Sensenbrenner Holds Public Visits In Wisconsin By Appointment Only

A Wisconsin member of Congress is requiring all visitors to make appointments before visiting his home office in Brookfield.

In an apparent first among the Wisconsin congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner says the change from allowing walk-ins at his office was made after an unspecified security incident he said could have gotten out of control.

“I don’t want to put everybody in the building, including the people who work in my office, at any risk at all. So we did contact the (U.S.) Capitol Police and the Brookfield Police on what would be the most secure way to do this, and we have followed their recommendations,” Sensenbrenner recently told WPR following a town hall meeting in Wauwatosa.

Chuck Rohrer, a member of a local group that had been visiting Sensenbrenner’s office every month, said it appears the veteran Republican lawmaker is making it harder for the public to reach their elected representative.

“It almost seems to me like, you know, you’re approaching the screen behind which the ‘Wizard of Oz’ is. It’s just like one more barrier that makes it more difficult for us,” said Rohrer of Indivisible Tosa.

Another member of Indivisible Tosa, Erica Flynn, said groups of about 12 met with Sensenbrenner’s staff about health care and other major issues for months. But Flynn said the new policy also limits visits to just one person at a time.

“It’s harder to get individuals to make appointments, and a lot of people might be afraid to go in by themselves or just be nervous,” Flynn said.

WPR checked with the other nine Wisconsin members of Congress. Most say they still welcome walk-ins to their main home office, though a spokesperson for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, said Ryan’s Wisconsin offices cannot accommodate large groups at once.

A representative from GOP Sen. Ron Johnson’s office said depending on staffing, sometimes they have to “ask folks to make an appointment.”