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Why Does Congress ‘Even Exist?’: GOP Representative Blasted at ‘Hostile’ Town Hall

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In one of the first town halls since House Republicans narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” that would gut Medicaid and SNAP, force cuts to Medicare, and provide tax cuts that largely benefit the wealthy, U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, a Republican of Nebraska, was showered with criticism.

Constituents in the auditorium expressed anger over cuts to the social safety net and incursions against America’s system of checks and balances, as KMTV reported. The local Nebraska outlet called the event “hostile.” Rep. Flood was repeatedly asked why he and the GOP Congress are not standing up to President Trump.

“At what point—even though you’re a Republican and he is a Republican—are you willing t0 break with him?” one constituent asked. “What does he have to do?”

READ MORE: Paratroopers May Deliver Gift to Trump at Army’s 250th Birthday Parade

“My question is regarding your oath of office,” declared another audience member (video below). “So you have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution from enemies, both foreign and domestic. And you’ve up until now abdicated all of your rights as Congress to the executive branch. And if you don’t act as a check and balance on the executive branch, when they are in violation, not only of the Constitution, but also of judicial orders, what exactly is the purpose of Congress? Why do you even exist?”

Other constituents were equally challenging.

“There’s a dichotomy between what you do and what you say when you come up here on stage, and what you vote for,” charged a constituent. “So, like today, you say, ‘Oh, this is the number one most important thing.’ But you voted for a bill that increases the deficit by $4 trillion.”

“You say, “Oh, I care about the rule of law, but you voted for a bill that contains a provision that would gut the checks the judicial branch has, and you didn’t even read it?” he added. “It’s ridiculous.”

“Why should we trust you when you come out of here and say things, but then you vote against the things that you say that you care about, that you believe in?”

READ MORE: Trump Pardon Chief Issues ‘MAGA’ Vow

On the $800 billion cuts to Medicaid in the bill Flood voted for, he insisted that most Nebraskans will not be affected, unlike, he alleged, states like California, which allows undocumented immigrants to access the program. The cuts to Medicaid are also expected to be achieved, in part, by imposing stricter work requirements.

“Question for the audience,” Flood declared, according to NBC News, “do you want illegal immigrants to get tax-funded benefits?”

“Yes,” was the crowd’s loud response. Flood replied: “I would say that is not the majority opinion of most Nebraskans, however. Next question.”

Flood also received harsh criticism for voting for the portion of the bill that makes it far more difficult for judges to hold parties in contempt of court — a provision some believe was designed to help President Trump.

The Nebraska Republican was forced to admit that he had not read that part of the bill, as NBC News also reported.

“This provision was unknown to me when I voted for the bill,” Flood told his constituents, to “loud yells” from the audience.

“I am not going to hide the truth,” he continued. “This provision was unknown to me when I voted for that, and when I found out that provision was in the bill, I immediately reached out to my Senate counterparts and told them of my concern.”

NBC noted that “Flood’s words did not calm attendees, who continued their shouting.”

KLKN spoke with several attendees after the town hall.

“I’m not sure how truthful he really was,” said one.

“Never spoken to that man until I came to these town halls, and he doesn’t listen,” said another.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘He Is Not in Charge’: Trump Mocked After Asking What’s in His Own Executive Order

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‘Disgraceful’: ICE Slammed After Allegedly Pepper-Spraying US Congresswoman

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U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) is accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of pepper-spraying her in her face while she was at a local Tucson, Arizona restaurant.

Rep. Grijalva in a video on social media said she saw about 40 mostly-masked ICE agents at a restaurant she frequents weekly.

The agents were “in several vehicles that the community had stopped right here, right in the middle of the street, because they were afraid that they were taking people without due process, without any kind of notice.”

READ MORE: Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative

She said that the community was “protecting their people” when she was “sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent,” and “pushed around by others when I literally was not being aggressive.”

“I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress,” she continued. “So, once I introduced myself, once I did, I assumed that it would be a little calmer, but there was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful, and I just can only imagine if they’re going to treat me like that, how they’re treating everybody else.”

Congresswoman Grijalva said she saw “people directly sprayed,” including “members of our press” and staff members.

She blasted President Donald Trump, saying that he “has no regard for any due process, the rule of law, the Constitution — they’re literally disappearing people from the streets.”

Critics slammed the agents’ action.

READ MORE: Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote that Rep. Grijalva “was doing her job, standing up for her community.”

“Pepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful, unacceptable, and absolutely not what we voted for. Period,” he added.

