Eau Claire residents shared concerns on proposed spending cuts with Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski at a town hall on Thursday.

Dozens of area residents attended the town hall organized by Opportunity Wisconsin at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Library. Many stepped up to the microphone to share their concerns about potential cuts to federal programs they rely on. Many also took the opportunity to address Congressman Derrick Van Orden’s perceived lack of availability to constituents in the third congressional district.

Congressman Van Orden was invited to the event, but elected to hold a virtual town hall instead. Facing criticism over his unwillingness to host in-person town halls, Congressman Van Orden has repeated claims that many of the attendees at these events are “George Soros funded agitators.”

“Given the amount of certainty the Congressman has, I’m thinking he has contact information for these dark, mysterious forces,” said one resident speaking on those claims. “Congressman Van Orden, can you please provide me with this contact info? If I can get paid to do this, I’ll call that a win-win.”

Secretary of State Godlewski spoke on Congressman Van Orden’s unwillingness to hold in-person town halls at various times during the event. “The people of Eau Claire and the people of the third CD deserve answers when a representative votes on a bill to cut $1.5 trillion,” she said afterwards. “And this money is going to impact essential services that Western Wisconsinites rely on. Whether it is our farmers, our food share, our health service to the VA, Representative Van Orden has an obligation as an elected official to be held accountable to answer why he agreed to vote for a $1.5 trillion cut.”

In his own town halls, Congressman Van Orden has stated that the budget blueprint passed in February does not specifically propose cuts to programs like Medicaid. However, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the proposed cuts to mandatory spending in the blueprint would be impossible to achieve without slashing funding to those programs.

The event came just two days after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz held a town hall in Eau Claire. That event saw residents raise similar concerns regarding federal spending cuts, as well as criticisms of Elon Musk’s spending ahead of the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

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