Rep. Summer Lee Condemns Trump’s Threat to Defy Court Order and Starve Families

November 4, 2025

PITTSBURGH, PA – NOVEMBER 4, 2025 — Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) issued the following statement after Donald Trump threatened to ignore a federal court order requiring the Trump administration to fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the ongoing federal government shutdown — a move that would leave millions of children, seniors, and working families without food assistance:

“Trump’s decision to openly defy a court order and block food assistance is unconscionable. He is willing to use working Americans as pawns in his political game, attempting to turn their pain into leverage and their hunger into a talking point. These choices send a message that the lives of working families, children, and seniors are expendable if it helps him win a fight.

Let’s be clear: the White House has the authority and the funds to support full SNAP benefits for the millions of people who rely on it to feed their children and afford the high grocery prices this administration has only made worse through its chaotic and unstrategic tariffs.

“Right now, we are seeing the harm this administration is willing to cause. We see the people they are willing to sacrifice. And we will fight back in the courts, in Congress, and in every community to make sure no president can use hunger as a weapon against the American people.”

Congresswoman Lee has been a steadfast champion in the fight against food insecurity. In 2024, she delivered $1 million in community project funding to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to support the distribution of 33 million pounds of food to 400,000 low and moderate-income individuals.

Last week, Rep. Lee held a roundtable discussion and press conference with representatives from local food banks and organizations to hear directly from community partners impacted by the loss of SNAP benefits due to federal cuts and the ongoing government shutdown.
Recently, Rep. Lee joined over 200 House Democrats in urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use contingency reserve dollars to fund SNAP during the government shutdown.
In September, Rep. Lee, along with Representatives Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12), Jahana Hayes (CT-05),  and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), along with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), introduced the Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2025, landmark legislation aimed at addressing food insecurity by increasing SNAP benefits and allocating more funds to those with large medical and housing expenses.
In August, Rep. Lee joined Just Harvest, State Representatives Emily Kinkead and Abigail Salisbury, and community members impacted by SNAP theft at the Kingsley Association in Pittsburgh to demand urgent federal and state action to combat the rising epidemic of stolen food assistance benefits.

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.