With the U.S. House in recess for a summer break, lawmakers have returned to their home districts for a few weeks, including Republican Congressman Keith Self of Texas. His third district north of Dallas, largely takes in Collin County, with cities like Allen, Plano, McKinney, and some of the state’s faster growing towns of Frisco and Prosper.
Self held a town hall Saturday, his first in-person and at-home gathering in months.
It was limited to 60 constituents and was held at a McKinney brewery in District 3, which spans much of conservative Collin County. It also includes some of the state’s faster growing towns like Frisco and Prosper.
Members of both parties showed up to the event, even though the district has been reliably red for decades. As he always does, Self opened the town hall with a prayer, then talked briefly about the session so far under President Donald Trump.
Self praised the $9 billion rescission package that clawed back some funds allocated for public media, along with billions that would have gone to foreign aid.
“If a non-government organization cannot survive without government money, is it truly a non-governmental organization?” Self asked. “What this is showing everybody is there is just too much federal government out there.”
Several constituents said they worried about an underfunded Social Security system. Without changes, payouts are predicted to drop about 23% by the year 2033. Constituent Mitchell Benkufsky offered a solution. He suggested raising the cap on taxable income to bring more money into Social Security.
“I would say most people in this room pay into Social Security every paycheck. So if I can pay into it, and everyone else in this room can pay into it every day …” said Benkufsky, who paused as applause spontaneously erupted, ”so can Mr. [Jeff] Bezos, who can pay into Social Security for three minutes.”
Rep. Self answered that taking on Social Security was like the risky third rail.
“I am happy to be your voice,” Self told Benufsky. “But right now, I am a voice in the wilderness on this. I will tell you, this has no juice in Congress.”
Some constituents also asked about the Epstein files connected to the late, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Self said to release the files.
“I don’t mind pushing back against the leadership,” he said about some other Republican officials, “because as I said, all of y’all have been promised this for a long time. We’ve got to make it happen.”
Some in the audience also questioned Trump’s character. The Congressman rebuffed them. After about an hour, Self called an end to the meeting - one of the only in-person town halls planned so far this recess by a House Republican.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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