The information and documents you provide will help us determine whether the $400 million ultraluxury 'gift,' already suffering from insurmountable ethical, constitutional, and logistical problems, is the result of a campaign of illegal extortion by this administration."
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Sanders' Bipartisan Bill to Combat US Primary Care Crisis Passes Key Senate Panel
The HELP Committee chair pledged to work with Senate leadership "in the coming weeks to move this bill forward and ensure that millions more Americans can get the healthcare they deserve."
Sep 21, 2023
U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Bernie Sanders celebrated on Thursday after the panel advanced his Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act, teeing up a possible full-chamber vote on the bill.
"Everyone in America understands that our healthcare system is broken and getting worse," Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement. "Despite spending twice as much per capita as any other nation, millions of Americans are unable to access the primary care and dental care they desperately need and we have a massive shortage of doctors, nurses, dentists, and mental health professionals."
"With today's passage of bipartisan legislation in the Senate HELP Committee, we are beginning to address that crisis," added the senator, a longtime advocate of Medicare for All. "I'm pleased this legislation passed with a strong bipartisan 14-7 vote."
"I especially want to thank Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) for his hard work on this legislation," he said. "Together, we will work with Senate leadership in the coming weeks to move this bill forward and ensure that millions more Americans can get the healthcare they deserve."
The committee's decision to advance the healthcare bill—and three others, which were agreed to by voice votes—comes just a week after Sanders and Marshall, a physician, announced that they had reached a deal on the "historic" legislation.
The bill, which took months of work, "increases mandatory funding for Federally Qualified Community Health Centers from $4 billion a year to $5.8 billion a year for three years, which will enable more Americans to receive not only high-quality primary healthcare, but dental care, mental health counseling, and low-cost prescription drugs," Sanders told the committee on Thursday.
"What we have in front of us with your vote is the most significant piece of legislation in addressing the primary healthcare crisis in modern American history."
"In addition, this bill includes a one-time allocation of $3 billion to be used to establish dental operatories so that community health centers can expand their dental care capabilities," he continued. "This legislation will save substantial sums of money. Investing in primary healthcare will keep people healthier and out of hospitals; investing in community health centers will keep people out of emergency rooms, which cost about ten times more per visit than a community health center."
Dr. Kyu Rhee, president and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), said last week that "health centers appreciate the strong leadership from Chairman Sanders and Sen. Roger Marshall."
"This bill lays out a vision that emphasizes the role of health centers and expands their reach beyond the 31.5 million existing patients," he pointed out. "The bill also encourages much-needed growth of the primary care workforce by investing in innovative health center-led career development programs."
Noting Thursday that Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) put forth over five dozen amendments, Sanders said: "Is this a perfect piece of legislation? No, I don't think so."
Yet, Sanders stressed, it also represents a remarkable opportunity.
"As every member of this committee knows, it is very difficult to get any substantive legislation passed in Congress today," he said. "Sen. Marshall and I and other senators have tried, and what we have in front of us with your vote is the most significant piece of legislation in addressing the primary healthcare crisis in modern American history."
The Senate panel's vote for the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act comes as House Republicans are self-destructing, pushing the United States toward a potential government shutdown in just over a week. Unless Congress acts to prevent a shutdown before the end of the month, all federal funding for health centers will expire.
NACHC's Rhee said Monday that "I am staying up at night worrying about the stability of our primary care workforce."
"This debate over health center funding comes as clinicians are considering what residency they should go on, what training program, or whether or not they should sign a contract at a community health center," he added. "That is why it makes sense to invest in health centers and in primary care development programs to grow the current workforce of 285,000 health center professionals."
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Sanders Announces 'Historic' Bipartisan Bill to Confront US Primary Care Crisis
"It is unacceptable that millions of Americans throughout our country do not have access to affordable, high-quality primary care and are unable to get the healthcare they need when they need it."
Sep 14, 2023
After weeks of negotiations, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas announced Thursday that they have reached an agreement on a bill to confront the United States' primary care crisis, which has left millions of people across the nation without access to critical healthcare.
Sanders, the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said in a statement that the new legislation marks a "historic" effort "to expand primary care and to reduce the massive shortage of nurses and primary care doctors in America."
According to a report released earlier this year by the National Association of Community Health Centers, more than 100 million people in the U.S. face difficulty accessing primary care, which is often the initial point of contact for patients seeking care.
The U.S. underinvests in primary care compared to other wealthy nations, despite spending more on healthcare overall.
"It is unacceptable that millions of Americans throughout our country do not have access to affordable, high-quality primary care and are unable to get the healthcare they need when they need it," the Vermont senator said. "Every major medical organization understands that our investment in primary care is woefully inadequate. They understand that focusing on disease prevention and providing more Americans with a medical home instead of relying on expensive emergency rooms for primary care will not only save lives and human suffering, it will save money."
The new bipartisan legislation includes nearly $6 billion in mandatory annual funding for community health centers over the next three years, according to a summary of the measure. If Congress doesn't act by the end of the month, community health centers—which provide primary care to tens of millions of vulnerable Americans—will face steep funding cuts.
The Sanders-Marshall legislation also includes funding that would support an estimated 2,000 primary care physicians over the next decade.
Additionally, the measure would boost funding for the National Health Service Corps to support scholarships and debt relief for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
Recent data suggests the U.S. could see a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians over the next decade. Elisabeth Rosenthal of KFF Health News noted last week that "the percentage of U.S. doctors in adult primary care has been declining for years and is now about 25%—a tipping point beyond which many Americans won't be able to find a family doctor at all."
The nursing shortage is also severe and could soon get much worse. One study released earlier this year estimated that around 100,000 registered nurses in the U.S. left their jobs over the past two years—often due to pandemic-related stress—and more than 610,000 more intend to leave over the next four years.
Sanders and Marshall's legislation, which is set to be marked up in the Senate HELP Committee on September 21, would provide $1.2 billion in grants to state universities and community colleges with the goal of boosting the number of students enrolled in registered nursing programs.
Marshall, the top Republican on HELP's Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, said in a statement that the new bill "recognizes and addresses the challenges our healthcare industry is facing, like the shortage of nurses and primary care doctors, and includes programs to bolster the workforce in a fiscally responsible way."
According to Sanders' office, the legislation would be "fully paid for by combating the enormous waste, fraud, and abuse in the healthcare system, making it easier for patients to access low-cost generic drugs, and holding pharmacy benefit managers accountable, among other provisions."
In remarks on the Senate floor on Thursday, Sanders noted that "in Vermont and all over this country, our people often have to wait months in order to get an appointment with a doctor and, in some cases, they have to travel very long distances to get the healthcare they need."
"It is literally insane," said Sanders, "that millions of Americans with nonemergency healthcare needs get their primary care in a hospital emergency room."
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