The more than 350 people attending 1st District Rep. Mike Flood’s Seward town hall meeting May 27 alternately applauded and booed his comments but were seldom silent.
Flood addressed issues, including the budget, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), research funding, and affordable housing at Seward High School. It was his second town hall meeting in the district. The first was in Columbus in March.
“I learned a lot from that meeting in Columbus and I want to be as responsive as I can,” Flood said before opening the session to questioners who filled most of the auditorium’s south aisle awaiting microphone access. Questions were also submitted before the program.
In the 90 minutes that ensued, Flood defended his support of the recent budget bill and other steps taken by President Donald Trump and his administration, but said he is committed to the rule of law and his service to District 1, the country and the constitution.
The audience cheered after two questioners asked when Flood would “break” with Trump and whether he would support impeachment.
Flood was applauded when he said he did not agree with the budget bill’s inclusion of a clause barring federal courts from enforcing contempt of court rulings and injunctions.
“I believe in the rule of law,” he said, noting the oaths he has taken to defend the constitution as an attorney and lawmaker.
“This provision was unknown to me when I voted for the bill. I am not going to hide it,” Flood said, bringing on boos and new chants of “read the bill.”
“I hear you. The president has to follow the Supreme Court’s orders. When the president has been asked, he has said he will follow the orders,” Flood said.
The vocal portion of the audience also was not happy with his support for the president, who he said has already done much to address the country’s issues.
“At the end of the day we have to come together. I will do my best to stand up for you,” he said.
He referred several questions to his staff to get additional information about how the budget may impact specific programs, or to schedule specific meetings.
About three dozen questions were raised by the audience in the program, originally scheduled for just one hour, as the large screen behind him showed the total budget deficit growing.
He responded to budget bill and tax questions by reiterating his view that without the bill, all Americans would lose the tax cuts enacted in 2017. When questions targeted information about taxing the country’s highest earners, he repeated his view on how the bill will impact middle income households.
Flood said the bill will help increase goods and services produced in the country annually, which is measured as the gross domestic product, and praised the Big Beautiful Bill as the first time the House of Representatives had cut mandatory spending, a category that includes Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. He said the cuts to Medicaid would help it focus its spending on the most vulnerable Americans.
He told the audience that throughout the bill’s consideration, he had contact with the Nebraska Hospital Association and Department of Health and Human Services to see how Nebraskans might be impacted.
Flood predicted Nebraskans would not be impacted by Medicaid cuts to the extent that states like California or New York would be because unemployment is low here and benefits have not been extended as much.
Several questions related to recent reports that the budget deficit’s growth could trigger an automatic funding decrease for Medicare due to the 2010 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Bill (S-PAYGO), which Flood said is a myth reported by the media.
But Flood said he had not seen some of the analysis cited by the questioners and added that “a lot of us in Washington are perplexed” by the numbers put forth by the Congressional Budget Office, which was created by the Congress to provide objective, nonpartisan information while lawmakers are considering budget legislation.
In addition, he said that when cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are understood, states like Nebraska will be OK because they have not extended benefits like the others.
He did not address questions regarding the part of the bill lowering the age of a dependent child from 18 to 7 for SNAP allocations. Snopes.com reports that the bill did change the age of a dependent child but only for the purposes of SNAP allocations.
Later in the program, Flood voiced support for public schools and their funding, as well as medical and academic research funds, but said he also supports tax credits to benefit private schools.
Flood also responded to a question on affordable housing, saying he is working with Democratic Rep. Emanual Cleaver of Missouri to advance a “home partnership program” for people earning as much as 80% of average income, which could impact areas like Seward County.
Boos and chants including “tax the rich” continued during and after his answers, and when Flood said he was unaware of an issue or study questioned.
“I know some of you are angry. I know some of you are upset. I know some of you are worried. Let’s make this a model for the nation on how we talk about the future of America,” he told the audience.
Flood encouraged Seward attendees to come to the next town hall event in Lincoln in August.
“It will probably be in the Pinnacle Bank Arena at the rate I am going,” he said.
His staff said 352 people signed in at the Seward event, but more entered without registering.
After the session, Flood told reporters he appreciated the back-and-forth with constituents.
“If we don’t talk, nothing ever gets better,” he said.
