‘Not doing his job.’ Tri-Citians picket Rep. Newhouse office to demand a response
Local organizers with Indivisible Tri-Cities delivered more than 360 index cards filled with questions and concerns to U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse’s Tri-Cities office this week.
The anti-Trump group also gathered about 100 people to picket outside the congressman’s George Washington Way office in north Richland on Wednesday.
Protesters say they’re fed up with the lack of response from Newhouse, and a few said they’d like to see the Sunnyside Republican impeached for not pushing back against the MAGA administration.
“I feel like I’m just talking to nothing,” Karen Kunz, 69, of Kennewick, told fellow picketers while holding a sign that read “Stop The Coup.”
She says she’s tried calling Newhouse’s office about 30 times in recent days to no avail to talk about concerns on Medicare, immigration and his vote on the SAVE Act. Others said they’ve tried at least once a day to get a hold of the Congressman’s staffers.
“I feel like it’s almost hopeless. I mean, I keep showing up and I think at this point I feel the whole Republican Party is gone. They’ve drank the Kool-Aid,” Kunz continued.
But staff with Newhouse’s office agreed to meet and talk with the protesters in their office, six at a time. Some took up the offer.
A spokesperson for his congressional office later declined to provide the Herald with details on if or when Newhouse would hold a general town hall session.
“We’ll be notifying everyone when a town hall is scheduled,” said Matt Reed, the congressman’s communications director, in an email.
The House is not in session this week, but lawmakers are still busy ironing out a budget package that could see cuts to social programs, including Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP.
That’s upset many constituents in Newhouse’s Central Washington district, where more than one-third are enrolled in Medicaid.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has told Republican representatives to not hold in-person town hall meetings.
Lawmakers who held sessions are getting an earful from irate constituents upset over the Trump Administration’s gutting of the federal workforce, implementation of high tariffs and controversial deportations.
At Wednesday’s event, protesters held signs that read, “Where’s Dan?,” “Save Social Security, Tax The Rich,” and “Uphold The Constitution.”
One woman, who declined to identify herself, unfurled a 6-foot poster she put together with her child that tracked Trump’s actions. At the top, it read, “These Are All Dictator Moves. What Will Your Move Be, Dan?”
Loren Malone, co-founder of Indivisible Tri-Cities, said turnout was great despite being at the end of a work day. Their “Hands Off!” protest, held earlier this month on a weekend, attracted nearly 2,000 at the Columbia Center mall.
She’s doubtful Newhouse will hold a town hall in the coming months. In addition to the index cards, the group also submitted video recordings of town halls they organized with constituents.
“We’re a group of people hurting,” she said. “It’s just a reminder that we deserve to be heard, and he’s not doing his job.”
The group plans to hold a “No Kings Day” protest 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 19, at John Dam Plaza on George Washington Way in Richland.
