Tammy Baldwin, Ron Johnson get earful from constituents during virtual town halls

Wisconsin’s U.S. Senators got an earful during virtual town halls, Thursday, and shared polar opposite views on President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

While Democrat Tammy Baldwin blasted Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s mass firing of federal workers, Republican Ron Johnson referred to Musk as one of the most “brilliant, accomplished, effective human beings that have ever walked on planet Earth.”

Baldwin calls DOGE ‘non-governmental entity’ and says cuts are ‘frightening’

Baldwin answered submitted questions read by Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza during a zoom town hall. She said her office has been getting 1,000 calls a day from constituents concerned about Trump’s executive orders and about the group led by Musk known as “DOGE.” One of the questions asked what members of Congress can do about mass firings initiated by DOGE.

Baldwin responded by saying DOGE is “not a government office.”

“It is sort of unsanctioned out there, but Elon Musk, who, by the way, is the richest man on earth, is heading it up,” Baldwin said. “And we are seeing all sorts of actions being taken by DOGE, by Elon Musk, that aren’t coming from government, but are actually taking effect nonetheless, which is very, very frightening.”

Baldwin said nearly 2,500 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs have been laid off, including those in probationary periods. She said probationary status for most employees at federal agencies lasts for their first year or two on the job. Baldwin said the VA has a Veterans Preference Program, in which veterans serve other veterans but can work their entire career on probationary status. 

“So, we saw when this mass discharge started taking place, veterans who had been working at the VA for well over a decade or more get fired,” Baldwin said. “And so what we need to do first of all is demand transparency.”

Baldwin also criticized Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives for passing a budget resolution calling for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts while calling for $2 billion in spending cuts. The committee overseeing programs like Medicare and Medicaid has been charged with reducing spending by $880 billion.

Baldwin said those cuts could impact more than the 72 million Americans who rely on Medicaid.

“Those dollars are paying for the nurses who are serving people who are on Medicaid. It’s paying for the community health centers,” Baldwin said. “It’s paying for critical access hospitals in rural areas across Wisconsin. It is paying to keep nursing home doors open, and if it goes away, we could see even more closures of skilled nursing facilities that take care of people who need that level of care.”

Ron Johnson lauds Elon Musk as ‘one of the most brilliant, accomplished’ humans to walk the earth

Later in the day, Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson held a much more contentious virtual town hall where he took the bulk of his questions from live callers. People attending the phone-in event were among 80,000 Wisconsinites randomly chosen for invites.

“My staff here told me we already have more than 400 questions, so have a very unique one if you’re going to bust through that crowd there,” he told listeners in the virtual event. “You don’t have to just be a supporter, so happy to answer questions from people that aren’t particularly supportive.”

He started by reiterating his concerns about the nation’s debt and ongoing deficit spending. The first question to Johnson asked “Why does Elon Musk have so much power? What is he doing?”

Johnson responded by heaping praise on the billionaire leader of DOGE.

“First of all, I think everybody has to admit that Elon Musk is probably one of the most brilliant, accomplished, effective human beings that have ever walked on planet Earth,” Johnson said. “You can’t dispute that. I mean, there have been many geniuses. He’s one of them.”

Johnson applauded Musk and his employees working with DOGE for putting in “80 to 120 hours a week” without pay to find waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government. He said Musk has been criticized for being unelected, but said he trusts someone appointed by the elected President over unelected bureaucrats. 

“I think Elon is doing a fabulous job,” Johnson said. “He’s very humble in his approach. He said, ‘Listen, we’re going to make mistakes. We’re going in here. We don’t have much time on our hands here, but we’re going to correct those mistakes,’ and they’ve already done that very rapidly. So, incredibly transparent.”

Johnson said Musk isn’t overstepping any bounds and that it will be up to Congress to take DOGE findings and “translate” them into legislation to achieve long term savings.

“And that’s going to be a lot more difficult,” Johnson said.

Another constituent who said she supports Johnson and is hoping Trump will bring change in Washington. But she told Johnson her daughter works for the VA and she is “very concerned about her job and with the VA cuts that are being discussed with DOGE.”

Johnson didn’t mention the layoffs during his response and instead said VA spending has grown to $346 billion and said “the problem in the VA is that it’s run by a bureaucracy, and it’s also mismanaged, like all of government, okay?” Johnson said. “So, I really can’t really comment beyond that.”

Johnson told the caller the VA will be funded, but he’s hopeful Trump and Musk can make it run more effectively and efficiently.