“This is unacceptable and outrageous,” observed Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. “Enforcing the rule [of] law does not mean pepper spraying a member of Congress for simply asking questions. Effective law enforcement requires restraint and accountability, not unchecked aggression.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted, “quite the beginning for Grijalva, who wasn’t seated for weeks, [cast] the decisive vote to get the Epstein files, and now has apparently been pepper sprayed in the face by immigration agents.”

Also calling the action “outrageous,” U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) wrote: “We are Members of Congress with oversight authority of ICE. Rep Grijalva was completely within her rights to stand up for her constituents. ICE is completely lawless.”

“First they tackle a sitting Senator,” noted U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY). “Now they’re pepper spraying a Representative. It’s clear ICE is spinning out of control. We will hold the agency accountable.”

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

 

Image via Reuters 

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Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative

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A well-known conservative commentator has a warning for the Republican Party: take action now or face a repeat of the 2018 midterms when the GOP lost 41 House seats in a landslide. And this time, he says, the Senate could go to the Democrats as well.

Award-winning writer and journalist Bernard Goldberg reminded readers at The Hill that in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term, “Republicans got walloped … and a good chunk of that had President Trump’s name written all over it.”

Trump’s “approval ratings were in the low 40s, and independents — the folks who usually decide elections — had seen enough. They broke hard for the Democrats,” Goldberg noted. “Now here we are, staring down 2026, and you can almost hear history clearing its throat, getting ready to repeat itself.”

READ MORE: Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

Goldberg noted that Trump’s approval rating is currently the lowest it’s been this term.

“Among Republicans, his support dropped from 91 percent right after the 2024 election to 84 percent last month. Among independents, it cratered — from 42 percent to just 25 percent.”

“If the trend continues,” he warned, “Republicans could be headed for another blue wave — and this time, it could wash away not just the House majority, but control of the Senate too.”

Why?

“It’s the economy — still,” he wrote.

“Trump is out there saying the economy is humming. Biden said the same thing before him. But voters didn’t buy it then, and they’re not buying it now. Why? Because it’s not GDP numbers that matter. It’s affordability,” Goldberg noted.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

That’s a word that President Trump continues to call a “con job,” while his own administration tries to claim he is focused on.

He pointed to a Karl Rove Wall Street Journal column and wrote: “The Republicans may have ‘avoided disaster’ in Tennessee, but the result should be a wake-up call for Republicans. He’s right.”

Goldberg asked: “will anyone in the Republican Party actually pick up the phone?”

“Because if Republicans don’t wake up — and fast — they’re going to find out the hard way what happens when you keep rerunning the same movie and expecting a different ending. To lose in 2026, all they have to do is nothing. And right now, that’s pretty much what they’re doing.”

READ MORE: Trump Urges Judge Aileen Cannon to Keep Jack Smith Report Secret

 

 

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Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

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President Donald Trump is claiming that the top priority of Democrats is the “total obliteration” of the U.S. Supreme Court. His remarks came just hours after SCOTUS gave Republicans a 6-3 win along partisan lines, in the form of approving Texas’s redrawn mid-decade congressional maps that could help add five GOP-held seats to the U.S. House of Representatives. A lower court had ruled the redrawn Texas maps were likely racially biased.

Although there are different ways to measure, one study by Court Accountability this fall found that the Supreme Court has ruled in Trump’s favor 90% of the time.

“Most of these wins for the president came from the court’s ‘shadow docket’ slate of opinions — where the court has typically, in the past, only ruled on administrative measures,” according to Truthout. “However, in recent years, the Supreme Court has been making announcements on cases, issuing injunctions or allowances of actions to remain in place, that have the same effect, essentially, as a final decision.”

READ MORE: White House Touts Trump’s ‘Track Record’ on Affordability

On Friday, the president declared that the “Democrats number one policy push is the complete and total OBLITERATION of our great United States Supreme Court.”

“They will do this on their very first day in office, through the simple Termination of the Filibuster, SHOULD THEY WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS,” he wrote.

Trump has strongly advocated for Republicans to eliminate the Senate filibuster.

“The Radical Left Democrats are looking at 21 Justices, with immediate ascension,” he wrote, claiming that Democrats would more than double the current size of the court.

“This would be terrible for our Country. Fear not, however, Republicans will not let it, or any of their other catastrophic policies, happen. Our Country is now in very good hands. MAGA!!!”

Some court reform advocates have suggested the Supreme Court be expanded to 13 justices, one for each of the thirteen U.S. Courts of Appeals.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

 

Image via Reuters 

 

 

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