Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at the Subcommittee Markup of the 2025 Financial Services and General Government Funding Bill

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee markup of the fiscal year 2025 Financial Services and General Government funding bill:

Thank you Chairman Cole, and thank you Subcommittee Chairman Joyce, Ranking Member Hoyer, and the subcommittee staff for all their work, especially Matt Smith and Philip Tizzani.

Let me get right to it: the funding level and policy riders in this Financial Services and General Government bill put forth by the majority are unacceptable.

House Republicans again propose cutting critical agencies that make the economy fairer and safer for the American people by a staggering $2.6 billion.

From the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ensuring wealthy individuals and corporations pay their taxes, the Federal Trade Commission protecting Americans from corporate price gouging and scammers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission protecting children from dangerous products, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ensuring the fairness of our financial markets, the agencies funded in this bill are critical to lowering costs and protecting Americans.

In cutting these agencies, House Republicans’ legislation will raise the cost of living, the biggest issue facing the country today, they will let corporate price gouging run rampant, expose children to dangerous products, leave Americans vulnerable to scams and predatory junk fees, make our economy less fair, and make our elections less secure and less transparent. Since we provided the IRS the resources to audit the wealthiest individuals and corporations, they have collected $520 million in back taxes from roughly 1,000 delinquent millionaires and billionaires. 55 of the largest corporations in this nation pay zero tax. Zero tax. And another 39 do not pay what they owe. That is what the IRS enforcement is all about.

Like the majority’s FSGG bill last year, this legislation benefits, in my view, scammers, fraudsters, and cheaters – billionaires, big corporations, and the well-connected – at the expense of hardworking Americans who play by the rules and yes, pay their taxes. 

And of course, the majority’s bill does not stop there. Also included are some 80 problematic, pointless, and harmful policy riders that prohibit abortion, meddle in Washington D.C.’s traffic laws, and block implementation of the SEC’s climate disclosure rule.

The majority’s legislation also entrenches the private tax preparation industry, ensuring Americans continue to be beholden to private companies in order to pay their federal taxes, even after the IRS has proven that their free and simple Direct File pilot program is ready to expand nationwide.

The Direct File program saves taxpayers time and money. If implemented, it would help Connecticut taxpayers save $87 million in filing fees, and receive $89 million per year in additional federal tax credits.

There is no logical reason why private industry must be the middleman between Americans and their government, period. Americans of all income levels should be able to confidently file their taxes directly with the IRS without corporations skimming profits off the top.

We must respect taxpayer dollars and complete the business of all Americans – that means keeping the playing field level, making the economy fairer, and keeping consumers safe from scams and dangerous products. The majority’s bill only protects the tax dollars and priorities of the wealthiest.

As I said throughout last year and as we proved together this spring, final spending bills will be the product of negotiations between Democrats and the Republicans in the House and Senate. The majority’s topline funding levels fall short of the American people’s needs, and short of what both parties just agreed to in March. 80 percent of the Appropriations Committee voted to pass the final 2024 Appropriations Acts. Democrats will not accept anything less than a one percent increase over 2024 in nondefense and defense funding. That is what the law provides for.

For all these reasons, I cannot support this bill. I respectfully request that those on the other side of the aisle go back to the drawing board and come back with a new slate of workable subcommittee allocations so that we can proceed with the important business of our 2025 appropriations work.

I yield back.

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