Grassley is among a handful of GOP lawmakers who are doing in-person town halls.
“Why won’t you do your job, Senator?”
It was standing room-only in a small city hall building in Fort Madison, Iowa, where constituents overflowed out onto the sidewalk for a chance to talk with Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, pressing him on their concerns with the Trump administration’s deportation operation, the administration’s tariff policy, and government overreach.
Many in the audience expressed concerns over the Trump administration’s refusal to comply with court orders to facilitate the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a prison in El Salvador, arguing Grassley and Congress haven’t adequately provided checks and balances on the Trump administration, allowing him to defy court orders.
“You going to bring that guy back from El Salvador?” an audience member shouted.
“That’s not a power of Congress,” Grassley responded.
“El Salvador is an independent country … The president of that country is not subject to our U.S. Supreme Court,” he added later.
You could hear a loud groan from a woman before a man yelled, “I’m pissed!”
Grassley is among a handful of Republican members of Congress to hold town halls during its spring recess. GOP leadership has advised their members to avoid in-person town halls after several members were grilled in their home districts earlier this year.
At Grassley’s town hall, another audience member asked, “We would like to know what you, as the people, the Congress, who are supposed to rein in this dictator, what are you going to do about these people who have been sentenced to life imprisonment in a foreign country with no due process?”
Before Grassley could answer, other members of the audience shouted about the lack of due process.
