FRESNO, CA (KMJ) Rep. Adam Gray (D-Calif) was one of six democrats in Congress to vote to end the government shutdown Wednesday evening.
Gray represents California’s 13th Congressional District which covers all of Merced County, most of Madera County, and parts of Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Fresno Counties.
He defended his decision in an op-ed in the Turlock Journal: Read here
“This shutdown has made one thing very clear: President Trump and his allies are far too comfortable using vulnerable Americans as political leverage. One of the first things they did during the shutdown was refuse to authorize emergency funds to cover food stamps, delaying SNAP benefits nationwide. In my district alone, more than 47,000 households — 21.1% of all families — rely on SNAP to put food on the table. “No parent should have to choose between feeding their children and keeping the lights on because someone in Washington thinks chaos is a negotiating tactic.
“That’s why I voted for a bipartisan agreement that takes food assistance off the table for an entire year. So when the next shutdown happens (and in this divided Washington, there is always a next shutdown) the president cannot use hungry kids as bargaining chips again. This agreement also protects veterans, small business owners, and federal workers from being turned into political weapons.”
Gray was elected to the House after narrowly beating Republican John Duarte in November 2024.
Is the democrat party in trouble? “We’ve got to have a hard conversation as a caucus about what we all need to do, what kind of leadership we need in order to make sure that we don’t continue to break apart,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn), who as Deputy Democratic Conference Secretary is a member of the party’s leadership in the chamber. He told Fox News Digital that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) needs to lead a conversation to “stop having a group of members cross over and support Donald Trump’s agenda.”
Many on the left are now calling for Schumer’s removal as Minority Leader.
