We in Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional district who are horrified at the chaos and destruction from the Musk-Trump, or Mump, administration have asked our own GOP Rep. Dan Meuser to face us at a public, in-person town hall.
Instead, he held a telephone town hall on Wednesday that happened to be at the same time as one from our GOP Sen. and fellow Mumper Dave McCormick. I recorded and listened to both, but links to detailed news coverage are here and here.
GOP leaders have advised their members of Congress not to host in-person town halls. That’s no surprise, given the widespread anger at Elon Musk’s chainsawing government agencies that provide vital programs; Donald Trump’s personal vendettas, senseless trade war and attacks on free speech; Signalgate; and as Bill from Malvern put it to McCormick, “disappearing people like we’re a third-world country.”
Defending the indefensible isn’t fun, but Meuser and McCormick gave it a shot with “phone-y” town halls, so called because staffers can and have screened out critical comments and tough questions.
That’s how Meuser’s office handled those calls several years ago, but now the GOP may be taking a different approach. Both lawmakers let some Mump critics speak — and responded at length with the party line before moving on to the next caller.
Ginny Mazzei from Benton deplored the way Musk is “chopping first and asking questions later,” as well as the administration’s claim that it can’t get legal immigrant Kilmar Abrego García out of the notorious El Salvador prison where it mistakenly deported him.
“Congress is supposed to be a check on the executive branch,” Mazzei said. “… I’m asking you not just to be a cheerleader for the President, but to make sure that our country’s reputation in the world remains one that we can be proud of.”
Meuser brought up our massive national debt (true), the possibility of raising taxes on billionaires (which he immediately dismissed) and the U.S. trade imbalance (presumably ginning up a defense on the tariff issue). He also said Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is “simply an auditor.” (Really?).
He didn’t address the Abrego Garcia case or the damage control the Mumps must do when even they decide DOD(G)E goes too far.
McCormick did acknowledge that DOD(G)E made mistakes, adding that “it’s going to happen when you’re making big changes.”
He showed similar forbearance when Bill from Malvern noted Trump has already sabotaged a thriving economy, threatened to invade other countries and hijacked powers that belong to Congress.
If the congressional GOP cedes its authority to make laws and appropriate funds to “the Russian asset that’s currently running the White House,” Bill asked, “what is it that we need Congress for?”
McCormick said he’d speak out if he thinks Trump is wrong, but “he’s pretty much doing what he said he was going to do … We should be patient a little bit to see how things play out.” (Was McCormick so patient when he ran mega-hedge fund Bridgewater Associates?)
Both he and Meuser promised that Social Security and Medicaid benefits won’t be cut even as their party undermines the programs in the name of eliminating fraud and waste.
Mike Zvaralen from Schuylkill Haven asked Meuser when he’ll hold an in-person town hall, noting that Schuylkill Indivisible (which I co-chair) has requested one.
“We’re going to have something where we’ll check IDs,” Meuser replied, claiming that “they bring people in from New Jersey and everything else.” At least he didn’t repeat his party’s other well-worn lie that those of us who protested against the Mumps were paid.
“We’ll look to assure that we have some more forums of somebody like yourself, who sounds like a nice guy and can have real civil conversations,” Meuser told Mike.
Civil as everyone was, there were no real conversations at either event. Although some callers could air their opinions and concerns, they had no opportunity to dispute the hosts’ statements or ask follow-up questions.
Whether an in-person event would allow for actual discussions remains to be seen.
Speaking of communication, I got none when I asked Meuser and McCormick’s staffers why they had scheduled conflicting town halls.
But to be fair, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who sometimes supports the Mumps, hasn’t held a town hall in the two-plus years since he took office.
Lisa Von Ahn is an experienced columnist previously published in the Pottsville Republican Herald newspaper.
Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.
Want to be a columnist with Coal Region Canary? Contact us at newscanary@gmail.com.
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Josephine Kwiatkowski
April 13, 2025 at 7:03 pm
Excellent article. Unfortunately we have 3 MIA legislators, who really don’t want to meet their constituents, never mind answer their questions.
Linda Dietrichson
April 14, 2025 at 12:54 pm
Thank you for this report. I was on the Meuser tele-town hall call for as long as I could tolerate his evasive responses and parroting of the MAGA party line. I felt listening, once I could see how futile it was because HE had no intention of “listening”, was a waste of my time. I hung up before I got to ask my question and hear him not answer it. I appreciate your stamina!