Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) was interrogated over the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” throughout a city corridor this week, with voters urgent him on provisions of the invoice — together with adjustments to Medicaid — in an hour-plus occasion that turned tense at occasions.
The megabill, which handed the Home final week, took heart stage from the beginning of the occasion. Flood, who represents Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District, talked about the invoice in his opening remarks, and the primary sequence of questions from constituents centered on the sprawling piece of laws.
“I will tell you, a lot of you as I talked to you on the way in had concerns with the bill that we passed in reconciliation on Thursday morning. I voted for that bill,” Flood stated, prompting loud boos and screams from the group.
In one of many viral moments, a voter within the viewers requested Flood a couple of provision within the invoice that goals to limit federal judges’ capacity to carry authorities officers in contempt once they violate a courtroom order.
When a choose grants a preliminary injunction — as judges have performed in dozens of circumstances to dam Trump administration insurance policies — federal process usually requires the plaintiff to publish a bond. However judges typically waive the requirement when the case issues an unconstitutional coverage. The invoice would stop judges from implementing contempt orders in the event that they difficulty such a waiver.
The language, which is a small paragraph within the 1,000-plus-page invoice, was slipped in and went largely unnoticed. Requested why he voted in favor of the invoice with that provision, Flood — who graduated from College of Nebraska’s legislation faculty — stated the language was “unknown” to him when he voted for the invoice, noting he’s not in favor of it.
“I do not agree with that section that was added to that bill,” Ground stated, prompting a cry of “you voted for all of it” from the viewers.
“Why? I will tell you this: I believe in the rule of law,” he continued. “I’ve taken an oath as an attorney, I’ve taken an oath as a state senator, I’ve taken an oath as a member of Congress, and I support our court system and I do believe that the federal district courts when issuing an injunction, it should have legal effect. In fact, I relied upon that when the Biden administration was in place, the federal courts did a tremendous amount of good work.”
“This provision was unknown to me when I voted for the bill,” he added.
When a moderator started shifting to the following query, Flood continued to talk to the matter.
“I am not going to hide the truth: This provision was unknown to me when I voted for that bill,” he stated, main the viewers to interrupt out in shouts. “And when I found out that provision was in the bill, I immediately reached out to my Senate counterparts and told them of my concern. And when I return to Washington, I am going to very clearly tell the people in my conference that we cannot support undermining our court system, and we must allow our federal courts to operate and issue injunctions.”
The congressman continued, later saying he can’t “pull the fire alarm” each time he’s pissed off with one thing from the administration. He did, nevertheless, take a jab on the White Home after deputy chief of workers Stephen Miller stated Trump and his crew are “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus because the administration seems to crack down on unlawful immigration.
“Please know that every time someone in the administration comes up with an idea, I can’t pull the fire alarm every day, but if I see a writ of habeas corpus, quote-unquote, suspended, that is not right,” Flood stated. “It can only be done by Congress in terms of an invasion, and that is not the situation we have.”
It was a well-recognized scene for Flood, who confronted an onslaught of incisive questions and complaints over Elon Musk, the Russia-Ukraine warfare and extra throughout a city corridor in March. The congressman held the occasion regardless of Home Republican leaders on the time urging lawmakers to host call-in and livestream city halls as an alternative of in-person gatherings after moments from numerous GOP city halls went viral for questions in regards to the administration and rowdy protests. Republicans had blamed the protests on Democratic activists.
On Tuesday, in the beginning of the city corridor, Flood stated he believed all in attendance had been his constituents.
“We have a good group of people here from all sorts of different places, all Nebraskans. I don’t think one of you is here because you’re getting paid, I don’t think one of you is here because you were trucked in,” Flood stated. “I shook every hand in the front of this assembly, and I recognized a lot of faces, and I recognized a lot of names from my daily call logs.”
Flood was requested in regards to the “big, beautiful bill” all through the city corridor. Later within the occasion, an attendee requested, “How do you justify extending the 2017 temporary tax cuts and offsetting that federal loss by cutting Medicaid and SNAP benefits — tax cuts [that are] expected to add $5 trillion to [the] deficit?” One of the controversial components of the GOP megabill was adjustments to Medicaid, together with beefed-up work necessities that may take impact in December 2026.
Flood defended the invoice, arguing that Medicaid must be protected for weak populations. At one level throughout these feedback, the group broke out in “tax the rich” chants.
Later within the city corridor, Flood stated: “I think when you look at the Medicaid changes that we made, we did a very good job to avoid making Medicaid changes that affect patient care.”
Zach Schonfeld contributed.
