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Voters have sought clarification from their Congressional representatives on the end of DEI programs and on the many executive orders the president has signed since his Jan. 20 inauguration, some of which now face court challenges. They have posed questions about TrumpÃÛèÖÊÓƵ cabinet appointments, and about his stances on global matters like the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Here in Janesville, however, the hometown of Congressman Bryan Steil, there were no unscripted, in-person town hall meetings last week, although Steil was in the district during a Congressional recess.

In a narrowly-focused visit to KANDU Industries in Milton, he shared about his efforts to push back on an upcoming change that would prohibit sheltered workplaces like KANDU from paying disabled clients less than minimum wage.

But there was no live question-and-answer session like the one hosted Friday in Wausau by U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, of WisconsinÃÛèÖÊÓƵ 6th Congressional District. Grothman found himself on the hot seat at that meeting, as voters packed the Algoma Town Hall, near Oshkosh, firing questions and repeatedly booing at his responses.

Across the country, at live town hall meetings from Idaho to Georgia to Texas to Oklahoma last week, voters sought answers from Republican members of Congress, including on its responsibility to rein in Trump and Musk, as the third branch of the federal government.

On Monday morning, Feb. 24, the events section of Congressman Steil’s website, , meanwhile showed that here in the 1st District, Steil had last held a telephone town hall on Sept. 4, 2024.

Prior to that, the CongressmanÃÛèÖÊÓƵ calendar and events page showed he had hosted virtual border security town hall meetings in May and June 2024 and hosted a telephone town hall in August 2024.

Screenshots captured by ÃÛèÖÊÓƵ, of SteilÃÛèÖÊÓƵ events and calendar pages about 8 a.m. Monday morning, Feb. 24, showed Steil had no constituent events scheduled in October, November, December, January or February.

Interestingly, midafternoon on Monday, Feb. 24, two additional telephone town hall meetings popped up on SteilÃÛèÖÊÓƵ event and calendar pages as having occurred on Feb. 10 and Jan. 15.

And by Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 26, four more in-person events had popped up on the congressmanÃÛèÖÊÓƵ online calendar — Janesville, Beloit, Kenosha County and Racine County listening sessions, all scheduled for Jan. 10.

All of those dates are in the past, of course.

Given the current events in Washington, Congressman Steil needs to face voters in his hometown on an upcoming date — in-person and unscripted, with no pre-screened questions. He needs to take questions as they arise from the constitutions present.

Facing constituents in-person, especially in times of deep questioning, is part and parcel to the job of governing.

And it would be helpful, for voters who would like to attend, to post such events on the congressmanÃÛèÖÊÓƵ website calendar in advance of the scheduled date.

ItÃÛèÖÊÓƵ time, now, for a 1st Congressional District in-person town hall meeting here in Janesville.