BOZEMAN — Friday afternoon, a town hall was held at the Bozeman Public Library—organized by Indivisible Bozeman to bring the voices of concerned citizens to Montana’s federal representatives.
"We the people need to let our representatives know that if they don’t do their jobs—we’re going to be here to hold them accountable," says one speaker.
Hundreds of citizens showed up to the town hall, overflowing from the community room to the outdoor patio space.
"I have lost all trust in Downing, and Daines, and Sheehy and Zinke," said Brett, a military veteran who spoke against the federal cuts being made to the Veterans Administration.
Other presenters spoke out against recent federal layoffs, including the Trump administration's order to dismantle the Department of Education. Citizens also expressed concern over what they say is "an attempt to push the bounds of executive power."
With speakers like former governor Marc Racicot saying, "To those who seek to lead us, we the people, in this existential moment of peril, intend to be more than observers. We intend to be informed. We insist on being heard. We presume faithful obedience to the oath of office. And we demand, as God gives us the right to demand, loyalty to the Constitution and rule of law."
Organizers invited Senators Sheehy and Daines, as well as Representative Zinke to attend the town hall.
Despite their absence, organizers filled their seats with caricatures of the representatives instead.
I reached out to both Daines and Sheehy for comment.
Senator Sheehy, in a post on X, wrote:
"My response to media asking if I will attend Democrat dark money group Indivisible’s left-wing rallies: no, I will not legitimize a radical group that wants to defund the police and abolish ICE.”
Background for the quote was provided by linking various mission statements listed on Indivisible's website.
Officials with Senator Daines' office wrote:
"Senator Daines frequently meets with Montanans at public meetings across the state. Daines also hosts statewide, public town halls where tens of thousands of Montanans are able to ask questions and hear directly from their Senator. On top of that, he highly values hearing from Montanans via phone call, email, fax or letter and works to get each Montanan a timely response.
To be clear—Indivisible is a far-Left organization funded by the radical wing of the Democrat party. They do not unilaterally control the Senator’s schedule, and just as the members of this organization were told when they called the Senator’s office, he will not be able to attend due to previously scheduled events. On top of that, for the past 10 weeks Daines has been in Washington, DC, voting to move forward with the mandate from Montanans: to carry out President Trump’s America First agenda."
