PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Thursday, February 20, 2025; Congresswoman Shontel Brown, Ohio District 11, Town Hall, Arnold Pinkney East Professional Center, 1349 E. 79^th Street: Congresswoman Shontel Brown refers to Congressional Republicans’ plan to cut taxes for the wealthy and the Trump administration’s budget that calls for massive cuts in social services and government employee layoffs to help justify the tax cuts. Congresswoman Brown said to the over 700 people attending the Town Hall, “It is an all-hands-on deck moment.”

by Chuck Hoven

     (Plain Press March 2025) Over 700 people attended Congresswoman Shontel Brown’s Town Hall on February 20^th to rally against President Donald Trump’s and the Congressional Republican majority’s agenda.

     Congresswoman Shontel Brown, who represents Ohio’s 11^th Congressional District, told the crowd, gathered in the auditorium at the Arnold Pinkney East Professional Center, that fighting back against the Trump agenda consists of three-pronged strategy of battling in Congress, the Courts, and the community.

     Congresswoman Brown noted that Democrats in the United States House of Representatives only needed three Republicans to vote with them to defeat legislation.

     She said that Republicans on the House Budget Committee have passed a budget resolution calling for “$4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.” Half of the tax cuts in this Trump endorsed budget, Brown says will flow to the top 5% of households (households making $450,000 or more per year). Brown says the top 0.1% of taxpayers would get an average annual tax cut of $315,000 per year.

     Brown said the layoffs of government workers and calls in the Trump Republican budget for cuts to social services are not about reducing fraud and abuse or stemming inflation but rather aimed at justifying the tax cuts for the wealthy. She said the Trump Republican budget calls for “$880 billion in cuts to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act premium assistance; repealing the inflation reduction act, ending price caps for seniors; at least $230 billion in cuts to programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); at least $330 billion in cuts to student loan programs, Pell Grants, Head Start and school lunch programs; at least $50 billion in cuts to federal employee retirement programs, as well as cuts to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for airports, cuts to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Medicare provider payments.”

     Besides introducing legislation in Congress and sending letters to the administration demanding answers to reasons for cuts and layoffs and seeking lists of projects frozen by Trump administration executive actions, Brown says she has stood in solidarity with government workers protesting cuts in federal jobs. Brown said many lawsuits have been filed by advocacy organizations to challenge some of the actions of the Trump administration and the illegal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by billionaire Elon Musk.

     Congresswoman Brown thanked those in the crowd for showing up and voicing their concerns and urged community members to get involved in writing letters to Congress members, showing up for demonstrations, and keeping her office aware of their concerns and the impact of federal cuts on their families and communities.

     Brown said community involvement was a crucial part of opposition to the Trump agenda. She called the present time “an all-hands-on-deck moment” and urged those present to tell their stories on her website at: shontelbrown.house.gov. She said gathering of data and personal testimonies will help her to formulate a response to the destructive agenda of the Trump administration. She believes that three Republicans can be found in the House of Representatives to help stop some of the destructive cuts now being proposed.

     Following her speech, Brown listened to comments and answered questions from about fifty concerned residents. Topics ranged from concerns about family members losing their federal jobs, concern by a local nonprofit over losing funding that helps to provide essential services to the formerly homeless, concern about loss of staffing needed to serve veterans, a disabled veteran expressed worry that he would be unable to use his GI benefits to continue his education, worry about the treatment of immigrants and refugees, concerns about how to prevent a fascist takeover of the country, and concerns by a scientist about losing research funding.