November 06, 2025

Chairman Aguilar on MSNBC: It's time for the President of the United States to convene leaders in both parties and to end the shutdown.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar appeared on MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera Reports to discuss Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s retirement and the ongoing Republican shutdown. You can watch the full interview here and read the transcript below. 

ANA CABRERA: Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing just this morning that she will not seek reelection next year, ending a nearly 40-year career in Washington. And joining us now, Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Congressman Pete Aguilar, who's also a fellow Californian alongside Nancy Pelosi. Congressman, you have served with Speaker Emerita Pelosi now for roughly ten years. What's your reaction to today's announcement?

CHAIR AGUILAR: My reaction is that this is a sad day, but also joyous for Speaker Pelosi, that she is turning the page and that we can celebrate appropriately her career in Congress. She's not going anywhere. We've got a year to continue to learn and work with her, but really just the greatest of all time. I mean, that's really all we can say is she's on the Mount Rushmore of Democratic politicians and legislators who can get something done, who can lead and move an agenda. As you mentioned before, I take particular pride in her focus on California and on children. The work that she has done and continues to do for SNAP benefits, for kids, 16 million children on SNAP right now, all at stake in Donald Trump's shutdown. Those are the things that I'll remember.

ANA CABRERA: As we talk about her four decades in Washington, what is it going to mean for the Democratic Caucus to not have her there anymore? What will that absence look like? how will it be felt?

CHAIR AGUILAR: Well, it'll be felt every day, but just like when she transitioned out of leadership, she continues to have a presence and she continues to make her voice heard, and we benefit from her leadership, just like we did in Proposition 50 in California this last Tuesday. So, she is a force to be reckoned with, and we continue to benefit from her, from her leadership and her advice, her mentorship in the Democratic Caucus, and we will for the next 12 months. And I hope beyond that, always a resource, always focused, always committed to the Democratic Caucus. Having led the caucus for 20 years in leadership, Nancy Pelosi just truly is a force.

ANA CABRERA: Congressman, I want to turn to the government shutdown because the impacts are only getting worse. The FAA cutting flights, including in LAX, millions are waiting for their SNAP benefits, but Democrats won big on Tuesday. What does this mean for shutdown negotiations? Do you expect to see a deal soon?

CHAIR AGUILAR: Well, Democrats have continued to maintain, before Tuesday and after Tuesday, we want to negotiate with Republicans. But that means Donald Trump has to actually dig in and negotiate and bring people together and to find a solution. So that's what we need. We saw yesterday that when he spoke to Senate Republicans, that he even acknowledged that the shutdown was harmful to Republicans. It's time to move past that. It's time for the President of the United States to convene leaders in both parties and to end the shutdown. That's what we need, and that's the solution.

ANA CABRERA: Do the elections change your thinking at all about how the Democratic Party is handling these shutdown negotiations, or lack thereof, and the insistence that these Obamacare subsidies need to be dealt with before reopening the government?

CHAIR AGUILAR: The election was clearly a repudiation of the Trump agenda, and that is the agenda of Senate Republicans and House Republicans. And Donald Trump himself has made clear he is both the President and the Speaker, so he controls the agenda. He controls what we vote on. He controls where Republicans go on these issues. What Democrats are saying, loud and clear, is that we face an affordability crisis in this country. We face a health care crisis in this country. The health care crisis is of Republicans’ doing, and they need to come to the table to address that. It's time that Republicans do that. It's time that Republicans meet with Democrats to find a solution out of this shutdown. And we're going to need President Trump to lead and to dig in on that. The election was just clearly a focus on this Trump agenda. People are hurting. People are struggling with this affordability crisis. People don't like seeing what the Administration is doing. And this was their way to exercise that, and I don't think that's going to change in the near future.

ANA CABRERA: Congressman Pete Aguilar, thank you for taking the time. Appreciate you joining us.

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