Pallone at Town Hall: When Constituents Speak Up, Change Happens

METUCHEN, NJ - Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) hosted a town hall at Metuchen High School tonight, where 100s of constituents turned out to speak up about runaway cost inflation, health care cuts, and the Trump administration's mounting attacks on essential government programs.

Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, took dozens of questions and underscored a message that ran throughout the evening: when New Jerseyans speak up, we get results.

"I successfully fought back against Trump's cuts to the 9/11 health care programbecause constituents raised their voices," Pallone said. "When I heard from first responders like Frank Granger in Piscataway, I made sure my colleagues in Congress understood what was at stake-Trump was ripping away care that 9/11 heroes depend on just to hand more money to billionaires. That public pressure worked. The administration paused the layoffs. That's the power of speaking out."

Pallone urged the crowd to keep up the pressure as Republicans-now in control of the House, Senate, and White House-advance an extreme agenda. Their proposals include slashing at least $880 billion from Medicaid, issuing an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education, and gutting Social Security services. He warned that these drastic cuts would shift costs onto local communities and put seniors, children, and people with disabilities at risk.

Specifically, the Congressman warned that Trump's executive order to dismantle the Department of Education would force New Jersey towns to raise property taxes just to keep schools open-and that cuts to Medicaid would have devastating consequences for children, seniors, and people with disabilities across the state.

"Republicans handed power to unelected billionaires like Elon Musk to make these decisions behind closed doors," Pallone said. "But they still answer to you. When constituents flood their offices, share their stories, and demand action-that's how we stop these attacks."

Tonight's town hall followed an unprecedented surge in outreach to Pallone's office, as thousands of constituents have spoken out against proposed Republican cuts to Medicaid, Social Security, and federal workforce protections. On March 18, Pallone hosted a virtual town hall focused on proposed Republican Medicaid cuts which drew hundreds of attendees.

"This room was full of passionate questions for a reason," Pallone said. "New Jersey residents are paying attention. People are fed up with Republicans ignoring them. And they're ready to fight back. The only way we stop these cruel policies is by showing up-and tonight, you did just that."