Nebraska Republican faces rowdy town hall with questions about Epstein files and fired BLS chief
In between, the Nebraska Republican was consistently heckled while responding to questions about releasing more information on Jeffrey Epstein, President Donald Trump's firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner and cuts to Medicaid in the GOP's 'Big, Beautiful Bill.'
Audience members began yelling at Flood and booing him when he talked about Medicaid and the impact of Trump's sweeping domestic policy law on hospitals in Nebraska. Flood argued that there's 'a lot of misinformation' about the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' which no Democrats voted for when it made its way through Congress this summer.
Later he faced a question that suggested he was covering up files related to Epstein. Flood responded by saying he supports releasing the files and will co-sponsor a non-binding House resolution calling for their publication.
Flood added that he supports an effort led by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., to have Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell sit for a deposition.
Comer last week postponed Maxwell's deposition, previously scheduled for Aug. 11, until at least October to let the Supreme Court decide in late September whether it will review her case.
Flood also weighed in on the firing of BLS chief Erika McEntarfer, who Trump dismissed Friday shortly after the agency published figures showing that hiring in the U.S. had significantly slowed significantly in recent months. The congressman suggested he might have handled the situation differently, while adding that he does not know 'all the details' about McEntarfer's firing.
'I don't know what the situation was with the Department of Labor person. Neither do you. I don't know. I don't know,' Flood said. 'I can tell you I've been an employer for a lot of years, and there's always two sides to every story, and I don't know what that side was. I will say this, though, if all that person did was get the data out there, if all that, and I don't know that's the case, but if that's all they did, I would not have fired her.'
Several Republican senators, as well as economists and statisticians, took issue with Trump terminating McEntarfer last week.
Audience members yelled, jeered and booed throughout the event, with audible chants of 'free Palestine,' 'tax the rich,' and during the town hall's conclusion, calls to 'vote him out.' When Flood attempted to engage with audience members on those topics, he was largely met with more protests.
Attendees asked at least three different questions about the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, specifically about Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz,' which one attendee called 'Alligator Auschwitz.'
Inquiring about the immigration detention facility in Florida, one attendee asked Flood, 'How much do taxpayers have to pay for a fascist country?' Flood responded to by saying the majority of Americans voted for Trump and not for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
'Americans voted for a, for a border that is secure, and I support the president enforcing our immigration laws, which, by the way, were written by Congress,' he added, prompting more boos.
The Nebraska Democratic Party encouraged people to attend Flood's town hall, telling voters of Nebraska's 1st Congressional District in a social media post, 'you know what to do!'
The party also encouraged attendance at Flood's last in-person town hall in the state, in May, when he was grilled by audience members and at one point conceded he had not read a bill in full before voting in favor of it.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Shareholder warns Apple's $100 billion investment is more optics than impact
Apple (AAPL) is courting President Trump with a fresh $100 billion manufacturing push, but it's questionable whether the move will deliver real gains for shareholders. "I'd be very careful not to confuse good politics with what is actually going to happen in the operations of this business," Ann Berry, founder of Threadneedle and an Apple shareholder, said on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid. On Wednesday, the tech giant announced a $100 billion commitment to US manufacturing. CEO Tim Cook was in the White House for the unveiling, where President Trump also announced a 100% tariff on semiconductors produced overseas unless the company commits to building in the US. "The good news for companies like Apple is, if you're building in the United States, or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge," Trump said. Read more: The latest news and updates on Trump's tariffs Apple's shares rose by 3% on Thursday, although the stock has traded 12% lower year to date as investors remain concerned the company is falling behind in the AI race. Berry noted that Cook's political engagement benefits shareholders in that it's "fostering relationships with powerful decision-makers." But investors shouldn't confuse Cook's political goodwill with real impact. For investors, the key question is whether Apple's investment will meaningfully reduce its tariff risk. While Apple has moved some iPhone assembly to India and explored alternatives like Vietnam, the company's semiconductor packaging and most of its core hardware production still rely on Chinese factories. Berry emphasized that building out domestic capacity, especially at Apple's scale, will take years. The timeline to secure permits, construct factories, hire and train workers, and begin mass production likely exceeds the next three and a half years, she noted. Additionally, tariffs could shift within that period. "I highly doubt that Apple is going to start breaking ground on as much new kind of land," Berry said, which means it may not meaningfully change Apple's near-term supply chain exposure. Despite the cautious outlook, some on Wall Street cheered the news. Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan raised the firm's price target from $213 to $250, citing the upside potential if the company is exempt from tariffs. Mohan suggests that if the US government grants Apple an exemption, the company might reduce its projected fourth quarter headwinds of $1.1 billion, although the precise details remain undefined. This action could also bolster confidence in Apple's gross margin expansion, which Bank of America anticipates will reach 50%. The firm also notes that if rivals like Samsung (SSNLF) or Google (GOOG) face steep import tariffs while Apple remains exempt, it could tip US market share further in Apple's favor, potentially boosting iPhone sales. Francisco Velasquez is a Reporter at Yahoo Finance. He can be reached on LinkedIn and X, or via email at
