Flood discusses ICE body cameras, Trump and housing during Lincoln town hall

On Tuesday, town hall attendees asked 1st District Congressman Mike Flood questions on a range of topics including the cost of the war in Iran, healthcare, the Epstein files and immigration.

It was Flood’s third and final town hall of the year and his sixth in the last two years. The Vance D. Rogers Center for Fine Arts at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln hosted the conversation.

"Last year, I think we had 600 or 700 people," Flood said of a 2025 Lincoln town hall, "and I don't know what the count was today, but it was half that I'm thinking at best."

He attributed the decrease to people frustrated with people shouting over one another and the availability of the discussions online.

The representative of the district covering cities like Lincoln, Fremont, Norfolk, parts of Sarpy County and rural parts of eastern Nebraska has held several fiery town halls in the last year and a half. Those discussions have frequently been packed with people pushing the congressman on issues like health care, immigration and affordability.

That continued on Tuesday. Many of his comments were met with a mix of applause and shouting. Flood started his opening remarks by touting a housing bill that recently became law, which he advocated for, along with federal money making its way to the capital city, including money for CEDARS youth services.

After talking about more than half a million dollars allotted to body cameras in Lancaster County during his opening comments, he addressed Immigration and Customs Enforcement issues.

“I do believe in body cameras. I believe ICE should have body cameras,” Flood said.

That was one of the few responses from Flood that drew widespread applause from the crowd.

On healthcare, questioners pressed Flood on cuts to Medicaid funding and its impact moving forward.

"It is very clear that if you are persistently mentally ill or developmentally disabled, you do not have to work to get those benefits," Flood said.

He said it's also clear that people in the U.S. illegally aren't entitled to that program.

Flood said he voted for the release of the Epstein files when asked about the U.S. lagging behind other countries in accountability.

Later, in response to a question about preventing government corruption, Flood said he’s working with his congressional colleagues to prevent insider trading.

“I can tell you I'm a co-sponsor of the bill to prohibit stock trading in Congress, and I also believe it should apply to the executive branch of government, including the president and the vice president,” Flood said.

One of the loudest reactions to a question came around an hour into the dialogue. One man asked Flood, in reference to President Donald Trump' actions, “Why are you so compliant?”

The man brought up different occasions when Trump circumvented Congress, like attacking Iran and enforcing tariffs. Flood responded by saying he disagreed with the question and that he stopped potential cuts to the National Weather Service.

“I got it stopped. I got meteorologists hired around the country to take care of us,” Flood said.

After saying the war in Iran didn't make sense, one attendee simply asked, "will you be working to end the war?" Flood said he wants the war to end as soon as possible, but doesn't want to leave Iran as a security risk for the United States.

"I don't think any American wants to be in a war with Iran," Flood said followed by an uproar from the crowd. "But we also live in a world where this country, for the better part of 50 years, has been funding terrorism, killing Americans, killing our soldiers, funding Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas, funding these terrorist organizations that are massacring people."

Multiple people expressed anger and frustration at the Congressman, saying he didn’t fully answer people’s questions. Attendees also raised concerns about potential cuts to Veterans Affairs moving through Washington and rising affordability problems. On the VA bills, Flood said there are limitations of the amount VA services can pay providers, capped at the salary of the president of the U.S.

"We have to uncuff the VA, so that they have the resources," Flood said. "Because what I learned at the Lincoln VA Clinic this month is that, even though it sounds good to cap it at that rate, what ends up happening is the veteran ends up going to the community, and we end up paying for it anyway."

Then, the congressman returned to his points about passing the housing bill aimed at lowering home insurance as a way to lower costs for Americans.

"I'm not here to tell you prices aren't high. I want prices to come down, too," Flood said. He immediately added that he also wants to protect our borders.

A group of Chris Backemeyer supporters gathered outside of the town hall beforehand. Backemeyer is running as the Democrat in the 1st Congressional District race. Flood has held the seat since 2022 and is running against Backemeyer to secure a third term in office.

Flood’s opposition placed a photo in front of the town hall entrance depicting Flood with a Hitler-like mustache, among other outspoken messages about him and Trump.

The event wrapped up after about an hour and a half. Attendees expressed frustration and boo’ed on their way out.

Flood took questions from reporters at the end of town hall. After saying he supports Ukraine, he explained a recent no vote on an aid package to the eastern European nation.

"I have been getting good information about where the president is and how frustrated he is with President Putin, and how frustrated he has been with a lack of progress between Ukraine and Russia," Flood said. "And I feel like we are going a good direction to get that ended, mostly because the Ukrainian armed forces and their drones have been winning a war that they should have never won."

He said other bills took precedent, and that he envisions greater support for Ukraine funding down the road.

In regards to the ongoing war in the Middle East, Flood said Israel and the U.S. have been intelligence partners for a long time.

"And while it should be conducted in a way that respects civilian populations, when they are embedded in Gaza City, at times that was very difficult to separate those two things," Flood said.

The Representative said antisemitism is running rampant, pointing to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a culprit. He later added that there is a difference between disagreeing with Israeli policy and being antisemitic.