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Democrats in Congress are holding town halls around the country. They're hearing grievances from their constituents about the actions of the Trump administration and how the Democratic Party is responding. NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt reports on one town hall in Colorado.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Nineteen-year-old Jackson Armenta was one of nearly a thousand people who gathered in Golden, Colorado, about 15 miles west of Denver, to hear directly from Democrats they elected about what's happening in Washington. Armenta worries Republican plans could put programs like Medicaid on the chopping block.
JACKSON ARMENTA: My grandma, she's 70 years old and has to work 40 hours to even survive day to day. And my mom has double upper extremity limb loss, and so she's on disability and that's how she survives. We just want to make sure our family is going to, I guess, make it through the next four years. As dramatic as that sounds, it's - everything's really scary right now.
SPRUNT: Armenta's concerned Democrats don't have a unified strategy of fighting back, pointing to a vote last week on a GOP spending bill. All but one House Democrat voted against it, but 10 Democrats in the Senate, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, voted to advance it, saying the bill was bad, but a government shutdown would be worse. Armenta said that if that was the thinking all along, then leaders should have made that clear.
ARMENTA: It felt like, you know, leading up to the vote it was, we're going to fight this. We will shut the government down. And then the vote came, and it was full 180.
SPRUNT: Frustration about party leadership wasn't only coming from the people in the seats. It also came from people on stage. Senator Michael Bennet was asked this about Schumer.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: When will you be calling for him to be replaced as minority leader?
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Thank you.
SPRUNT: Bennet said it's critical for the public to know what Democrats are fighting for, and he didn't think that was clear last week.
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MICHAEL BENNET: I do think, on the leadership question, it's always better to, you know, examine whether folks are in the right place, and we're certainly going to have that conversation.
SPRUNT: He recalled how he was the first Senate Democrat to say he didn't think then-President Joe Biden could win reelection after his poor debate performance.
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BENNET: It's important for people to know, you know, when it's time to go. And I think in the case of Joe Biden - and we're going to have conversations, I'm sure, in the foreseeable future about all the Democratic leadership.
SPRUNT: Attendees pressed Bennet and fellow Colorado Democratic Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen on what steps their party can take to combat the dismantling of the federal government. Both talked about the importance of public unity, mobilizing ahead of the midterms and bringing frustrations to Republican lawmakers.
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BRITTANY PETTERSEN: Just because we're not in power does not mean we're powerless. And I think that is the frustration that people feel right now, is that even though we are not in the majority, is I think we need to level set on what is possible, but also how important all of you are in showing up and fighting back.
SPRUNT: But that wasn't satisfying to some in the crowd. Amanda, who introduced herself without her last name, got up during Q&A and said she's exasperated.
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AMANDA: I have heard a lot of other people ask, is there a plan? Is there a plan? And it really doesn't seem like there's a plan.
SPRUNT: A reminder of the intense pressure congressional Democrats are under. Their base wants them to do big, bold things, but they lost the midterms, and they don't have a lot of concrete power on Capitol Hill. And Bennet said pushing back isn't enough.
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BENNET: This party needs a new plan for the future that is compelling for the American people and that speaks to working people.
SPRUNT: But, he says...
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BENNET: It's not going to be with the same old playbook, and it may not be with the same old people, to be honest.
(APPLAUSE)
SPRUNT: Which raises the question, if not the same people, then who?
Barbara Sprunt, NPR News, Golden, Colorado.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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