{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-continues-fight-to-lower-health-care-costs-for-new-jerseyans-during-trump-shutdown-this-is-not-about-politics-this-is-about-people", "Booker Continues Fight to Lower Health Care Costs for New Jerseyans During Trump Shutdown: \u201cThis is not about politics. This is about people\u201d", "2025-10-24", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Cory A. Booker", "B001288", "www.booker.senate.gov", "booker", "https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press", "scraper", "In case you missed it, as the Trump shutdown enters its fourth week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) is continuing to speak out and demand his Republican colleagues to come to the table and negotiate with Democrats to lower health care costs for the American people.\n\nThrough national and local TV interviews, digital videos, and town halls, Booker is amplifying the message he\u2019s hearing every day from New Jerseyans\u2014that Congress must act to bring down health care costs and reopen the government. Booker will continue to uplift the stories of his constituents and fight for a path forward, stating: \u201cI was elected by the people of New Jersey to keep healthcare costs down and I will not give away my vote unless Republicans commit to stopping the healthcare nightmare many Americans are about to face.\u201d\n\nMSNBC: All in with Chris Hayes\n\nOctober 22, 2025\n\nSen. Booker: \u201cI spent tonight calling New Jersey constituents \u2014 from a small business owner desperately trying to hold on to health insurance for their children and spouse, to a farmer employing 12 people who\u2019s facing a $12,000 annual increase while raising two beautiful little girls. They all told me the same thing: please don\u2019t stop fighting to keep this subsidy.\u201d\n\n@SenBooker\n\nOctober 23, 2025\n\nSen. Booker: \u201cIn my state, over 850,000 people rely on SNAP payments. Donald Trump is withholding the money because he wants to inflict maximum pain on Americans to hope it helps him politically. This isn't about politics. This is about people. This is urgent. So, please stand with me to make sure that Donald Trump releases the money to pay for children, for vulnerable people, for our neighbors to eat. Stop spreading lies about what you can't do, and do what you must do. This is about who we are as a people and what we stand for.\u201d\n\nEyewitness News ABC7NY\n\nOctober 22, 2025\n\nSen. Booker: \u201cI\u2019m really not concerned about the politics right now. It's about the people. I was elected by the people of New Jersey to fight to bring costs down. So, I\u2019m going to fight for Jersey. I\u2019m going to fight for our jobs. I\u2019m going to fight to lower costs against a president who has targeted our state and local tax deductions, raised costs through his terrible tariff plan, and, in his big, beautiful bill, found a trillion dollars to give corporations and the wealthiest Americans tax cuts while working-class Americans pay more. This is wrong.\u201d\n\nPIX11\n\nOctober 22, 2025\n\nSen. Booker: \u201cThere is a lot on the line for New Jerseyans. The president promised he would lower costs, yet he refuses to meet with us at the White House. Deal with America, deal with the pain people are feeling, and let's get this government open.\"\n\n@SenBooker and @RepRaskin\n\nOctober 21, 2025\n\nSenator Booker joined U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08) for a joint Instagram live to discuss the Trump Administration targeting federal dollars going to projects in Democratic-led cities and states since the early days of the shutdown.\n\nSen. Booker: \u201cDonald Trump is again undermining congressional intent, attacking constitutional principles like separation of powers, and the power of the purse. Even though we have passed in a bipartisan way funding for everything from local grants to local police departments all the way to the big infrastructure projects, Donald Trump is saying as President of the United States I don't have to spend this money. I\u2019m going to freeze these vital funds to communities if you don\u2019t agree and capitulate to my power.\u201d\n\nSee also:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-continues-fight-to-lower-health-care-costs-for-new-jerseyans-during-trump-shutdown-this-is-not-about-politics-this-is-about-people"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8780010975897312, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}