Three Important Questions to Ask Your Republican Congressperson
Not even Project 2025 could have predicted the ways Republicans have bowed to Trump and covered his crimes
The August Congressional recess is almost over. This is usually a time for members of Congress to host town hall-style events that give constituents the opportunity to connect with them and advocate for the issues that matter most.
But this time is different — at least for Republicans. With Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in charge, Republicans have been running scared from the people they are supposed to represent. Earlier this year, Johnson told GOP lawmakers to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge constituents who want to ask them critical questions about the direction Republicans are taking the country under Trump.
Framing constituents as “paid protesters” and “professional troublemakers,” Republicans have tried to justify their cowardice by blaming the people they are supposed to represent.
Have you ever seen the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story? In it, a dodgeball legend named Patches O'Houlihan names the five tenants of dodgeball: Dodge, Duck, Dip, and Dive. Then he sort of stutters and says the first word again: “dodge.” But the viewer can tell that he was supposed to say something else. What was it?
Well, in Johnson’s case, the fifth D is Deflect. That’s what Republicans have been doing since Trump took office. That deflection was never more obvious than when Johnson dismissed Congress early to avoid a bipartisan committee vote for legislation that would call for the release of the Epstein files.
Trump hasn’t been subtle about wanting to shut down the Epstein case and protect his longtime friend. You know if I were accused of belonging to a trafficking ring that abused underage girls, I would do everything in my power to release all of the information necessary to clear my name. I would wallpaper the sky with those documents. Unless, of course, I were guilty. But the president of the United States couldn’t possibly be guilty of something like that, right?
Right?
By the way, if you want deep dives of Epstein news, go check out my friend Ellie’s Substack, The Panicked, Unpaid Writer.
Because Republicans these days blatantly serve their orange master and not the people who voted for them, they’ll do anything, including leaving the Capitol early, to cover his crimes. Afraid of accountability (or is it culpability?), Republicans haven’t held a single public town hall in their own communities. Instead, they’ve hidden behind dinners for donors and closed-door events for hand-picked supporters — where they know they won’t be asked the hard questions.
The Republican Congressional delegation in my state is so hard to find, the Montana Democratic Party put out a MISSING poster. Have you seen this man?
Why are Republicans so afraid of facing the people they represent? We deserve the truth. Which is why we have to get through to them. Here are the three questions they should answer before they return to Washington, D.C.:
Do you support the public release of the Epstein files, or are you helping to cover them up?
Republicans have echoed Trump, GOP leaders, and the Republican base in demanding answers on Epstein. Why are you now okay with silence?
Do you believe your constituents deserve to know if their elected official is shielding predators instead of standing with victims?
I urge you to demand our leaders are accountable to we, the people, not their political party, their billionaire donors, or their president who thinks he’s above the law. Write letters to the editor, make phone calls, send postcards, organize protests. Let’s do whatever we can to make sure the people who claim to represent us actually represent us.
As a Montanan I thank you for calling out Zinke. All of our representatives have not held town halls except for via zoom so it was easy for them to turn people off when discussing topics they don't want to talk about. They are all cowards. I hope I run into some of them on the streets because I will be calling them out to their face.