Friends of the First Branch

Rep. Mark Pocan draws packed crowd at town hall meeting, calls out Rep. Derrick Van Orden on transparency VILLAGE OF BELMONT, Wis (WKOW) -- In a town with just over 1,000 residents, hundreds of people packed the Village of Belmont's Community Building Saturday for a town hall meeting

"If you don't have town halls, if you don't have ways to communicate with constituents, you're not really doing your job," Pocan said. www.wkow.com/news/politic...

impossible to overstate the extent to which swing district Republican members of congress are at this point not only avoiding town halls but simply declining to appear in public at all

Thanks Dana! We've updated our initial post using some feedback and suggestions:

Important to note: the ask of Dem reps mustbe to JOIN town halls in 🔴 districts, not host them -- see our new pinned thread:

bsky.app/profile/firs...

We will be expanding the spreadsheet too! Suggestions welcome

Musk or Us Recess Toolkit

...representatives are free to attend events in other districts – especially if they receive an invitation from a local group and attend as a guest in their personal capacity.

(From the @indivisible.org guide shared in @sarahdohl.bsky.social's post above)

indivisible.org/muskorus

Are representatives allowed to join events in other districs? Yes! House ethics guidelines and other guardrails prevent House members from using their official office, staff, or resources to host a town hall or similar event in a district other than their own. HOWEVER... 👇 3/

Town Hall March Madness

Are you in a red district? check our spreadsheet below to see if you have a neighboring blue district.

Reach out to their Representative, let them know that your Representative isn't listening to the people, and invite them to join an event in your area 2/

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

The folks at Indivisible 💪 have made a full guide on how to organize a town hall on your own 1/

bsky.app/profile/sara...

Trump and Musk's path of destruction doesn't respect congressional district boundaries, and neither should you!
We have compiled a list of 🔴 districts next to 🔵 districts 👇

You can ask dems to *join* town halls in neighboring GOP districts and give EVERYONE a voice!

docs.google.com/document/u/2...

Thank you @aoc.bsky.social! This is the way 💪

If you are in a 🔴 district and wondering how to organize an event that AOC or any other Dem Representative could join we have made a quick how-to guide and spreadsheet with relevant information 👇

docs.google.com/document/u/2...

Let's do it!

Absolutely sickened to see @jaredgolden.bsky.social voting with Trump 72% of the time. Some of these are such terrible votes. He needs to hold a town hall and answer to the good people of ME02. Like my MOM who knocked doors for him in the RAIN.

Opinion | Since this White House ignores science, Congress needs its own scientific agency With nonpartisan experts sidelined, information gets channeled through lobbyists, anonymously funded front groups and special interests. Let's stop that.

How fitting that Gingrich, the OG agency slayer, attended the joint address. Did you know he defunded a vital agency in the 90’s, crippling our ability to anticipatorily address things like pandemics, climate change, AI? Defunded agencies are difficult to resurrect. www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...

@repbrendanboyle.bsky.social @congressmanboyle.bsky.social Your neighbors here in PA-01 would love to have you visit.

Opinion | Since this White House ignores science, Congress needs its own scientific agency With nonpartisan experts sidelined, information gets channeled through lobbyists, anonymously funded front groups and special interests. Let's stop that.

How fitting that Gingrich, the OG agency slayer, attended the joint address. Did you know he defunded a vital agency in the 90’s, crippling our ability to anticipatorily address things like pandemics, climate change, AI? Defunded agencies are difficult to resurrect. www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...

Smucker absent for mock town hall in downtown Lancaster [video] Chants of “Smucker’s a chicken” and “Where’s Lloyd?” echoed from downtown Lancaster’s Penn Square on Saturday morning as more than 150 people staged a mock town hall for U.S. Rep.

Pennsylvanians in Rep. Lloyd Smucker’s district did that recently! lancasteronline.com/news/politic...

Hi! Per our list Smucker's district is near @houlahan.house.gov's district

bsky.app/profile/firs...

Hi Aaron! We made a list of 🔴 districts next to 🔵 districts to help House Dems organize for March recess. Rep. Beyer's district isn't next to any 🔴 districts but it would be great if he were willing to travel to one and listen to constituents abandoned by their GOP reps

bsky.app/profile/firs...

House Republicans have just been ordered to stop holding Town Hall meetings.

They can run from their extreme agenda.

We will never let them hide.

I’m ready to go on the road in California and start hosting town halls - in Republican districts. If GOP House members won’t hold town halls in their districts, we will.

This is a great, simple resource to help encourage Dem electeds to hold town halls in their neighboring red districts - look up your district and see who's next door! Give them a call!

If you don't know your district look it up at ziplook.house.gov/htbin/findre...

We’ve compiled a list of 🔴 districts next to 🔵 districts to help House Democrats organize for March recess. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

A true public servant, thank you 🙏. We’ve compiled a list of 🔴 districts next to 🔵 districts to help get more of this going around the country. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

We’ve compiled a list of 🔴 districts next to 🔵 districts to help get this going! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Maybe @governorwalz.mn.gov?

@repbrendanboyle.bsky.social I'm your neighbor in PA-01. Would you consider holding a Town Hall here since our elected official lacks the courage to face the people he works for?

Seems like the swing districts PA-08, PA-10, and IA-01 have no adjacent blue districts. @housedemocrats.bsky.social who wants to hold Town Halls there during March recess?

Check out the database that @firstbranchfriends.bsky.social made: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

We agree! So we made a list of blue districts who are next to red districts with information for people in red districts to get their closest House Dem to hold a town hall:

bsky.app/profile/firs...

Even better: have the House Democrat closest to the district come and do the job their Republican counterpart refuse to do!

We made a list to help people do this in their districts 👇

bsky.app/profile/firs...

It would be cool if House Democrats commit to hosting 1-2 town halls in neighboring red districts during March recess. So we made a thing.

Check out our database of 🔴 districts next to 🔵 districts and keep us posted on your town hall adventures!

If anybody is interested in some missing member town hall action, Indivisible has a free field guide for you for the congressional recess that begins March 14.