Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal / File photo

Representative Pramila Jayapal celebrated Democratic victories in this week’s elections while criticizing President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans over the ongoing government shutdown and immigration enforcement tactics.

In her latest “Three Bad, Three Good Things” weekly address posted on X, Jayapal said the election results showed that Americans were rejecting what she called “Donald Trump’s extreme agenda.” 

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“What a night we had on Tuesday,” she said. “The American people turned out by the millions to overwhelmingly reject Donald Trump’s extreme agenda, and Democrats swept races in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Washington State, California, and everywhere in between.”

Jayapal said the results reflected growing voter disapproval of the president, citing recent polling that shows 63 percent of voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance. “People are taking their power to vote into their own hands,” she said.

Her comments come amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, now in its 37th day. The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a spending bill and has since forced hundreds of thousands of federal employees to work without pay, halted major government operations, and disrupted travel across the country.

Jayapal accused House Republicans of refusing to negotiate and blamed Trump for escalating the standoff. “The Republican shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. Today is day 37,” she said. 

Longest shutdown ever, a blatantly corrupt pardon, Tuesday’s big wins, and a judge cracks down on ICE conditions.

Here are your weekly 3 bad things and 3 good things you need to know to stay engaged and powerful! pic.twitter.com/ykVMTJwdFe

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) November 7, 2025

“Trump has illegally cut SNAP benefits for millions of Americans and threatened paychecks of thousands of federal workers.” She also criticized the administration for reducing air capacity at major airports, saying Trump was deliberately trying to “inflict ‘maximum pain on the American people.’”

Economists estimate the shutdown is costing the U.S. economy about $15 billion a week. The White House has defended its stance, saying Democrats are blocking necessary border security funding, while Democrats argue Trump is “holding the government hostage” to force through political demands.

Jayapal also denounced what she called a “corrupt pardon,” referring to Trump’s decision to pardon Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges in 2023. 

She accused Trump of rewarding personal allies and donors, saying, “Anyone who gives Trump and his family money gets a pardon for any crime they’ve committed. That is what wannabe kings do.”

The pardon has drawn scrutiny from ethics experts and lawmakers after reports that Zhao invested billions into World Liberty Financial, a Trump-linked crypto venture.

The pardon has drawn scrutiny from ethics experts and lawmakers after reports that Zhao invested billions into World Liberty Financial, a Trump-linked crypto venture. In a recent interview, Trump denied knowing Zhao, a claim Jayapal dismissed as emblematic of “pure corruption.”

The Washington Democrat further criticized the administration’s immigration enforcement policies, citing reports of U.S. citizens being caught up in ICE raids. “Trump said that his administration's immigration raids ‘haven’t gone far enough,’” she said. 

“Tell that to the daycare worker who was brutally pulled out of the classroom by ICE agents. Tell that to the two-year-old U.S. citizen who was tear-gassed at a playground. This is not a military dictatorship. It’s a democracy. Stop.”

Her comments followed a federal court order this week directing ICE to improve conditions at the Broadview Detention Facility in Illinois. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman called the facility’s conditions “disgusting,” saying that requiring detainees to sleep beside overflowing toilets was “obviously unconstitutional.” 

The judge issued a temporary restraining order mandating that ICE ensure basic sanitary standards and attorney access for detainees.

Jayapal also praised another federal ruling that blocked a Trump executive order aimed at tightening voting requirements, which critics said would disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters. “The judge said, no way,” she remarked. “States regulate their elections, and Congress has oversight—not an out-of-control president.”