Mike Flood — booed at town hall — still stands by Trump’s agenda : NPR

Representative Mike Flood felt the full fury of his constituents over his support of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” at a town hall meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska this week.

Flood — a second-term Republican — hosted the public gathering Monday night where attendees loudly berated him about concerns that social safety net programs, namely Medicaid, would be affected by the president’s signature piece of legislation.

Attendees from the crowd of more than 700 also questioned the president’s controversial approach to immigration enforcement and repeatedly heckled Flood as he tried to defend the tax and spending measure. At one point many in the audience chanted “Tax the rich!”

The town hall, which has gone viral, wrapped up with chants of “Vote him out!”

In an interview with Morning Edition, Flood said “it’s important to stand in the town square and explain your votes and what it means to dispel misinformation and take questions,” noting that the “most spirited” attendees are regulars at his town halls and residents of the city.

While speaking to NPR’s Steve Inskeep, Flood defended the changes Trump’s tax and spending measure makes to Medicaid — as Flood did repeatedly during the town hall.

“If you’re able bodied, you can work and you choose not to work, then you will not get free health care,” Flood said, referring to the added Medicaid work requirements in states that have expanded the safety net program.

Flood further detailed why he backs the changes made to Medicaid, Trump’s tariffs and how he hopes they will benefit his state by next year.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Interview highlights

Steve Inskeep: You talked preemptively, as a matter of fact, about Medicaid cuts, which are part of the big budget bill that President Trump signed recently and that you voted for. You insisted that only people who are not eligible for Medicaid or people who don’t work will be removed from the health care rolls. What makes you sure of that?

Rep. Mike Flood: Well, you know, the president was actually very clear. He did not want us to mess with Medicaid. He said it in a little bit more emphatic way. I said it during the town hall. If you’re able bodied, you have to work. If you choose not to work. You do not get free health care. You do not get free health care. Medicaid is the safety net. It is for the vulnerable, for the developmentally disabled, for the skilled care needs of most of our older adults that end up at a nursing home. And for pregnant women. And I think a lot of the misinformation has drummed up some hysteria that I think needs to be dispelled.

Inskeep: I want to ask about the idea that people who aren’t eligible are kept off the rolls. That sounds reasonable. But on our air, we’ve heard from Julie Rovner with KFF Health News, who is deeply, deeply versed in this topic. And she told us the primary way people will be separated from their insurance is increased paperwork. Everybody has to provide more and more proof that they’re eligible, even if they’re sick or vulnerable. And I think we all know how paperwork works with insurance companies. They find a mistake and kick you off. Is that what you’re depending on to save money?

Flood: Well, that’s not what I voted for. If you are disabled, if you are persistently mentally ill, I don’t want it hard for you to be able to access the programs. And so as implementation unfolds, if there’s tweaks that need to be made, then by all means, let’s make it. It’s not my intent that it be hard for them to get or access the benefits.

Inskeep: But that’s the math, right? I mean, that’s how this works now.

Flood: Right. But I’m not worried about Nebraska’s Medicaid program. You know, health care for all is different in California than a medicaid program in Nebraska, where we are, in my opinion, miles ahead in terms of our error rates and the way we process this. Those are the kinds of things that need to happen.

Inskeep: There’s another thing you said at the town hall meeting. You said, we believe in medical research and people were upset. People booed. Even at a later point, a constituent said the president unilaterally slashed medical research at the National Institutes of Health and Congress did nothing. Why would Congress do nothing?

Flood: Well, Congress is doing something. We are going to pass a budget. I do not want a continuing resolution. I don’t want to talk about rescissions. I want a budget that can get 60 votes in the Senate. And I want the medical research funding included. I want it done at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Obviously, there’s been a row with Harvard and some of these other top tier universities. But I want the medical research. I want it in there. I want America to lead the way here. And so that’s why I want a budget.

Inskeep: I understand. Looking forward to the budget, but DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, made all these cuts and it does seem that the majority in Congress did nothing about it.

Flood: Well, there’s a lot of waste, fraud and abuse out there. Let’s take one thing that DOGE touched, and that’s the National Weather Service. When I found out the cuts that were being made there through these retirements, I went to work immediately. And I have since been able to get 500 some jobs reauthorized for the National Weather Service. There are those of us in Congress that are working to make sure our government runs efficiently and we’re not out waving a flag, trying to call attention to ourselves. We’re just simply doing our job. And I wish people could see that.

Inskeep: A constituent asked you, as they put it, to “reclaim your power” to set tariffs, import taxes, to take it back from the president. And according to a trade court, this constituent would seem to be right because the court found the president exceeded his power to set tariffs. Why is it acceptable for the president to take your power and raise and lower taxes on an almost weekly basis?

Flood: Well, presidents have had this power for the better part of 50 years. And when President Trump was in office the first time back in 2017, he used these tariffs very effectively to get us good deals with China, Canada and Mexico.

Inskeep: Different legal rationale in 2017. He’s using a law that hasn’t been used in this way so far as I know.

Flood: Well, it’s still a tariff-driven trade policy. I think there’s an opportunity to open some markets here, and that’s how we’re going to grow the economy in Nebraska.

Inskeep: Does it trouble you at all as a conservative that one person is raising and lowering taxes every few days?

Flood: Well, the greatest Christmas gift we could have in this country is to have our trade partnerships and our trade policies and everything wrapped up by Christmas time. We have to be very stable. We have to be very predictable. We have the best financial markets in the world. We’ll have our tax cuts in place. That’s the foundation that we’re going to build the growth on. We don’t have that right now, but I’m buying into it because I want these trade deals done. Let’s start 2026 and let’s go to work.

Inskeep: Can I just ask overall about this town hall meeting? There was a lot of booing. There was a lot of shouting. There were a lot of hard questions. You seem pretty calm the whole time. Do you enjoy that?

Flood: Well, you know, in my broadcasting days, I loved it when people enjoyed my program. Right. So it is not satisfying to see people get so upset. I do think it’s my job to be there and I do think that I need to model the behavior that I want our government to model. And here’s one thing. I don’t know if I get credit for it or not, but I know some people that will never vote for me come to these things. I think it’s somewhat cathartic for them to be able to have the opportunity to address their representative government. And I tell the police before I start, I don’t want anybody drug out of here. I do not want anybody removed or arrested. I want them to be able to say what they have to say. This part of the deal, this is the way people feel right now. Let’s let them do their thing and keep going.