Wisconsinites say Congress members are failing to do their jobs to check Trump agenda

Just weeks after the beginning of the 119th Congress in January, members of the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives returned to their home districts the week of Feb. 17 to meet with constituents during a district work period.

In Wisconsin, constituents at town hall events hosted by GOP Reps. Scott Fitzgerald and Glenn Grothman confronted them over their support for President Donald Trump’s policy agenda.

Grothman was booed as he entered an Oshkosh-area town hall on Feb. 21, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. 

In a video posted by Forbes, one attendee held a sign that read, “Medicaid matters to my disabled son. No cuts to Medicaid.”

The Medicaid program provides health insurance coverage for more than 1 million Wisconsinites, including children, pregnant people, individuals with disabilities, older adults, and lower-income families.

According to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, House Republicans have proposed a budget resolution that would make $880 billion in spending cuts to programs under the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee, primarily Medicaid, to partially offset the costs of making permanent the provisions of Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which slashed tax rates for the wealthiest individuals. 

Grothman was again booed inside the venue, according to WPR, as he defended executive actions by Trump intended to strip citizenship from children of immigrants and to halt initiatives to make government programs inclusive of all Americans. When he endorsed cuts to safety net programs, saying that welfare discourages people from working, audience members yelled, “No!”

According to a 2020 U.S. Government Accountability Office report, about 70% of those who rely on Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program work full time.

Wisconsin Public Radio reported that Grothman said cutting Medicaid “would be a mistake,” but when asked if he would oppose cuts to the program, he said, “We’ll have to see.”

Fitzpatrick held a town hall in West Bend town hall on Feb. 20. According to reporting by Milwaukee station WTMJ-TV, constituents complained about efforts by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to unilaterally slash federal agencies without the permission of Congress. One asked, “How can we be represented by you if you don’t have a voice in Congress?” 

Neither Fitzgerald’s nor Grothman’s offices immediately responded to requests for comment for this story.

In a pair of press releases, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee criticized Republican Reps. Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden for not holding in-person town halls during the week, accusing them of “choosing to hide from the voters who elected” them. 

Neither lawmaker’s office immediately responded to an inquiry from the Wisconsin Independent.

Recent polling indicates that Trump’s approval rating has dropped between 5 and 13 points since he returned to the White House. The most recent survey by CNN/SSRS Research found 52% of Americans disapprove of Trump, while just 47% approve.