LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Rep. Mike Flood has gotten an earful during a public meeting in Lincoln aimed at discussing his support for the massive tax breaks and spending cuts bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump.
Flood, a second-term Republican who represents the GOP-leaning district that includes the University of Nebraska, on Monday braved the ire of a college town audience dominated by hundreds of people intent on expressing their displeasure chiefly with cuts to Medicaid benefits and tax reductions tilted toward the wealthy.
He described the law as less than perfect but stood firm on its Medicaid and tax provisions, fueling a 90-minute barrage of jeers and chants in a scenario House Republican leaders have advised GOP members to avoid.
“More than anything I truly believe this bill protects Medicaid for the future,” Flood said, setting off a shower of boos from the audience of roughly 700 in the University of Nebraska’s Kimball Recital Hall. “We protected Medicaid.”
How voters receive the law, passed with no Democratic support in the narrowly GOP-controlled House and Senate, could go a long way to determine whether Republicans keep power in next year's midterm elections.
Flood was resolute on his position but engaged with the audience at times. During his repeated discussions of Medicaid, he asked if people in the audience thought able-bodied Americans should be required to work. When many shouted their opposition, he replied, “I don't think a majority of Nebraskans agree with that.”
Dozens formed a line to the microphone to speak to Flood, most asking pointed questions about the law, but many others questioning moves by the Trump administration on immigration enforcement, education spending and layoffs within the federal bureaucracy.
Some came prepared to confront him.
“You said in Seward you were not a fascist,” one man stood in line to say. “Your complicity suggests otherwise.”
Flood shot back, “Fascists don't hold town halls with open question-and-answer sessions.”
Asked if he would block the release of files related to the sex trafficking case involving the late Jeffrey Epstein, Flood said he supports their release as a co-sponsor of a nonbinding resolution calling for their publication. Flood also said he supports requiring a deposition from Epstein's convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, who argues she was wrongfully prosecuted.
Flood also suggested he might have “handled the situation differently” when he was pressed about Trump's firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner after her office reported slower July job growth than a year earlier.
Flood's audience Monday was gathering more than an hour before the doors opened. And as people lined up in the warm August air, he sauntered by, introducing himself, shaking hands and thanking people, including retired Lincoln teacher and school administrator Mary Ells, for attending.
“I believe Congressman Flood listened in a socially appropriate way," Ells said after expressing concerns to Flood about her grandchildren's future. “I do not believe he listens in a responsive, action-oriented way for citizens in Nebraska that do not agree with the national playbook written elsewhere but being implemented here."
Inside the hall, much of that decorum vanished.
During Flood's discussion of his support of the law's tax provisions, which he argued would benefit the middle class, the audience exploded in a deafening chant of “Tax the rich."
Other refrains included “Vote him out!” and “Free Palestine!”
Hecklers often drowned out Flood, creating a rolling cacophony with only occasional pauses.
Republican lawmakers' town halls have been few and far between since the bill passed early last month, in part because their leaders have advised them against it. Trump and others say the law will give the economy a jolt, but Democrats feel they’ve connected with criticism of many of its provisions, especially its cuts to Medicaid and tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy.
Flood later downplayed the confrontation as “spirited” but “part of the process” during an impromptu press conference.
“It doesn't mean you can make everybody happy,” he said. “But, you know, if you feel strongly about what you're doing in Congress, stand in the town square, tell them why you voted that way, listen to their questions, treat them with respect and invite them to continue to communicate.”
Unlike dozens of other Republicans in competitive districts, Flood hardly has to worry, as Republicans brace for a challenge to their razor-thin majority in the House next year. Elected in 2022, Flood was reelected to the seat last year by winning 60% of the vote in a district that includes Lincoln in Democratic-leaning Lancaster County but also vast Republican-heavy rural tracts in 11 counties that ring the Omaha metropolitan area.
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