U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer emerged from a back room at precisely 6 p.m. for the start of a one-hour town hall meeting with constituents at a low-slung west-exurban building that serves as the Big Lake library and police headquarters.
He began by telling the roughly 40 in attendance that being home in the district and meeting constituents is his favorite part of the job. This was the first in-person session of his current term. He has a second town hall scheduled on Wednesday in the small Carver County town of Hamburg.
In Big Lake, he faced questions about former President Donald Trump, Medicare, term limits and the budget vote.
Emmer has represented Minnesota's sixth congressional district since 2015. This year is his first as House majority whip. He now travels with a security detail in black SUVs.
The town hall opened with a question from Big Lake Mayor Paul Knier, who mentioned a planned $38 million wastewater treatment expansion. The mayor asked if there was anything the federal government could do to help with the cost.
Emmer didn't commit to federal funding but said he supports spending to help with transportation or wastewater projects, but not "sidewalks or lighting," which he called luxuries. He said federal resources are limited and should be used for necessities, noting that while he's a "hockey guy," he doesn't think taxpayer funds should be used to build rinks.
Another man who described himself as a Big Lake resident told Emmer he was "horrified and angry" by legal attacks on Trump.
Emmer responded, "It's clear that there are two different standards being applied," with one person facing charges while another sells influence to people around the world off his dad's name. This was an apparent reference to President Biden's son Hunter.
"You've got to ask yourself the question: If you can charge one person for having classified documents, what about the other one?" Emmer said, adding that "something doesn't look right" and telling the man that, "I feel in many ways like you."
He told another questioner that he had not read the most recent Trump indictment. The woman, who criticized Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner for receiving $2 billion from Saudi Arabia's crown prince, told Emmer he should read the indictment.
Emmer got a question from a man whose mother is in residential memory care and hasn't been able to qualify for Medicare. Emmer followed up with him after the session.
Eugene Newcombe of Monticello, a self-titled "irate veteran," confronted Emmer about a lack of response to his many calls. Emmer grew testy as he insisted the calls had been returned and that he would provide records.
"The reason I'm going to get defensive because you're attacking people who work in my office," Emmer said.
Teri Dickinson of Big Lake stood in the back of the room holding signs criticizing Emmer's positions, next to a friend with a sign critical of his vote to raise the debt ceiling. Before the meeting, Dickinson said she's a Republican and that Emmer knew her and wouldn't call on her, but his staffer did.
Dickinson complained that the United States has no borders whatsoever, there's lawlessness, and no one is "getting prosecuted for crimes unless you're a January 6 protester." She also accused Emmer of turning his back on Trump and his party by saying Congress didn't have the authority to toss out an individual slate of electors.
Emmer told the woman she had never been happy with him. She responded with, "I helped you, Tom." He told her, "Don't even start" and "I'm not here to argue with you."
Emmer also rebuffed a couple who wanted to talk about Kushner and new taxes on the rich.
Larry, who didn't give his last name but said he lives in Big Lake, spoke at length about politicians not being held accountable and said he favors forcibly removing people from office after two consecutive terms. He asked Emmer what he thought.
Emmer recalled that when he was in the Minnesota Legislature, he sponsored a 12-year term limit bill. But Emmer said he's since come to believe that the only way to make term limits work is to make them broader so that "every bureaucrat is term limited out with every elected official."
