1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

In a letter dated 10/31/25 you wrote: “…Democrats continue to hold the government hostage and use hungry Americans as political leverage.” The fact is that the Trump Administration and, by extension, Republicans like yourself who cower to him, are the ones using hungry Americans as leverage. Even Mike Johnson admitted on CNN on Thursday that SNAP Benefits are being used as political leverage to get Democrats to give up on the ACA fight. In addition, two federal judges ruled on Friday that SNAP must be paid from the contingency fund that was setup to pay for SNAP benefits in *exactly* *this* *circumstance*. Why is SNAP not being paid? Because when Americans are hungry they’re easier to control and that’s what you want. Have you donated your salary to furloughed federal workers, like Senator Warner has? No. You’re just having it withheld, so you can collect it later, all while not actually doing any work for the last month. Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and donate it to feed poor folks or, if you don’t want to use your personal funds, you could ask the USDA to use the contingency fund that they are legally required to use to fund SNAP. And stop lying to your constituents. Most of us aren’t dumb.