'Doesn't know how to represent': Constituents irked after GOP lawmaker snubs town hall
Constituents in eastern Alabama are furious with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) for skipping out of the district before they could voice their concerns about issues like the economy, healthcare, and national security, according to WRBL.
The group Indivisible Auburn-Opelika invited Rogers to a community “People’s Town Hall” held last week at the local library, but Rogers declined to attend.
Organizers told WRBL that Rogers’ absence "is nothing new," even if House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) discouraged Republican lawmakers from attending town halls due to recent vitriol and disruptions.
Committee member Lee McInnis told the news outlet, “So as far as I can tell, Mike Rogers hasn’t held a town hall meeting in eight years. So, I don’t think Mike Johnson saying anything would have necessarily dissuaded him."
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McInnis continued, "But I think it breaks the basic social contract that our elected representatives have. They were elected to represent the people of the third District of Alabama. If he is not going to meet with a broad spectrum of his constituents, he does not know what his constituents think and he does not know how to represent.”
He added, “We wanted an opportunity to address Congressman Rogers to express to him our concerns about the direction the administration has been going in the first three months of its time in office, and to tell him that he does not necessarily have the support and concurrence of the entirety of the third Alabama Congressional District.”
Organizers said they recorded the town hall and planned to send a copy to Rogers’ office.
Donald Trump gave his "complete and total endorsement" to Rogers during the congressman's re-election campaign in November 2023.
“Congressman Mike Rogers is doing a fantastic job representing the people of Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “As the first chairman of the House Armed Services Committee from Alabama, Mike is rebuilding our great military, fighting woke ideology, and defending our country.”