GOP congressman faces heated town hall where hundreds boo him for
supporting Trump's big bill
[August 06, 2025]
By THOMAS BEAUMONT
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.
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Rep. Mike Flood speaks and takes questions during a town hall
meeting on the University of Nebraska campus, Monday, August 4, 2025
in Lincoln, Neb. The second-term Republican braved a
Democratic-heavy audience of roughly 700, most of whom booed and
chanted in opposition to the GOP-backed tax-break and spending-cut
bill President Donald Trump signed last month. (AP Photo/Thomas
Beaumont)
“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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