By Klara Bauters/VTDigger
A virtual town hall hosted by U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Congresswoman Becca Balint, D-Vt., drew roughly 34,000 participants Wednesday night as uncertainty over the future of federal programs took center stage.
The live-streamed meeting featured a blend of pre-submitted questions — over 1,400 — and live call-ins from residents eager to voice their concerns.
While only a tiny fraction of the questions were answered due to the 90-minute time limit, Balint, Sanders, and Welch responded to a wide array of inquiries on topics that included the potential slashing of Medicaid and Medicare, the impact of cuts on veterans’ health care, and the future of Social Security.
The delegation’s responses largely focused on acknowledging the participants’ concerns and letting them know their worries were understood. There were repeated pledges to continue the fight.
One exception to the general theme came from a caller from Richford who voiced his support for the Trump administration’s actions, arguing that the stated goal to root out corruption and cut waste could help fund programs like Social Security and Medicaid. He questioned why Vermont’s delegation seemed more focused on President Donald Trump and Elon Musk than on addressing financial mismanagement in government.
Sanders pushed back against the critique, emphasizing that he, Welch, and Balint oppose waste, fraud, and misuse of federal funds.
“If anyone wants to make the government more efficient, I’m all for it,” he said. However, Sanders argued that the biggest source of financial mismanagement is the Department of Defense, which has failed to pass an independent audit despite its massive budget.
“There are hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars they cannot account for. Should we go after them? Absolutely,” Sanders said. While acknowledging bureaucracy exists across agencies, Sanders argued that addressing inefficiencies shouldn’t come at the expense of programs that serve the nation’s most vulnerable.
Uncertainty
Some participants wanted to know what actions they could take to make their voices heard. One man spoke of the concerns he and his wife shared.
“We talk every day, and we’re like, well, ‘What can we do to help put the pressure on, and what is it that we can do to make a difference? We’re so concerned about losing our democracy,” the caller said before asking if anybody was planning a national strike.
Balint urged Vermonters to organize something in their own towns and “work these muscles of public protest.”
“If we are faced with a moment where we need to take to the streets, we need to be ready,” Balint said. She added that educating oneself on the topic is necessary.
“I’ve been reading a lot about authoritarianism, how it works and operates,” she said. “Two books I’ve been diving into are ‘On Tyranny’ by Timothy Snyder and ‘Twilight of Democracy’ by Anne Applebaum.”
Balint concluded by saying that people have the ability to change direction by looking at other movements that made change, such as the civil rights movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the labor movement.
“The fight of all of these movements was not easy, and it took a lot of courage to stand up to the forces and all to reach deep inside of us and show that kind of courage and bravery,” she told the audience, “because democracy requires the best of all of us, and we can do this.”
