As Republicans face increasingly critical crowds in town halls or avoid them altogether, Rep. Scott Perry (R) held a telephone town hall to answer constituents’ questions.
Perry’s event came a week after a Democratic state Senate candidate won a special election in a Trump+15 District in Lancaster County, not far from his own congressional district. And on Tuesday, a liberal candidate for Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court beat a conservative opponent. It was a race widely seen as a referendum on Trump’s agenda, and in particular the role of billionaire megadonor Elon Musk, who poured millions into the contest.
Perry expressed both praise and skepticism of Musk and his role as the figurehead of the Department of Government Efficiency, which has led the Trump administration’s efforts to slash tens of thousands of federal jobs and cancel contracts across federal agencies – usually without warning.
The Republican lawmaker also answered questions on the sweeping tariffs announced by President Donald Trump earlier in the day, efforts to thwart federal judges who have blocked parts of Trump’s agenda, and concerns that Republicans will cut programs like Medicare and Social Security.
The town hall came after weeks of demands for Perry to communicate directly with constituents. He faced some tough questions, but not the rowdy crowds that met other Republicans who held events in person.
As Trump came into office and quickly began slashing federal spending and cutting tens of thousands of jobs, voters in the 10th Congressional District demanded their representative’s ear. Beginning in February, there were protests outside of his district offices. And last month, labor leaders and other advocates held a town hall in his absence at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Conference Center in Swatara Township, Dauphin County, that drew around 150 constituents.
White House staff secretary Will Scharf, left, adviser Elon Musk, joined by his son X Musk, center, and U.S. President Donald Trump appear for an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Multiple callers asked Perry about Musk, who has become one of the most prominent and controversial figures in the Trump administration’s orbit.
Perry, who has echoed many of Musk’s claims of fraud and waste on social media, expressed both praise and skepticism of the entrepreneur-turned-presidential advisor.
Ultimately, he said that it’s been a source of “frustration” that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has not been more transparent about their claims that their sweeping cuts have saved tens of billions of dollars.
His statement was in response to a question about why lawmakers had to raise the debt ceiling, despite Musk’s claimed spending cuts.
“I will tell you, I have a personal frustration, and we have asked, ‘Let’s see the details on DOGE,’” Perry said. “We can’t see granularly at this point. I know there’s a website and it says, ‘We have eliminated this contract’ or ‘We have eliminated this spending.’ But we have to put that in a frame of reference in the appropriations bill to see where that came from.”
Musk’s DOGE has come under fire practically since it started operating, in part because of false or exaggerated claims of savings. Following media fact checks, the New York Times reported that DOGE made changes to its website which made it harder to independently verify claims of savings.
Though that has not stopped Perry from sharing Musk’s unverified claims of finding fraud on social media.
But, he also praised DOGE, and their work identifying inefficiencies in the government’s record-keeping systems. Perry noted those systems are too numerous and struggle to communicate with one another, opening them up to fraud. He also said that he’d like to see DOGE operatives look at how to cut spending in the Medicare and Medicaid programs
“Washington’s been on a reckless spending spree for way too long,” Perry claimed at the top of the call. “That’s why we have to codify many of the cuts proposed under the Department of Government Efficiency, ensuring that we actually reduce the waste and reign in the federal overreach once and for all. Quite honestly, the waste is simply breathtaking.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump unveiled his long-promised plan to place tariffs, which will affect more than 100 nations and trading partners.
Asked for his thoughts on the issue, Perry was generally supportive. Though he noted he had not had advanced notice of the details of the tariff plans and was still reviewing them. He also said that he would like to see exemptions for products like coffee and cocoa that generally can not be grown the U.S.
Since Trump promised to announce the sweeping tariffs on Wednesday, U.S. and foreign markets fell. Prices on a broad range of products are also expected to rise, and consumer confidence reached a four-year low.
Yet the hope for tariff supporters is that the move will bolster the consumption of American made products, and incite companies to move manufacturing into the U.S. – instead of importing products produced with cheaper labor elsewhere.
“I know there’s going to be some market adjustments, but I also know that prior to the national income tax, our country was basically funded by tariffs,” Perry said.
While tariffs were a primary source of income for the United States for decades, they were largely phased out following World War II, the introduction of income tax, and the increase of global trade.
