In a live telephone town hall that ran just over an hour last Wednesday evening, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert addressed some of her constituents’ questions, comments and concerns, but went down a rabbit hole while trying to answer others. Only people’s first names were referenced in the call.
The first question came from Christina who lives in Loveland and went into Boebert’s office to submit her question in person, thus kicking off the town hall with a hot-button topic.
“What are you doing to protect the American people from the overreaching of DOGE and Elon Musk trying to access personal information and confidential files of the American public?” she asked. “Musk is not an elected official and has been given unprecedented access to agencies inside the government. I do not believe this is appropriate.”
Boebert thanked Christina for her question, acknowledging the concern is one that her office “receives a lot of calls about.” Boebert’s answer indicated that Elon has no interest in snooping through people’s private information.
“If we really want to talk about bureaucrats accessing your private information, I would rather talk about how I fought against the Democrat bill that hired 87,000 armed IRS agents to snoop into your bank accounts. Now, that is accessing your private data.” Boebert further claimed, “I fought against and helped put an end to the Biden administration’s unconstitutional plan requiring banks and credit unions to report individual’s financial transactions of $600 and above to the IRS.”
The claim that 87,000 armed IRS agents were hired to monitor middle class incomes through the Inflation Reduction Act has been debunked in the sense that a very low percentage of IRS agents are armed and the onboarding goal was meant to span 10 years and include all levels of staff.
Cynthia of Littleton asked why Boebert voted for a budget resolution that calls for massive cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, especially when Boebert herself relied on some of those same government benefits earlier in life. Boebert first acknowledged and confirmed that she grew up on welfare, but said that her family was on it for “too long” and should have “worked harder.”
Boebert pivoted and spoke about how tens of millions of dollars provided luxury hotels for undocumented persons during the Biden administration. She claimed that the United States is pouring taxpayer dollars into advancing a global DEI agenda, throwing in a tidbit about how America is splurging on a transgender opera in Colombia and transgender comic books in Peru.
Ultimately, Boebert dodged the question about funding for Medicaid. She said she does, however, remain a defender of Medicare and Social Security for seniors “who have worked their whole lives to pay into the system.”
In terms of bipartisan work, she said she has teamed up with Congressman Jason Crow to introduce the Space National Guard Establishment Act, which would create a Space Force National Guard and help to keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado.
On immigration, she responded to concerns about due process for individuals being deported to El Salvador, by stating that those in the country illegally are not entitled to the same protections as citizens. (Non-citizens’ rights are protected under the due process clause of the Constitution.) She praised the arrangement with El Salvador to temporarily house over 200 individuals, saying, “We’re going to save a lot more money than putting them in luxury hotels, that’s for sure.”
Boebert criticized sanctuary city policies, saying she supports withholding federal funds from jurisdictions like Denver that she claimed do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. She repeated her opposition to what she called “lawlessness” in these areas and said she would push for those federal funds to be redirected elsewhere in Colorado.
She also stood behind Trump’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education, arguing that decisions about curriculum and school funding should be made at the local level and parents should get more of a say in what their children are being taught. Boebert stated that the department “should never have existed federally.”
Several constituents brought up environmental concerns, particularly regarding wildfires and layoffs at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Forest Service. Boebert said she supports active forest management and claimed that overregulation and bureaucratic delays have exacerbated fire risks in the West. She also praised deregulation efforts under EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, asserting that “more regulation” is not the path to cleaner air and water.
Tariffs were another topic. Mina from Highlands Ranch asked about the potential impact on agriculture. Boebert said she supports Trump’s proposed tariffs and believes they will benefit American farmers by reducing foreign competition. She referenced ongoing conversations with local wool growers and said that the policies would help level the playing field.
Later in the call, Boebert reaffirmed her oath of office when asked to do so by a constituent and reiterated her commitment to defending the Constitution. She also addressed criticism over her decision to run in Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District, asserting that she has lived in Windsor for over a year and joking that protesters outside her house could confirm it.
Asked what she would do if Trump refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling, Boebert said that decisions by the high court become the law of the land, but expressed concern about “rogue judges.” The event ended with Boebert thanking the estimated 8,000 participants for joining and directing them to her website for a recording of the call and additional updates from her office.