Nebraskans confront U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts at contentious town hall

U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts became the latest Republican representative to face a contentious meeting with constituents during a Kearney town hall on Thursday.

Despite Kearney’s status as a Republican stronghold – President Donald Trump received 66% of the Buffalo County vote in the 2024 election, and Ricketts racked up more than 70% in his special election bid – the midday crowd of about 200 people was vocal and angry.

Ricketts began the event with a 30-minute update on the Senate’s work. He touted President Donald Trump’s record on immigration and border security, and defended the president’s approach to tariffs.

It didn’t take long for the 30-minute Q&A portion to descend into jeers from the crowd. The first question came from a Norfolk resident who formerly worked as an attorney for the Internal Revenue Service.

“I want to know when you and the other Republicans in Congress are going to stand up against the president and say, some of these cuts are too much,” she said. “We’re damaging all of our government agencies. We’re damaging all the institutions we have.”

Ricketts responded that “we have to get our spending under control,” to which audience members yelled “tax the rich.”

One of the most contentious moments came after a man asked Ricketts about what he called an inevitable constitutional crisis as the Trump administration defies court orders.

He asked: “When it comes down to a constitutional crisis – which I’m pretty sure is going to happen – where will you stand? With President Trump, or the constitution?”

Ricketts said the Trump administration is “primarily obeying” court orders. He also touched on the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Despite an order from the Supreme Court to “facilitate” Garcia’s release from a Salvadorean prison, the Trump administration has claimed Garcia is a gang member and said they have no power to secure his release now that he is in El Salvador's custody.

“He was deported, they admitted it was a mistake, and the Supreme Court said they had to facilitate him coming back to this country,” Ricketts said. “Facilitate is kind of a vague word, and El Salvador is its own country.”

As the audience booed and asked him to answer the initial question, Ricketts said he will “always uphold the constitution and always support the rule of law.”

It was one of a few moments of applause.

Another moment of applause came when Ricketts affirmed his support for Ukraine, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator and saying it was in America’s interest to stop him.

About a dozen people who were in line to ask questions were turned away as the event ended at 12:05 p.m.

After the town hall, some attendees said they were glad Ricketts decided to face his constituents in person, but they were largely unsatisfied with his answers. John Stitt, a Kearney resident, said he appreciated Ricketts explaining the budget reconciliation process and working with Democrats on a number of bipartisan issues. But he isn't satisfied with the current administration.

"I look at my at my 401K, and I say it's not going very damn good," Stitt said.

Ron Scott, a retired doctor from Kearney, said he went to the town hall to get answers about the "confusing state of affairs in our government pertaining to health care." His biggest concern is Robert F. Kennedy's leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services, which he called a "momentous setback."

"(Kennedy) now has a national pulpit to espouse disproven theories about autism, and about immunizations as a whole," Scott said.

Ricketts was asked about Kennedy's recently-announced plan to create a disease registry to track Americans with autism. He said he didn't know enough about the proposal to endorse or renounce it.

Ricketts, formerly Nebraska’s governor, was appointed by Gov. Jim Pillen in 2023 to fill the seat of former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, who left the Senate for a brief, scandal-filled tenure as the president of the University of Florida system. Ricketts handily won the 2024 race to complete Sasse’s term, which will end in 2026.

A race between Ricketts and independent populist candidate Dan Osborn, who ran against and lost to U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer last year, looks likely in 2026. Ricketts intends to seek a full term, and Osborn has released exploratory polling promising a close race.

Republican representatives across the country, including in Nebraska, have encountered protests and raucous crowds at recent public events. Last month, U.S. Rep. Mike Flood held a town hall in Columbus, which drew sharp critics of the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency. When Flood defended DOGE in its attempt to balance the budget, the crowd erupted into a “tax the rich” chant.

In response to the onslaught of criticism, House Speaker Mike Johnson encouraged Republican lawmakers to skip in-person town halls. But representatives from Iowa to Georgia to Florida have declined to heed that advice in recent weeks and met with angry crowds to defend their support of Trump’s agenda.

On Friday, Ricketts will hold two more town halls in Scotts Bluff and Cherry counties, both Republican strongholds where Trump secured 73% and 87% of the vote in the 2024 election.

Congressman holds public meeting at UNK

A few hours after Ricketts' town hall, U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, who represents the state's 3rd Congressional District, catered to a friendlier crowd at a meeting hosted by the College Republicans at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Though the atmosphere was less antagonistic than at the Ricketts event, Smith did not escape tough questions about education funding, due process and tariffs. He said he is fundamentally against tariffs and is having conversations with his colleagues on the topic. He denied that people were being denied due process in deportation proceedings, and spoke about the growing federal bureaucracy as a significant issue.

Smith also touched on the Russia-Ukraine war.

"I support Ukraine over Russia," he said. "Clearly Putin is the perpetrator."

He left the event after about 45 minutes, shortly after the non-student attendees began to interrupt his answers.

One attendee yelled "coward" after Smith said he had an event on the other side of town and had to leave.

"When is your next town hall, in another four years?" Another said as he walked away.

The 3rd Congressional District encompasses 80 of Nebraska's 93 counties and is heavily conservative. Smith has served as the district's congressman since 2007.