Multiple people asked Perry about whether there will be cuts to benefit programs like Medicaid and Social Security.
All but one House Republican voted in February on a broad outline of a plan that would cut $2 trillion in federal spending. Perry was quick to point out that the fine points of how that spending will be cut haven’t been worked out.
“That’s what we call the top line, and these are the targets to get to,” Perry said.
Democrats have warned that the only way to make those cuts possible would be by eating into the funding of social programs. But, Perry noted that Senate Republicans were not likely to agree to such large cuts, and that they would ultimately have to compromise.
The congressman acknowledged that, in order to reduce the deficit, lawmakers will have to take a hard look at these programs. He expressed optimism that cuts could be made by eliminating alleged fraud.
“There’s fraud and abuse and that and improper payments,” Perry said about Social Security. “We’re finding out that people have abused these systems to the tune of hundreds of millions, and maybe billions and billions, of dollars. We can’t continue down that road. At a minimum, we should make sure that that stuff is stopped, so that the people that have paid in can get out what they’re expecting.”
A recent audit of the Social Security program found billions in improper payments between 2020 and 2023, but those makes up a small fraction — less than 1% — of all payments made by the multi-trillion dollar program. And not all of those overpayments were due to fraud.
Perry also said he’d be open to making fewer Americans eligible for Medicaid.
“Working adults have become the largest subgroup of Medicaid because of the way it’s been expanded,” Perry said. “The real problem … is that we can’t afford it, because we have just a huge amount of spending where we never had it before … It wasn’t what it was designed for.”
Medicaid was vastly expanded under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Since then, virtually all American citizens who haven’t aged into Medicare, and can’t obtain comparable insurance through an employer or spouse, can get on a federally-funded plan. Though what the government’s share of that cost is depends on a recipient’s income.
“The expanded population is 90% of [what the] federal government is paying, and so it’s actually diverting the resources away from the truly needy people,” Perry said. “We’ve got to take a look at it to make sure that the eligibility requirements are being met for the truly needy”
Another constituent asked about the impact of cuts to the Social Security Administration’s workforce, and whether it would make it more difficult to access services.
Perry said while people may be experiencing difficulty getting a golf of Social Security employees since workforce cuts to federal agencies, the issue isn’t new.
“I’m not for cutting the staff if the staff is necessary,” Perry said. “But we’ve dealt for a long time with Social Security in our office, because people could not get timely answers. And unfortunately for us, that’s not a new circumstance.”
“I don’t know if it’s becoming more acute,” Perry added.
Medicaid sign at U.S. Senate Democrats’ press conference on Feb. 19, 2025. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
“Activist judges”
Perry was asked by a Trump-supporting constituent what he hoped to do about judges that have blocked some of the administration’s policies from taking effect. That includes his ban on birthright citizenship, his efforts to strip deportation protections from Venezuelans, and blocking federal funding for institutions that provide gender-affirming care for youth.
“We have these activist judges just right and left impeding him every step they go,” the caller said. “Why isn’t funding being pulled?”
Injunctions with nationwide effects ordered by federal judges have drawn the ire of numerous Republicans lawmakers. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), has warned that lawmakers may take action, including defunding or restructuring federal courts.
Perry, however, took a more measured approach.
“We do control the power of the purse, but I don’t know that there really is any way to single out individual judges,” Perry said. “We would be essentially forced to cut the entire portion of some judiciary and I don’t think that’s probably responsible when there’s one or two bad actors.”
Perry also said he does not believe impeachment is wise. He said it could “bog down” Congress, and would almost certainly fail in the Senate where a two-thirds vote is required.
But Perry was asked specifically about a resolution introduced by Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, which contends that judges can be removed with a simple majority vote by taking advantage of a constitutional loophole.
The Constitution states that judges “shall hold their offices during good behavior,” and Biggs’ resolution argues that Judge James E. Boasberg, who attempted to block Trump from deporting hundreds of alleged gang members to El Salvador, has violated it. Though it would likely face legal challenges, the resolution is an effort to skirt the two-thirds vote requirement of impeachment.
Perry warned against the tact.
“There’s oftentimes activism on both sides,” Perry said. “When Republicans are in the Executive branch, then there might be activists on the Democrat side, and vice versa. So you’ve gotta understand that things cut both ways.”
