What We Know About Congressional Town Halls In Chicago Area During August Recess
CHICAGO — The Trump administration’s budget bill that cuts health and social service programs and cuts taxes for the wealthiest of Americans is expected to be a key topic at town halls and other events in Illinois during the August congressional recess.However, face-to-face meetings could be hard to find, especially among Republicans campaigning for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections. Many Chicago-area Democrats don't have scheduled town halls listed on their websites either.Although members of Congress typically hold town halls and other events in their home districts when they’re on recess, Republican leaders in Washington have reportedly encouraged lawmakers to hold virtual or phone-in events instead. Several town halls last spring became contentious over issues ranging from more than $900 billion in Medicaid cuts over a decade, federal worker firings and program cuts, immigration policies, tariffs, and government over-reach, among other issues.Republican leaders argued there is no benefit to creating more viral moments, such as the crowd in Asheville, North Carolina, that booed Rep. Chuck Edwards and the pointed questions about tariffs and deportations that were directed at Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa.Republicans in swing-district conservatives from across Arizona, Colorado, California, Iowa, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were kept under wraps in previous recesses, The Associated Press reported.Here’s what we know about town halls in the Chicago area during the upcoming work period:U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-11, will host a town hall 6:30-7:30 p.m. July 29 at Aurora University. While the in-person event is at capacity, constituents can also view the town hall live online via a Facebook event page at https://bit.ly/474qcm7.U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, D-6, will host a town hall at 7 p.m. July 30 at La Grange Village Hall, but the event is at capacity. Casten has said on social media that he plans to hold another town hall soon.U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-4, will hold a town hall 7-8 p.m. Aug. 12 at Northlake City Hall, 55 E. North Ave. He will also hold a citizenship workshop by appointment only from 9-11:30 a.m. Aug. 16. Call 773-475-0833 or 773-342-0774 for more information.U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-2, will give the State of the Black Woman Address as part of an event presented by her Black Women and Girls Taskforce. The event will be held 5:30-8:30 p.m. Aug. 28 at the Gwendolyn Brooks Library Atrium at Chicago State University. For more information, visit https://robinkelly.house.gov/contact/upcoming-events.Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) adjourned the House early to avoid a vote on releasing files related to Jeffrey Epstein after essentially losing control of the House Rules Committee, which manages the flow of legislation. The Senate joins the House on Aug. 4, and both chambers will return to Washington on Sept. 2.Johnson’s hasty decision gives Democrats another talking point at town halls. Trump has been forced to defend his connections to Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender, and has found himself at odds with his MAGA base. Democrats don’t plan to abandon their core message that Trump and Republicans have broken their promises to lower costs for working-class consumers, but rather plan to use the Epstein case as an illustration of how Republicans protect the powerful “elites” at the expense of everyone else, The Hill reported.“Everything that House Republicans have done, everything this administration has done since Donald Trump took office, is in defense of the elites,” Rep. Katherine Clark (Massachusetts), the Democratic whip, told the outlet.Also during August, several high-profile progressives participating in left-leaning advocacy group MoveOn’s “Won’t Back Down Tour” plan to blitz competitive Republican districts. They include Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, along with Reps. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Yassamin Ansari of Arizona.“Donald Trump ran for office promising to lower costs on day one,” Warren told Politico. “Our secret, super-duper strategy is to get out there and tell the truth … that Donald Trump has taken a bad situation and made it worse.”Two events have been scheduled so far, one in Arizona and another in Nebraska.Thirty-three of 100 Senate seats are up in the midterms. The Cook Political Report, highly respected for its non-partisan analysis of U.S. elections and political trends, said the Senate race in Illinois is expected to go to a Democrat. So far, Democrats U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton have announced their campaigns to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who announced in April he would not seek re-election.Democrats would need to flip four seats to take a 51–49 seat majority, as a 50-50 tie would be broken by Vice President JD Vance. The Associated Press contributed reporting.The article What We Know About Congressional Town Halls In Chicago Area During August Recess appeared first on Across Illinois, IL Patch.
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