Republican Rep. Mike Flood appeared before his constituents in Nebraska on Tuesday for a town hall that turned ugly as he tried to defend President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” the reconciliation package the House of Representatives passed last week, and which is expected to force millions of Americans off their health care coverage and food aid.
Unfortunately, Flood hadn’t actually read the bill.
Flood could barely get through a sentence without facing boos and heckling from the audience. At one point, when asked about a provision in the GOP’s massive reconciliation package that would restrict the judiciary’s ability to hold government officials in contempt, Flood said he did not agree with the provision, before admitting that the “provision was unknown to me when I voted for that.”
“I’ve taken an oath as a state senator, I’ve taken an oath as a member of Congress, and I support our court system, and I do believe that the federal district courts when issuing an injunction should have legal effect,” Flood said in response to the question. “In fact, I relied upon that when the Biden administration was in place, the federal courts did a tremendous amount of good work.”
“This provision was unknown to me when I voted for the bill. OK? Next question, next question,” Flood added of the legislation, which passed through the House last week and is now being considered in the Senate.
The confession prompted a loud round of jeering from attendees. Flood eventually interjected, telling the crowd that he was “not going to hide the truth.”
The congressman then stated that he was “going to very clearly tell the people in my conference that we cannot support undermining our court system, and we must allow our federal courts to operate an issue, injunctions.”
It was the tense peak of an acrimonious event. In another instance, when Flood insisted that he was a true supporter of the Constitution, one audience member shouted “then do it” from the crowd.
In holding the town hall, Flood actually bucked advice from Republican leadership, who earlier this year advised members of the party to avoid town halls and other confrontations with constituents over the GOP’s unpopular policy initiatives.
Other Republicans — including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) — who have gone forward with public constituent meetings have faced the rage of voters upset over mass firings, public corruption, and the president’s continued defiance of the courts. The “big, beautiful” bill’s proposed cuts to social safety net programs in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthy aren’t very popular, either.
But Republicans remain steadfast in their commitment to fulfilling Trump’s policy platform, even if it’s unpopular, and even if it kicks millions of Americans off of their health insurance. As his constituents yelled at him, an exasperated Flood complained that he understood “that you can get an applause line when you call me a fascist.”
“But I’m not,” he insisted.
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