North Carolina Congressman Chuck Edwards, representing NC-11 – which includes Macon County – held true to his word on Thursday, March 13, to conduct face-to-face town hall meetings with constituents despite public pushback that other Congressional members had experienced in home districts in recent weeks.
After circulating through the crowd in the auditorium at AB Tech Community College in Asheville, Edwards attempted to converse with the loud and boisterous crowd. His focus was on covering his recent efforts to increase and improve Hurricane Helene relief to affected communities; responding to concerns about rapid changes to federal government programs and agencies led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE); and, conveying views on foreign policy actions taken since President Trump was sworn in on Jan. 20.
Most members of the public were turned away due to the limited space of 360 seats in Asheville’s Ferguson Hall, where the town hall was held. Well over 1,000 people were waiting in line, with more holding a protest in an impromptu town square set up outside the auditorium, as the meeting with Edwards began.
As one attendee from Hendersonville, said when asked why she had waited for hours to attend: “Our biggest issues are the Constitution, democracy, and taxes.”
A retired schoolteacher from Fletcher, who was attending the meeting with Edwards to express concerns about the impending closure of the Department of Education, said, “As a country, we need to come together. Let’s talk. Tell me why you don’t like me. Let’s find a way to get together.”
Edwards kicked off the event noting the importance of holding his ninth town hall since taking office.
“I’m proud of my privilege to serve to you as the Congressman from NC-11 and my accessibility to the public,” said Edwards, acknowledging that he might be hearing different opinions and viewpoints during the evening.
“Last December, I helped write and passed with the help of my colleagues a $110 billion disaster aid funding bill that was signed into law by President Biden…These billions of dollars that have and will continue to flow into our region will do much to supercharge our recovery here, from restoring I-40 to its pre-storm condition with enhanced resiliency measures to getting thousands of downed trees off the ground in the Pisgah and Great Smoky Mountain forests to prevent wildfires,” said Edwards in his opening statement.
“It is now my responsibility to help get the money out of the doors in Washington into the hands here in Western North Carolina and to the people that need it…There’s a huge bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., that gets in the way of that even though we’ve appropriated the money.”
Edwards recounted his discussion with President Trump, who visited North Carolina on his first presidential trip outside of D.C. in January.
“I was very honest with [Trump],” said Edwards. “I was talking to him about what FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] did well. I told him about things FEMA did not do so well. I talked to him about the bureaucracy that many of you brought to my attention, and the fact that we needed more help to recover here.”
As a result, Edwards is now part of the Council to Assess the Federal Management Agency, created in a Jan. 24 Executive Order, that aims to reform FEMA and improve disaster management response. Prior to the town hall starting, Edwards advertised his dedicated phone line for taking suggestions on this initiative, asking constituents to call (223)-FIX-FEMA with ideas or to speak with staffers if in need of help, post-storm.
Edwards provided some statistics on recovery efforts.
“My office assisted 350 individuals and families with successful resolutions… and 800 cases in process with FEMA…We’ve removed nearly 5 million cubic yards of debris from public rights of way. The private property debris removal in Buncombe County is seeing 450 parcels and work is underway for another 115 parcels. About 157,000 families have received FEMA assistance to recover from the storm, totaling nearly $400 million; and, $45 million has been obligated to local communities to help with the cost [of recovery], and 6,230 families have received $18.3 million for repair and replacement of private access roads and bridges.”
Fielding concerns
After Edwards covered Hurricane Helene work, he turned to other issues affecting constituents at the federal and local level. In the remaining 60 minutes, he took 18 written questions submitted in advance and 11 questions taken in an open mic session, gamely attempting to finish his answers as the audience grew louder and more impatient with responses.
At one point Edwards was interrupted by Jay Carey, a disabled Army veteran, who has run for federal and state positions in the past. “I’m a veteran. You don’t care a [expletive] about me!” yelled Carey. He was escorted out by security, and the town hall continued.
“And you wonder why folks don’t want to do these town halls,” questioned Edwards, who then soldiered on.
Among his comments on relevant topics were:
- National debt: “In my view, the nation’s debt crisis has been ignored for too long. The time is now to fix how Washington works.”
- DOGE: “I deeply value the contributions that federal employees make every day to keep America running and to deliver important services… However, it is unavoidable all departments and agencies under the federal government need to run efficiently, and I support current efforts to identify opportunities for making the taxpayers’ dollars go further.”
- Education: “I have supported even as a State Senator the fact we should abolish the U.S. Department of Education. The decisions need to be made back on the state level… It would be my goal that we would get to the point where block grants would be sent from Washington, DC to the states to make those decisions.”
- Social Security: “I’m not going to vote to dissolve your Social Security. I’m not looking to disrupt Social Security at all.”
- Veterans: “There have been no cuts to staff at the VA at this point. It is not President Trump nor Congress nor even Elon Musk’s intent to eliminate any job that directly provides services to our veterans.”
- U.S. Forestry Service: “There was a court ruling in just the last few days that required that all of those probationary employees be reinstated for at least 45 days and then there would be another process to evaluate where we’re at.”
- Ukraine/Russia: Edwards said he supported continuing Temporary Protected Status for Ukrainians in the United States until it was safe for return along with continued funding for Ukraine’s military. “I believe the President is very supportive of Ukraine. I believe the President recognizes [Russian President] Putin is a murderous dictator.” In a later question, he offered to conduct additional casework for a constituent who is sponsoring a Ukrainian family that was fearful their humanitarian parole status could be revoked.
On the subject of Ukraine/Russia, he elaborated: “I spent nine days in Ukraine. I had bombs falling over my head, fired on Kyiv from Russia. I looked into the eyes of weeping widows who had lost sons and husbands from the invasion of Ukraine, and I came back committed that we cannot stand idly by and watch the type of evil taking place that we see over there.”
- International tariffs: “To negotiate, you have to have an edge. You’ve got to have something to negotiate with, and [President Trump] has been able to bring foreign leaders to the table that would not come to the table otherwise.”
In a press conference following the town hall, Edwards said that despite the difficult reception he had received, “It doesn’t change my plans at all, I enjoy getting out amongst the people. This one was a little more uncomfortable than some of the others, but that’s alright. Folks should have the right to voice their opinion.”