Out-of-towners outnumbered local residents at the 5th Congressional District town hall meeting held Monday morning in Ritzville. When asked to estimate the percentage of locals among the 130 or so attendees,

U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner was confronted by a disruptive, angry crowd that demanded answers for the freshman Republican congressman’s voting record and recent actions in President Donald Trump’s White House – and regularly interrupted each answer during a town hall Monday evening at Whitworth University.

Spokane resident Mary Ellen Gaffney-Brown asked questions about the Social Security Administration and shared her fears about benefit cuts following swift changes, such as the resignation of Acting Commissioner Michelle King, who stepped down over DOGE privacy concerns.