Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan held a town hall Saturday to field questions and concerns over President Donald Trump’s agenda from more than the 500 estimated constituents in attendance.
The event was one of many town halls taking place nationwide during the congressional recess and in a period in which many are uncertain about the potential political consequences of recent White House developments.
Pocan, whose district includes Dane County, was primarily questioned on the future of his constituents’ health care and Social Security, which faces potential reforms and budget cuts from a Republican-controlled House and Senate. Many also expressed worry over the executive branch’s recent actions on immigration.
The congressman reiterated his support for robustly funding Social Security and welcoming immigrants, and went on to call for further investigation into Russian involvement in the election.
Wisconsin's Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson also said Saturday that Congress should extensively investigate issues surrounding Russia.
Pocan even proposed impeachment of the president as a potential necessity if “the onion of involvement with Russia and interference with our elections and perhaps his administration” continues to “unravel,” which was met with applause from the audience.
Pocan went on to criticize Gov. Scott Walker’s legislative priorities, including blaming his anti-union Act 10 legislation for leading to a high teacher turnover rate, and cited data stating that the state has the fourth-worst roads in the country.
“I think the disconnect they feel is that a lot of the money they put into taxes, they don’t see go into rural schools, rural roads and rural broadband,” Pocan said. “And they think it goes to Madison and Milwaukee. The problem is, at least with this government, they are right.”
Indivisible Wisconsin, a progressive organization formed in opposition to Trump’s agenda, invited Johnson to a town hall they scheduled for Wednesday at the Middleton Public Library.
Organizers from the group cited the senator’s lack of availability to constituents and failure to schedule a town hall of his own during the congressional recess as inspiration for the event.
“Compared to Congressman Pocan and Sen. [Tammy] Baldwin, he’s just not accessible to his constituents,” Adam Wood, an organizer of the town hall, told the Wisconsin State Journal. “We have a representative democracy, and the way that that works is that constituents have to have access to their representatives.”
