RELATED: U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie holds 1st telephone town hall since joining Congress
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — More than 400 people filled the pews of a Southside church Thursday evening for a town hall meeting lacking its guest of honor, U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
Instead, a slate of Democratic leaders from the local, state and federal levels offered the crowd a helping of political communion, attacking Mackenzie, congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump for their pursuit of sweeping changes to the federal government.
Organizers with the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and other groups billed the event as a conversation on Medicaid.
They invited Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, to attend his first public forum so he could take questions from concerned constituents about the proposed $880 billion in cuts to the federal health insurance program that serves America's most vulnerable.
"I have to ask the question: Do you miss me yet?"Susan Wild, former congresswoman defeated by U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie
Mackenzie didn't show. As his political rivals' event got underway, he instead hosted a telephone town hall that he announced less than 24 hours ahead of time.
Democrats' VIPs
In his absence, the in-person event transformed into a political rally featuring VIP speakers.
DNC Chairman Ken Martin; U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa.; Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley; and Susan Wild, Mackenzie's predecessor for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, sat on folding chairs at the foot of the altar.
"I have to ask the question: Do you miss me yet?" Wild inquired as the room showered her in chants of "Susan! Susan! Susan!"
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland and the man who led the prosecution of Trump's second impeachment trial, received a hero's welcome from the crowd.
He attacked Republicans in a fiery speech, joking that Trump's joint address to Congress earlier this month sounded better in its original Russian and accusing Republicans of favoring DUI hires after Speaker Mike Johnson's chief of staff was charged with drunken driving.
Trump, Raskin said, has usurped congressional authority by enforcing tariffs by executive order, dismantling federal programs such as USAID and laying off thousands of federal employees without cause.
In 45 resulting lawsuits, judges have found Trump has likely violated the Constitution, Raskin said.
"The president's job is to take that the laws are faithfully executed. Tonight we say to Donald Trump, 'Do your job!'" Raskin said to wild applause.
A rebuke from the pulpit
The broad shots at Republican lawmakers, Trump and Department of Government Efficiency champion Elon Musk landed well with the attendees, but not with the event's host.
At the evening's start, the Very Rev. Jon Stratton, dean and rector of the church, welcomed his guests with a reminder that it was not a partisan event.
Christ, he said, wasn't Republican, Democrat or independent but an advocate for the poor and oppressed. Questions about Medicaid funding and how America treats its poor is an issue crucial to people of all political persuasions, he said.
The first hour of the 100-minute event was made up of VIP speeches, some of which barely touched on Medicaid. As Raskin finished his remarks, Stratton took the pulpit and called out his guests, saying the event wasn't the Medicaid forum he had been promised.
"I am upset right now," Stratton said. "This is not a partisan place. I was told this would not be a Democratic stump speech."
Medicaid concerns
The rest of the night refocused on Medicaid as the format shifted to audience questions.
One woman, who identified herself as a pediatric therapist, shared how she serves children who are dependent on Medicaid for food and healthc are. Between the potential benefits cut and the possible fallout of Trump's tariffs, families on the edge could be cast adrift, she said.
"They say there will be a little pain. It will be a little rough for a while. Who are you talking about? Will people in government feel pain? Will Mackenzie’s children feel pain? Trump’s children? Elon Musk’s children?" asked the woman, her voice wavering.
Martin, the DNC chair, thanked the woman for sharing her experiences.
Growing up, his family could only make ends meet thanks to their Medicaid coverage, he said. People need to set aside their partisan tendencies and recognize the humanity of their neighbors and fellow Americans, he said.
"Behind every single one of those numbers that they’re cutting is family like mine. Like the families that you take care of," Martin told the woman. "This is not some abstract exercise in efficiency. These are people’s lives."
Meeting with Mackenzie
Another woman spoke at length about how she wound up on Social Security disability after a fall at a grocery store. When she couldn't work, she raised her family thanks to the Medicaid benefits they received.
Wild thanked audience members like her who shared their personal experiences. Trump and Musk keep claiming the program is rife with fraud and waste, but the experiences of people in the community show what's at stake, she said.
"Your true stories are what will make people sit up and take notice," Wild said.
"He (Rep. Mackenzie) was very kind. He said that if we were having difficulty accessing funding that we were owed that he would be able to assist us in that area."Dawn Godshall, executive director of Community Action Lehigh Valley
Dawn Godshall, the executive director of Community Action Lehigh Valley, shared that she traveled to Washington earlier this month to meet with members of Congress.
The Trump administration has been slow to reimburse her organization on contractual expenses; CACLV is currently owed $1 million by the federal government, she said. The nonprofit agency provides critical services to people on the margins in counties across Northeast Pennsylvania, including stocking food pantries in a six-county area.
Unlike other lawmakers she visited, Mackenzie met her in person instead of sending an aide, Godshall said.
"He was very kind. He said that if we were having difficulty accessing funding that we were owed that he would be able to assist us in that area. He was not committal on any future funding, but I am going to hold him to his word that he will continue to help us," she said.
While some in the audience accused Mackenzie of voting to cut Medicaid, the program has not been cut yet.
Mackenzie and nearly every other House Republican voted last month for a budget resolution that calls for cutting Medicaid by up to $880 billion. However, the resolution carries mostly symbolic weight. It does not cut any funding itself, and lawmakers are not obligated to follow it as they craft the budget.
At the event's conclusion, Anne Schubert of Upper Saucon Township said she was inspired by what she heard. Beforehand, she debated whether she should call into Mackenzie's program but suspected she would only hear canned answers.
As a member of the Southern Lehigh Democrats, Shubert said she knew the effort grassroots organizers have made over the past few months. However, she needed reassurances that elected Democrats wouldn't squander all that energy and work. The speakers delivered, she said.
"I wanted to make sure they are the folks I want leading and fighting with arm in arm. They lived up to the bar," Schubert said.