Boston Globe
6 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
What to know as Trump's immigration crackdown strips tuition breaks from thousands of students
The tuition breaks once enjoyed wide bipartisan support but have increasingly come under criticism from Republicans in recent years. Advertisement Here's what to know about the tuition breaks: Texas' program was blocked first Texas' tuition policy was initially passed with sweeping bipartisan majorities in the Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, as a way to open access to higher education for students without legal residency already living in the state. Supporters then and now say it boosted the state's economy by creating a better-educated and better-prepared workforce. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The law allowed students without legal resident status to qualify for in-state tuition if they had lived in Texas for three years before graduating from high school and for a year before enrolling in college. They also had to sign an affidavit promising to apply for legal resident status as soon as possible. Texas now has about 73,000 qualifying students enrolled in its public universities and colleges, according to the most recent estimate from the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a nonpartisan nonprofit group of university leaders focused on immigration policy. The latest estimate is an increase over earlier projections because of a change in its methodology for identifying qualifying students. Advertisement Texas has about 690,000 students overall at its public universities. The difference in tuition rates is substantial. For example, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a 34,000-student campus along the border with Mexico, a state resident will pay about $10,000 in basic tuition for a minimum full-time class schedule in the upcoming school year. A nonresident student will pay $19,000. Political pushback and a swift end Texas' law stood mostly unchallenged for years, but it came under fire as debates over illegal immigration intensified. In the 2012 Republican presidential primary, Perry apologized after saying critics of the law 'did not have a heart.' The law withstood several repeal efforts in the Republican-dominated Legislature. During the legislative session that ended June 2, a repeal bill did not even get a vote. But the ax fell quickly. After the Trump administration filed a lawsuit calling the law unconstitutional, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a key Trump ally, chose not to defend the law in court and instead filed a motion agreeing that it should not be enforced. In Oklahoma, which the Presidents' Alliance estimates will have about 2,700 students affected, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, also a Republican, filed a similar motion. 'Rewarding foreign nationals who are in our country illegally with lower tuition costs that are not made available to out-of-state American citizens is not only wrong — it is discriminatory and unlawful," Drummond said in a statement. Advertisement Campuses nationwide feel the impact At least 21 states and the University of Michigan system have laws or policies allowing tuition breaks for the immigrant students, according to the National Immigration Law Center, which favors them. Those states include Democratic-leaning ones such as California and New York, but also GOP-leaning ones such as Kansas and Nebraska. According to the center, at least 16 states allow the immigrant students to receive scholarships or other aid to go to college. Nationwide, the Presidents' Alliance estimates more than 510,000 students without legal resident status are enrolled in colleges and universities, about 85 percent of them in undergraduate programs. Immigration lawyers and education advocates said they are assessing whether there are legal avenues to challenge the rulings.
USA Today
6 minutes ago
- USA Today
GOP senator says FBI will help track down Texas Democrats who fled state
Sen. John Cornyn said FBI Director Kash Patel will have federal officers work with Texas state law enforcement to locate Democrats who fled the state. WASHINGTON - Sen. John Cornyn said FBI Director Kash Patel accepted his request for federal officers to work with Texas state law enforcement in tracking down the Democratic lawmakers who fled the Lone Star State to try to block Republicans' redistricting efforts. Cornyn, a Texas Republican, had sent a letter to Patel on Aug. 5 with his request, noting that "in a representative democracy, we resolve our differences by debating and voting, not by running away." More than 50 Texas Democrats left their state on Aug. 3 in order to deny Republicans the quorum they need to move ahead with their plan to carry out an unusual mid-decade redistricting. The effort could give Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives up to five more seats in the 2026 midterms. The legislators fled to blue states, including Illinois, Massachusetts and New York. Cornyn had noted in his letter there are only about two weeks left in Texas legislature's special session, called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. "I am proud to announce that Director Kash Patel has approved my request for the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats," Cornyn said in a statement on Aug. 7. "I thank President Trump and Director Patel for supporting and swiftly acting on my call for the federal government to hold these supposed lawmakers accountable for fleeing Texas. We cannot allow these rogue legislators to avoid their constitutional responsibilities." House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, fired back on X. "Shouldn't the FBI be tracking down terrorists, drug traffickers and child predators? The Trump administration continues to weaponize law enforcement to target political adversaries. These extremists don't give a damn about public safety. We will not be intimidated," he wrote. Cornyn, who has served in the Senate since 2002, is heading toward a tough 2026 Republican primary against the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton. Early polls show Cornyn trailing Paxton by double digits. Contributing: Savannah Kuchar
