‘I’ve Been Doing A Lot Of Town Halls’: Democrat Tells Republicans What’s On The Minds of Voters
Americans are “disgusted” by DOGE cuts, Republican plans to slash Medicaid, congressman says
With Republicans abandoning town halls in their district, one Democratic congressman said he was continuing to hold those meetings with his constituents.
And he helpfully told his Republican colleagues what is on the minds of voters across the country.
In the early weeks of the new Trump administration, Republican lawmakers got an earful from the people they represent their town hall events.
Voters — including Republican voters in deep red districts — were filling town halls voicing objections to the dismantling of federal agencies and the the indiscriminate firings of thousands of federal workers nationwide underway by billionaire Elon Musk and his so-called “DOGE” team.
These voters urged congressional Republicans to do their jobs as a co-equal branch of government to hold Musk and DOGE accountable.
The response from Republican leaders has been to tell lawmakers to stop holding in-person town halls so as to avoid bad public relations and angry crowds.
In that growing disconnect between Republicans abandoning contact with their constituents, Rep Jim McGovern (D-Mass) helpfully told his Republican colleagues what voters are thinking.
“I’ve read that you guys have been told not to do town halls anymore. But, as I mentioned in my opening, I’ve been doing a lot of town halls and several hundred of my constituents showed up just on Saturday to tell me what was on their mind. And none of them tires or appliances,” McGovern said, referring to Republicans that day rolling back several Biden-era regulations. “But they did bring up how disgusted they are with DOGE cuts. And they objected to the awful budget you guys are jamming through which goes after Medicaid.”
McGovern also noted that rape crisis centers had to stop taking on new clients because of the freeze in federal spending that the Trump administration tried to put in effect. A second federal judge has now ordered the White House to drop that freeze.
“Do you have a date when your committee might do an oversight hearing on that matter?” he asked Rep Brett Guthrie (R-Ky), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
McGovern also cited Trump administration actions to slash federal spending on medical research and clinical trials.
“I convened a round table in my district at UMass Medical School. I listened not only to researchers, but to parents of sick children who are counting on these trials and are very scared and upset,” he said.
“Do we have a date for a hearing to address the cutting of medical programs?” McGovern asked, before answering his own question: “We don’t. We don’t have a day for a hearing on that.”
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