Apr. 15—GRAND FORKS — U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak said she will continue to host virtual town halls but indicated she is opposed to holding in-person town halls.
Fedorchak, R-N.D. said she intends to hold “frequent” virtual town halls as the state’s sole representative in the U.S. House in order to connect with constituents.
“I want them to know where I stand on things that are important to them, and I want to hear how they feel too,” Fedorchak said. “Telephone town halls are a wonderful tool to do that in a state as big as North Dakota.”
Fedorchak held her first such event March 25, answering questions from 10 people during a 50-minute session.
She told the Grand Forks Herald on Friday that her team did not screen questions ahead of the event and she answered as many questions as possible.
Fedorchak
answered questions
about international relations, her support for President Donald Trump and climate change, among other issues, but did not respond to questions about access to public lands and cuts to the federal agencies overseeing them.
Republican lawmakers across the nation have come under fire for avoiding in-person town halls and town hall-style meetings after videos of Republican lawmakers facing angry constituents at local events went viral.
Fedorchak said Friday she does not plan to hold an in-person town hall in the future, saying she did not think the town halls Republicans have held since Trump took office were productive or safe.
“Have you seen the town halls that have happened nationwide?” she said. “Do you think they’ve been productive conversations on relevant issues?”
The chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee advised Republican lawmakers in March to avoid in-person town halls, advice that House Majority Leader Mike Johnson seconded.
Republicans appear to have largely heeded his advice, with NBC News reporting that Democrats are hosting the majority of town halls and town-hall-style events taking place during a two-week recess that began Thursday.
Some North Dakotans are calling on the state’s members of Congress to hold in-person town halls.
U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer
told WDAY in March
there was a “good chance” his office would schedule an in-person town hall soon, saying he’d shifted from in-person events to talk radio appearances since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sen. John Hoeven’s office sent the Herald its March statement to WDAY, saying that Hoeven holds “many public meetings on issues important to our state and nation” that residents are “welcome to attend.”
The senator made a similar statement
on the Plain Talk podcast April 4
.
The North Dakota Democratic-NPL staged an in-person town hall in Fargo last month, at which speakers listed a litany of complaints with the Trump administration. Organizers pointedly left three seats open for the state’s three Republican members of Congress.
Fedorchak said she continues to make appearances and meet with some North Dakotans directly, pointing to a meeting she held later that day with members of the Grand Forks/East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce.
She said her staff is planning to hold another virtual town hall sometime in May.