Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand slammed 25 Senate Republicans who, after previously agreeing to a bill that aims to help veterans affected by Agent Orange in Vietnam and burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, blocked the legislation from moving forward.

Video transcript

- Well I agree with Senator Tester. This is total bullshit. This is the worst form of over-politicization I've literally ever seen. This is total BS. We had the votes, we had strong bipartisan support for this bill. And at the 11th hour, Senator Toomey decides that he wants to rewrite the bill, change the rules, and tank it.

How he convinced 25 of his colleagues to change their vote, I have no idea. I mean, what the hell? How does this happen? How do you change your mind right when you're about to make a law that's going to save lives? It makes no sense. It's an outrage, and there has to be accountability.

So we have to go to these 25 offices. We have to make sure every one of these senators understands that they have just sentenced veterans to death because they will not have the health care that they have earned. They have put their politics before the life and well-being of service members who have given everything to this country.

For what? For what? For some political stunt? For some BS? What is it? What did they do it for, and why did they do it? It makes no sense. They put politics before the lives of our families, our loved ones, our service members, our veterans who have given every last measure.

There's no excuse. It's total BS.