DeLauro on Consequences of Funding Freeze: “Most outrageously, hungry children will suffer.”
WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, spoke live to the American people last night from her office in the U.S. Capitol alongside several House Democrats regarding the consequences of Elon Musk and President Trump unlawfully stealing funds promised to the American people:
We are here today to reveal the direct and significant harms brought to the American people by the actions of Elon Musk and President Trump.
This Administration is freezing and impounding funds, meaning stealing, directly from communities across every one of our districts – stealing food from the mouths of hungry children, stealing support for basic needs from less fortunate families, and stealing opportunities from those looking to grow their careers and to expand their education. And for what? Tax breaks for billionaires, and an historic transfer of wealth from the working class to the ultrawealthy.
These brazen actions are unconstitutional. But despite Congress’s authority to determine spending being clearly spelled out in Article I of the Constitution, some of our colleagues appear to have taken the position that Congress is purely decorative, an ornament on the National Mall, and that all power is vested in the president and his billionaire donors. They appear to believe that if they stand still and remain silent, they can blend in with the statues and monuments.
But as they are finding out when they go home to their districts, the American people see their abandonment of duty and of responsibility, clear as day. Today, we are showing the faces of those who are most deeply hurt by Musk and President Trump, and by the silence of House Republicans.
We will highlight just a few of the many Americans bearing the brunt of Musk’s pillaging of our nation – who have less to eat, fewer opportunities to learn and to work, and less support for their housing and basic needs, because Elon Musk, whose companies are propped up by billions of dollars in taxpayer support, wants to continue paying no taxes and hoarding extraordinary wealth.
Take a look at the faces in the photo beside me. These are children in my district at the Dixwell Farmers Market, one of several year-round farmers markets throughout New Haven, Connecticut, operated by CitySeed. Through these farmers markets, CitySeed connects dozens of vendors across Connecticut, from farms to bakeries, with residents who need access to fresh and local food.
That is not all. CitySeed also conducts culinary training programs, supports entrepreneurs, and helps residents and families facing uncertainty through food access, economic opportunities, and by fostering community. CitySeed understands that having healthy and affordable food is the basic foundation of a thriving community. Children cannot learn and grow if they are hungry. Economies cannot prosper if people do not have their basic needs met. And it helps our farmers.
Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. CitySeed teaches people to fish. They teach people how to start and grow businesses. They teach people how to use their talents and skills to feed not just their families, but the broader community. CitySeed serves my constituents of every background.
But unfortunately, because Musk and President Trump indiscriminately shut off funding for wide swaths of federal programs, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Promotion Program and Farmers Market Promotion Program, CitySeed’s operations have been thrown into chaos and uncertainty. They have been without funding for the expenses these grant programs cover since January 20, and time is running out. Without CitySeed’s programs, farmers and bakers will suffer. Aspiring chefs and restauranters will suffer. And most outrageously, hungry children will suffer.
Real people are suffering real consequences because of Musk and President Trump. Real people will pay the price of Republicans’ billionaire tax breaks. Real people will be worse off because of Musk’s greed, carelessness, and ignorance. These are the faces of the people who are being hurt by Musk’s agenda.
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Today, we have heard stories from communities across the country of real people who have been impacted directly, and severely, by Elon Musk and President Trump’s efforts to transfer billions of dollars to the wealthiest people and corporations. Their slash-and-burn approach to our government is leaving a trail of destruction in our communities – from farmers markets to schools, from community centers to medical facilities, Americans of all backgrounds, of all political stripes, are seeing the direct effects of the Administration’s funding freeze and impoundments.
The American people demanded a government that addresses the rising cost of living – that lowers grocery prices, that secures our border, and that puts American communities first. But the cost of living is nowhere to be found among the President’s concerns since he took office. Rather, he has set off on an agenda of vengeance and destruction, threatening the stability and legitimacy of our government.
He pardoned hundreds of people who beat cops on January 6. He fired nonpartisan watchdogs that alert us to fraud, waste, and abuse across the federal government. Elon Musk, an unelected, unaccountable billionaire with immense conflicts of interest, has been allowed to illegally freeze payments, tear down our institutions, and kick out career civil servants who are loyal to the Constitution rather than to President Trump. President Trump declared a trade war on our neighbors, raising costs on American households and businesses and farmers, further weakening our international relationships. And, this administration continues to steal from the American people to fund tax breaks for billionaires.
Just a few weeks ago, I visited a Title I school in Woodbridge, Connecticut, Amity Regional High School. The students were in the middle of showing me their projects when Elon Musk illegally froze federal funding for their technology and for teachers’ pay. Over half of the nation’s public schools are Title I-eligible. Hundreds of thousands of classrooms have a teacher standing inside them because of this funding. And with a snap of his fingers, Musk threw Amity and thousands of schools like it into chaos, into confusion, into jeopardy. Donald Trump’s kids will not suffer. Elon Musk’s kids will not suffer.
But millions of children’s futures hang in the balance, and on the whims of a billionaire who spent hundreds of millions of dollars to get Donald Trump elected – whose companies receive billions of dollars in taxpayer support, and who now stands in the Oval Office and in Cabinet meetings, pulling the levers of government and dismantling agencies and programs he knows nothing about.
So long as House Republicans continue to stand silent and frozen, and so long as members of this body are unwilling to defend the powers of the offices they were elected to hold, the American people will continue to pay the price.
I want to thank all of my colleagues for sharing their constituents’ stories, and I want to thank everyone watching us today for joining us in this fight.
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