“The harm of this Republican shutdown and this administration’s policy choices is layered, and it’s going to reverberate throughout our schools and communities for years to come.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) convened to demand Donald Trump fund SNAP, with the authority and money he has readily available, to keep 42 million people in America fed—63% of whom are women and over 1 million of whom reside in Massachusetts. Rep. Pressley slammed the Trump administration for making a conscious, intentional policy choice to attack women and children.

The press call comes ahead of the November 1^st funding cliff for SNAP that would leave millions of kids, women, seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans without the food they need. The Trump administration has the legal authority and funding to keep food assistance flowing in November, but has so far refused to do so.

A video of the Congresswoman’s remarks is available here and a transcript is available below. Footage of the full press conference is available here.

Transcript: Pressley, Democratic Women’s Caucus Demand Trump Administration Unlock SNAP Funding to Feed Women, Children, & Families
October 30, 2025
U.S. Capitol

Thank you so much, Melanie. 

I am honored and proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with every single one of my sister colleagues here, proud to be a member of the Democratic Women’s Caucus as we continue to stand in the gap during these deeply consequential times. 

Grateful for the leadership of Chairwoman Leger Fernandez for convening us today. 

Today marks one month of Trump and Republicans’ government shutdown. 

That is one month—a month of sleepless nights, a month of missed paychecks, a month of empty kitchen shelves, a month of unpaid medical bills, a month of undeniable hurt and harm. 

The hurt and harm is undeniable, and the worst part of it is that it’s 100% preventable. 

This harm is not naturally occurring. It is a man made. It is manufactured. 

This Saturday, November 1, will be the first time in our nation’s history that an administration will fail to fund the SNAP program—a violent policy choice. Again it is a choice.

This administration continues to make history for all the wrong reasons. 

This is a violent policy choice by the occupant of the Oval Office who clearly governs from a place of instead of care and concern and compassion—contempt.

Contempt for every person who calls this country home.

Again, I have to reiterate, this administration is making an intentional choice to deny hungry women, children and families food.

Despite having the authority and the funding available to fund SNAP benefits through November, Trump is currently dug in, choosing not to.

Throughout this shameful Republican government shutdown. I’ve heard directly from my constituents about what they are enduring and how it has impacted their families. 

I was visiting the schools in my district, and because a school nurse’s intervention changed the trajectory of my own life as a child that was experiencing many traumatic events, I always visit school nurses’ offices when I’m at a school.

And recently, I was at Orchard Gardens, an incredible K-8 school in Roxbury in the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District. 

I met with school nurses there, Nurse Sue and Nurse Tati, and I asked them, “What is the number one issue facing the children that cross your threshold office every day? 

And their answer, unanimously and in synchronicity was hunger.

And we all know that a hungry child cannot learn. 

We know that when a child goes to school on an empty stomach, they can’t concentrate, they can fall behind in their classes, miss out on critical time learning and growing with friends. 

And it’s not just our K-8 students who will suffer. 

Head Start educators are doing everything they can to keep classrooms open and support our babies in their early education.

But this Republican government shutdown is threatening Head Start services for over 65,000 families nationwide, including hundreds of families in the MA-7th. 

So what does that mean? 

That means that women and families who are already struggling to make ends meet would have to scramble for someone to care for their babies or leave the workforce. 

It means those babies would lose access to the nutritious meals provided through their Head Start programs.

And it means more families destabilized and more people going hungry. 

The harm of this Republican shutdown and this administration’s policy choices is layered, and it’s going to reverberate throughout our schools and communities for years to come. 

So we’re here today to urge Republicans to listen to their constituents, to hear the cries of vulnerable families across this country, to do the right thing. 

Fund the SNAP program, keep families fed, come back from vacation, and call the House back into session and work with us to reopen the government and mitigate the crises they have caused. 

It is not lost on me that the same people who created cruel work requirements for hungry people to get food have not shown up to work for a month.

Get back to work, and the time to act is now.

