Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson will continue in-person town halls, despite GOP advice

Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Marion, said she intends to continue hosting in-person public town halls across Northeast Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.

That despite instructions from U.S. House Republican leadership that GOP lawmakers skip in-person public forums amid angry protests over efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to slash the federal government.

“I've done 42 in-person town halls (since taking office in 2021), dozens of virtual town halls, and so I will be doing town halls this Congress,” Hinson said Friday during a weekly conference call with reporters. “And my pledge is to still do a town hall in every single county that I represent.”

She said her schedule has kept her in Washington, D.C., much of the past few weeks, but her office is working on scheduling town halls in the district. A spokesperson said Hinson also will host virtual telephone town halls.

"So, per usual, I will be putting all of those ahead of time in my newsletter as we get those scheduled,“ Hinson said. ”So I’d just encourage anybody who wants to know what we’re up to and our schedule there to continue to subscribe to our weekly newsletter."

Iowa’s 2nd District encompasses 22 counties in Northeast Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Dubuque.

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Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana earlier this week encouraged GOP lawmakers to stop conducting in-person town halls as they’ve faced angry crowds complaining about funding cuts and mass firings of federal employees led by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Johnson told reporters that the people who have filled up recent town hall meetings across the country are "professional protesters" — echoing a similar claim by Trump that "paid troublemakers“ are filling the GOP town halls.

Liberal groups have promoted and organized large demonstrations at congressional town halls to protest the administration’s actions, but there is no evidence that attendees are being paid.

Johnson said it is "wise" for House Republicans not to "play into that,“ and suggested telephone town halls would be a good alternative for members to hear from constituents.

Hinson: Waste ‘slap in the face' to Iowa taxpayers

House lawmakers last week were home in their districts. Several held town halls that went viral as constituents pressed them.

Trump and Musk’s DOGE have fired tens of thousands of federal workers — including many veterans who make up a large chuck of the federal workforce and those who conduct agricultural research and provide support for farmers — and frozen billions in federal funding as they say they are in search of waste, fraud and abuse.

Hinson said she supports the DOGE’s work.

“I actually had a chance to hear directly from Elon this week,” she said. “The amazing amount of fraud, waste and abuse that is being uncovered is going out publicly. Everything's publicly available, and they're being very, very transparent, as I always have been, too, about my positions on issues, my votes and my work for Iowans.”

Musk’s DOGE group has posted what it calls a “wall of receipts” on its website that claims has saved billions. But reports and government documents show that many of the purported savings are either misleading or incorrect. Some of DOGE's biggest contracts that they say have resulted in savings ended up being deleted after outlets pointed out that there were errors.

The New York Times reported this week DOGE deleted hundreds more claims from the website, erasing $4 billion in savings that the group said it had made for U.S. taxpayers.

Hinson, though, pointed to a DOGE audit that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been wasting money on thousands of unused software licenses.

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DOGE previously has made similar announcements regarding the General Services Administration, Department of Labor, Small Business Administration and the Social Security Administration.

“That's a huge slap in the face of the Iowa taxpayer,” Hinson said. “So I will continue to advocate for finding those savings, eliminating that waste, fraud and abuse. And then, in my role as an appropriator, which we're coming up on a pretty important deadline here, making sure that we're funding the programs that we need to fund.”

Hinson cites assurances for veteran health care

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Hinson also was asked by reporters about the Trump administration’s plans to reorganize Veterans Affairs and cut more than 80,000 jobs across the agency.

Some VA employees in Iowa — including in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City — who were affected in the first round of layoffs have told media the cuts will make it more difficult for Iowa veterans to receive care.

The department, in a statement, said the cuts will save more than $98 million that will be redirected “back toward health care, benefits and services for VA beneficiaries.”

“This was a tough decision, but ultimately it’s the right call to better support the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors the department exists to serve,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement. “To be perfectly clear: these moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”

Hinson cited Collins’ assurances that none of the reductions in workforce would impact direct care.

“So if that is happening, I certainly want to know about it,” she said. “… Unfortunately, we have some people working within the bureaucracy who are deliberately trying to undermine the Trump administration's goals of finding efficiencies and providing the best service for veterans.”

Hinson said she intends to investigate the claims and “fact find on what's actually happening, because my goal is to make sure veterans are getting the care that they deserve.”

Cuts to Medicaid and Medicare?

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office this week said congressional Republicans cannot reach their goal of cutting at least $1.5 trillion in spending over 10 years to pay for extending the 2017 tax cut law and new spending on border security and immigration enforcement unless they cut Medicaid or Medicare benefits.

The Washington Post reported the office determined the House Committee on Energy & Commerce cannot cut $880 billion in spending — as mandated by the budget plan passed by House Republicans last week — without taking from Medicaid, Medicare or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Trump has insisted his administration will not cut benefits for Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, but will address eligibility to protect traditional Medicaid populations.

House Speaker Johnson has said: “Medicaid is for single mothers with small children who are just trying to make it. It's not for 29-year-old males sitting on their couch playing video games.”

A Hinson spokesperson said the congresswoman agrees with Johnson, and is committed to ensuring Medicaid is used for those who truly need it and can be sustained long-term.

The spokesperson said Hinson’s office disagrees with the budget analysis and cited a House Committee on Ways & Means analysis highlighting the importance of extending tax cuts for working families and small businesses.

Many Iowans’ tax bills would increase next year without the extension, according to a U.S. Treasury Department report in January. All income groups would get a boost in after-tax income, the department said.

“Small businesses are the foundation of Iowa’s economy, making up over 99 percent of Iowa businesses and employing over half of our state’s workforce. Permanently extending key provisions of the (2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), including Section 199A deduction, would help small businesses continue to invest in their operations and employees,” Hinson’s office said.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com