Vermont’s Congressional delegation hosted a telephone and virtual town hall Wednesday evening. Many people posed questions on how to respond to federal cuts.
The town hall was advertised as a way for Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch and Congresswoman Becca Balint, both Democrats, to hear from Vermonters about their concerns.
Sanders opened the meeting by saying the actions by the Trump administration have created an unprecedented and dangerous moment in the nation’s history.
“We’re looking at a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires. But that’s not all that I worry about,” Sanders said. “I worry that we are moving toward an authoritarian form of society.”
With Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans holding majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats are nearly powerless in federal government. But Congresswoman Balint said people do not have to accept what is happening.
“A lot of Vermonters have asked me what can I do because I feel overwhelmed. I feel paralyzed. And I really understand that. And one strategy that I’ve learned that has helped is to focus on an issue that is incredibly important to you in this moment. Do what you can when you can,” advised Balint. “And when people work locally, they don’t feel alone anymore. It’s critically important that you don’t feel alone in this.”
Some questions were submitted in advance while some Vermonters had the opportunity to speak directly to the delegation. Last names were not given.
A submitted question from David in Bennington noted he is a disabled veteran concerned about cuts to the VA. During the discussion, Balint said her efforts to protect people from cuts in multiple areas were voted down by Republicans.
“I was in the budget committee for 12 hours just a couple days ago trying to add amendments to protect folks like veterans, to protect people who are on Medicaid or Social Security. Every single amendment the Republicans voted down,” recalled Balint. “In the meeting that the Speaker had with the Republican conference this morning he was instructing his members not to do any more town halls because they’re going to have to be accountable.”
“It is to me interesting that the Speaker of the House is now telling his Republican colleagues don’t hold town meetings,” Sanders remarked.
That’s right,” Ballint affirmed. “Says it all doesn’t it?”
“Yes that does tell it all,” Sanders replied. “They don’t want to face people of this country.”
As Jerry from Charlotte expressed concerns about misinformation from the Trump administration, Sanders said it presents a conundrum.
“How can we combat the lies and him working towards controlling the media, because we keep bumping into freedom of the press and freedom of free speech?” asked Jerry.
“You ask a very profound question and unfortunately it is a question that until very recently has never been asked before,” Sanders said. “Again, politicians lie, they distort reality. It’s nothing new. But the level of the Big Lie we have never seen before. And combatting the Big Lie is a very, very difficult and challenging issue and we’re open to any ideas that people may have on that one.”
Senators Sanders and Welch responded to Josh from Richford who was the only caller supporting DOGE actions.
“I think exposing the corruption and figuring out where all this wasted money is going is good and frankly I don’t understand why the three of you are more concerned about Trump and Elon’s overreach as opposed to getting upset about all of this waste,” Josh offered.
“It’s not that we should not make the government more efficient. We should,” Sanders asserted. “It is the very arbitrary and meat axe type of approach that Musk is using in many ways in an unconstitutional and illegal way.”
“Here’s the issue for me,” adds Welch. “What is happening with DOGE is they’re sending out firing notices and that’s the end of it. So, is it about destruction or is it about disruption?”
Sanders noted that more than 1,400 Vermonters submitted questions. His office said more than 34,000 Vermonters tuned into the town hall.
