Today, we find ourselves in a pivotal moment in American history and millions of Americans, by their actions or lack of action, will determine the future of this country for decades.
In my view, the Trump administration is moving this country very aggressively into an oligarchic form of society where extraordinary power rests in the hands of a small number of unelected multi-billionaires.
The Trump administration is moving this country very aggressively into an authoritarian society where the rule of law and our Constitution are being ignored and undermined in order to give more power to the White House and the billionaires who now control our government.
In my view, the Trump administration is moving this country very rapidly toward a kleptocracy – where the function of government is not to serve the people of America, but to enrich those who are in power.
I think that today is a good day to recall what one of our great presidents said at Gettysburg in November of 1863. Looking out at a battlefield where thousands of Union soldiers had just sacrificed their lives in the defense of freedom, Lincoln famously stated:
“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Under President Trump we are not seeing a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Quite the contrary.
We are seeing a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, for the billionaire class. And it’s not being done secretly. It’s right out there for all to see.
Several weeks ago, Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States. Standing right behind him were the three richest men in the country – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg – worth a combined $920 billion. These 3 men have more wealth than the bottom half of America – 170 million people. And I should point out, and this should tell you exactly where we are going as a nation, these 3 men have become some $232 billion richer since Trump was elected. In just two weeks under Trump their wealth has exploded by $232 billion dollars.
This is how an oligarchic system works. Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, and now a key part of the administration, spent over $277 million to get Trump elected. In other words, within a corrupt campaign finance system he helped buy the election for Donald Trump.
Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, the second and third wealthiest people in our country, both kicked a million each into Trump’s inauguration fund.
And let’s remember that Mr. Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, rescinded the endorsement of Kamala Harris of the Washington Post’s editorial board. Mr. Bezos was showing early on that he was willing to bend the knee for Donald Trump.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, agreed to settle a lawsuit with Trump for $25 million.
These three multibillionaires are working with Trump because they understand one very important reality. Trump’s policies are designed to make the very richest people in this country even richer.
Since Trump’s election, Mr. Musk has become $154 billion richer, Mr. Bezos has become $35 billion richer, and Mr. Zuckerberg has become $43 billion richer.
I am growing increasingly concerned that in our country, under the leadership of President Trump, we are moving rapidly towards authoritarianism.
And all over this country people are alarmed and shocked by what they are seeing.
Just a few examples.
Last week, Trump attempted to suspend all federal grants and loans in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal law. As every 3rd grader knows, the power of the purse belongs to Congress, not the president.
Let’s be clear. The president can recommend legislation, he can veto legislation, but he does not have the power to unilaterally terminate funding and legislation passed by the U.S. Congress. That is a dangerous and blatantly unconstitutional act.
And I should add that Trump’s blocking of federal funding would have had an horrific impact on millions of Americans who utilize programs like Medicaid, Head Start, community health centers, Meals on Wheels, homeless veterans’ programs and many, many other initiatives.
Tens of millions of Americans, including some of the most vulnerable people in our country, were impacted by that decision.
But that’s not all.
A few days ago, Trump fired 17 inspectors general – independent government watchdogs that were created by Congress, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, to prevent the abuse of power by the executive branch.
Last week, President Trump fired a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and in so doing, effectively neutered the only federal agency in America with the authority to hold corporations accountable for illegal union busting and to protect the constitutional right of workers to form a union and to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.
Not only is this move blatantly illegal, it is exactly what Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, and Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, have been fighting for for months. This is a huge gift to the two wealthiest people in our country who are both strongly anti-union.
The President also illegally fired members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – the only independent commission in our country that protects workers against discrimination in the workplace.
Further, and this should upset every American regardless of political view, in direct violation of the Constitution and federal law, Trump is intimidating the media with lawsuits against ABC, CBS, Meta and the Des Moines Register. His FCC is now threatening to investigate PBS and NPR. Take a deep breath my fellow Americans.
What Trump is essentially saying to every media outlet in America: If you say or do anything that is critical of me, that displeases me, you may be subject to a lawsuit or a federal investigation.
If this is not a direct attack on the First Amendment, the U.S. Constitution and Freedom of Speech, I don’t know what is.
But that’s not all.
Elon Musk and his unelected minions at DOGE have forced out officials at the Treasury Department and illegally shut down US AID – a program which, among other things, helps feed and provide medical help to starving and desperate children all over the world. Presidents, much less unelected billionaires, do not have the unilateral right to shut down federal agencies established by Congress.
When we talk about the dangerous movement towards authoritarianism let us not forget Trump’s pardoning of the January 6th insurrectionists who injured 174 police officers at the Capitol.
Even worse, Trump is undermining the FBI by investigating the agents there who helped bring these violent criminals to justice.
In other words, what Trump is saying is that violence against police officers, when done in his name is ok, but when law enforcement officers try to hold criminals accountable that is not ok.
Under Trump, we are rapidly moving towards a kleptocracy as well.
Just before Trump was inaugurated, he and his wife Melania launched their own cryptocurrency coins giving them the potential to earn tens of billions of dollars.
If Wall Street CEOs tried to bribe the President with a bag full of money that would be against the law.
But now, they don’t have to do that.
Today, if a multi-billionaire or the head of a foreign country wants to curry favor with the President, all they have to do is buy his cryptocurrency coins and, when they do that, they are directly enriching Donald Trump and the First Lady.
That is unacceptable and cannot stand.
So the question then becomes, where do we go from here?
Instead of moving toward an economy which is designed to benefit the very richest people in our society we have got to fight hard to create a government that works for all of us, not just Mr. Musk or Mr. Bezos or Mr. Zuckerberg and other multi-billionaires.
At a time of massive wealth and income inequality we must not provide more tax breaks to billionaires paid for by huge cuts in Medicaid and other programs that working families and low-income people desperately need.
But let me tell you what we should be doing.
At a time when 85 million Americans are uninsured or under-insured we have got to do what every major country on earth does and that is to guarantee health care as a human right to every man, woman and child in this country.
At a time when 1 out of 4 Americans cannot afford the medicine that their doctors prescribe we have got to end the absurdity of Americans paying by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.
We have got to cut the cost of prescription drugs in half.
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. While 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck, we must raise that minimum wage to a living wage, at least $17 an hour. If you work 40 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty.
Mr. Musk and Mr. Bezos want to make it harder for workers to join unions. Well, we have got to do exactly the opposite. We must pass the PRO Act so that anti-union CEOs cannot act unconstitutionally to deny workers the right to join a union.
At a time when we need the best educated workforce in the world, we need to have the best public schools in the world. And, among other things, that means we need to substantially raise teacher salaries. If we want the best and the brightest to become educators no teacher in America should earn less than $60,000 a year.
All over this country, we have a major housing crisis. And it’s not just the 800,000 who are homeless. It is millions of working families who are spending 40, 50 or 60 percent of their limited incomes on housing. Instead of spending almost a trillion dollars a year on a wasteful and bloated Pentagon budget, we have got to build millions of units of low-income and affordable housing. And when we do that, we put large numbers of people to work at good-paying union jobs.
I hear from Trump supporters that the president won the election and he has been given this huge mandate to do whatever he wants. Well, no president has the right to move us to oligarchy, authoritarianism and kleptocracy. But more importantly, let us not forget that while Trump did win this election he actually received 4 million fewer votes in 2024 than Biden did in 2020 when Biden won the election.
This is a slightly edited version of Sanders’ prepared remarks on the Senate floor on February 4, 2025.