Amid the Republican-manufactured government shutdown, Rep. Pressley has continued to fight to defend healthcare, reopen the government, and protect federal workers and the essential services they provide.

• Rep. Pressley joined Senator Ed Markey and leaders from Massachusetts food banks to sound the alarm on the growing crisis of food insecurity under the Republican government shutdown and its impact on Massachusetts families.
• Rep. Pressley urged National Grid and Eversource to issue an immediate moratorium on utility shutoffs for households impacted by the government shutdown, including federal workers, federal contractors, and the people who depend on them.
  • Following the Congresswoman’s letter, National Grid of Massachusetts announced specific support and a payment plan opportunity for federal employees, contractors, and active military personnel in Massachusetts who are impacted by the government shutdown and concerned about paying their energy bill.
• Rep. Pressley participated in a House Steering and Policy Committee hearing in which she slammed Republicans for raising healthcare costs for families across the country and shutting down the government instead of addressing the healthcare crisis they created.
• Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues on the Democratic Women’s Caucus to call attention to the impacts of the Republican-manufactured health care crisis and government shutdown on women, families, and workers in the Massachusetts 7^th and across the country.
• Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning Republicans after they chose to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats to protect families and save healthcare for millions.
• Just days into the government shutdown, Rep. Pressley held an emergency convening in Boston to highlight the harm of the shutdown to MA-07 constituents – federal workers, patients, advocates, and more.
• Amid government shutdown, Rep. Pressley and Senator Tina Smith reintroduced bill to provide back pay for federal contract workers, including low-wage food service and janitorial staff.
• Just hours before the Republicans shut down the government, Rep. Pressley rallied with advocates, colleagues, and impacted folks to demand Republicans protect healthcare and keep the government open
• Congresswoman Pressley stood in solidarity with workers and families who would be impacted by the government shutdown.
• Rep. Pressley also joined an all-day event with House Democrats to hold the line against Trump and Republicans’ efforts to rip away healthcare from millions of Americans.

Throughout her time in Congress, Rep. Pressley has also been a champion for food security and justice and ensuring families have the essential food assistance they deserve. She has been an outspoken critic of the Big, Ugly Bill since its inception and Republicans’ harmful cuts to SNAP and other government service programs.

• Rep. Pressley joins Rep. McGovern convened a listening session in East Boston with Project Bread to highlight the devastating impacts that Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill will have on Massachusetts families who rely on federal food assistance.
• Rep. Pressley joined colleagues at a press conference imploring the House to reject the cruel and harmful legislation.
• Rep. Pressley joined the Congressional Black Caucus and over 100 colleagues in stalling a vote on the Big, Ugly Bill.  
• Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning the Senate’s passage of the Big, Ugly Bill and vowing to continue fighting it using every tool available.
• Rep. Pressley rallied with advocates from Caring Across Generations, Care Can’t Wait, and partner organizations to protest Trump’s and Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill that proposes disastrous cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other essential programs and would leave communities sicker, poorer, and more vulnerable.
• Ahead of the House’s vote on the bill, Rep. Pressley delivered an impassioned speech on the House floor in which she made a direct appeal to her Republican colleagues to oppose this cruel and harmful bill.
• Rep. Pressley delivered a floor speech in which she slammed the bill’s proposed Medicaid cuts, which would decimate reproductive healthcare in America and worsen maternal health outcomes.
• Rep. Pressley co-hosted a press conference with Color of Change to oppose the Republicans’ cruel and harmful budget reconciliation package, which would gut critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
• In the House Oversight Committee’s markup of the Republican reconciliation bill, Rep. Pressley demanded Republicans answer to the families who would go hungry by way of this reconciliation bill – and she was met with silence.
• In an impassioned speech on the House floor, Rep. Pressley slammed Republicans’ cruel and callous budget resolution that would slash Medicaid, SNAP, and other critical government services to pay for trillions of dollars in tax giveaways for Donald Trump’s billionaire donors.

###