The following is the transcript of the interview with West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Nov. 9, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to the Republican Governor of West Virginia Patrick Morrisey, who joins us from Charleston. Good morning to you, sir.
GOVERNOR PATRICK MORRISEY: Hey, good morning, Margaret. Good to be with you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So your state has one of the highest poverty rates in the country. Nearly 16% of residents rely on food stamps, that SNAP program we’ve been talking about. In fact, the very first food stamp pilot program began in West Virginia back in the 1960s. Given the current shutdown and how rural your state is, I wonder are you able to get help to those who need it right now?
GOV. MORRISEY: Absolutely, look great question. I do want to start out, first of all, thank you for having me on the program. One piece of information coming out of West Virginia. We’ve had a mining accident, and we have teams down looking for a missing miner. I just want to say that our hearts and prayers go out to the family of that miner. We’re doing everything we can to locate that person. Now, when it comes to the government shutdown, we’re doing everything we can to help those in need. At the very beginning, I started standing up for the federal workers, and we announced that, to address some of the concerns with food, we were going to send significant dollars to the food banks. By tomorrow, that’ll be up to $13 million. I’ve activated the National Guard and we’re doing things to make sure that no one in West Virginia goes hungry. Our people are hurting right now, and I’m doing everything I can to solve the problems while Washington bickers. But I do want to be clear, this shutdown could come to an end right away. It’s up to Chuck Schumer or just having six more Democrats step across the line. There’s been a clean CR on the table available for some time. People should take advantage of that, and let’s get the government reopened and then we can go about the business of fixing the many other problems facing our country.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah. I’m sorry to hear about the mining accident. But on the issue of food stamps, Governor Moore of Maryland said that he had been told the state would be punished, essentially, for fronting the money. Is that the message the federal government also gave to you. West Virginia won’t get those dollars back?
GOV. MORRISEY: No, well, first of all, I want to emphasize the Trump administration has been a great partner to work with throughout the past year in terms of the economic progress that we’re making here in West Virginia.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Sure.
GOV. MORRISEY: But also we’ve reached out, I was the first person to reach out to the federal government, so we had our national parks reopened.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
GOV. MORRISEY: And now we’re working by activating the guard and putting resources at the food banks. We’re actually making a difference to keep people from getting hungry. So we’ve been in very close contact with the Trump administration, and they’ve been very cooperative. Look, I think they know, and everyone’s frustrated, that you’re six votes short. These Democrats are saying no to reopening the government. It’s a Schumer shutdown. I think President Trump is bending over backwards —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Well. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — To be helpful, and I’m excited about the things he’s doing in terms of how he’s handling this —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Well. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — And the broader economic issues at large.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, there is the fight in the courts, specifically, about providing full food aid. The Trump administration initiated that. I want to play something for you because 70% of West Virginians voted for President Trump in the last election. But here’s how he described the food stamp program.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Largely, when you talk about SNAP, you’re talking about largely Democrats. But I’m President, I want to help everybody. I want to help Democrats and Republicans. But when you talking about SNAP, if you look, it’s largely Democrats. They’re hurting their own people.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Have you made the White House aware of the pain from the food SNAP, the food program disruption, specifically?
GOV. MORRISEY: Yeah, so we’ve been working closely with the White House, and I think they know they’ve been very supportive of a lot of the efforts that we’re taking to make sure that people don’t get hungry. That’s the ultimate goal. We have to make sure we’re protecting our people. Margaret, you’re right. We have 270,000 plus people on SNAP, but once again, there’s one reason why —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Yeah. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — why they’re not getting the resources. It’s because people are insisting to add all these new pieces on top of just a bill to keep the government open. —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Well —
GOV. MORRISEY: — That’s the concern we have. But we’ve been getting really good response from the Trump administration across the board. —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Okay. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — Whether we’re talking about the food issues, whether we’re talking about our energy jobs or even just recently, the conversations we’re having about President Trump’s Rural Health Transformation bill to put resources up front to save public expenditures at the back end. —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — I want to ask you about that. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — That’s the kind of good working relationship we’ve had.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about that because I know West Virginia has one of the highest rates in the country for government insurance. There’s concern about rural hospitals. There is this Rural Health Transformation Program Congress set up. Your state could get $100 million a year for five years, but your West Virginia Hospital Association says that your hospitals are going to lose more than a billion dollars per year because of this latest Big Beautiful Bill Republicans passed. How do you make up that kind of shortfall?
GOV. MORRISEY: Well, I think what President Trump and RFK and Dr. Oz are trying to do is common sense. If you subscribe to the adage a ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, what they’re trying to do is invest the single largest amount of money in improving rural health. And in West Virginia that means everything because we’re a very rural state. So the resources can go to invest in our people, to invest in our hospitals, our providers and the technology that actually can move the needle in terms of improving health care outcomes —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Yeah. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — up front. Attacking obesity and COPD and substance use disorder. —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Okay. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — So we’re really excited about that, because if we apply the resources the right way —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Yeah. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — I don’t think we’re going to have the diminution of public expenditures at the back end.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.
GOV. MORRISEY: This is the common sense approach we’re seeing from the Trump administration —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Okay. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — that we’re not seeing from Schumer —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Alright. —
GOV. MORRISEY: — and Democrats in Congress.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Governor, we have to leave it there. We are out of time. Thank you. We’ll be right back.
