U.S. Rep. Summer Lee speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pittsburgh’s Hill District on March 20, 2025, in a town hall meeting. (Photo by Cameron Croston/PublicSource)
Town halls have become potent political theater early in Donald Trump’s second term, and Lee told a friendly crowd that Democrats must try different tactics in a “failing democracy.”
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U.S. Rep. Summer Lee made a case for bolder action from elected Democrats at a town hall event Thursday evening, speaking to hundreds of constituents as her party tries to find its footing during the chaotic first months of Donald Trump’s second term as president.
Lee, a second-term Democrat from Swissvale, took questions at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Constituents asked questions about Trump’s moves to drastically change federal policy on education and housing, potential cuts to Medicaid and Social Security and environmental issues.
It was a friendly crowd for Lee in the historical heart of Black Pittsburgh, a neighborhood and city that reliably vote overwhelmingly Democratic. The crowd applauded and shouted in agreement at many points throughout Lee’s remarks.
Lee argued that Democrats in Congress largely aren’t doing enough to push back on Trump’s agenda so far, echoing widespread criticism from the party’s rank and file that intensified after Senate Democrats provided votes to pass Trump’s budget measure last week.
Her comments were in response to a question from audience member Veronica Pratt, who said that most elected Democrats “are not meeting the moment.”
“There are a lot of people in Congress,” Lee said, “… who have been there for a very long time. Institutional knowledge is typically very important. But the things that worked for us even two years ago cannot work in a failing democracy. And we are in a failing democracy right now.”
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An attendee at a town hall meeting holds a sign while waiting in line outside Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Hill District. U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, held the meeting to hear concerns about changes in the federal government since President Donald Trump’s inauguration two months prior. (Photo by Cameron Croston/PublicSource) -
Attendees hold up signs in front of Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Hill District while waiting in line for a town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, on March 20. (Photo by Cameron Croston/PublicSource) -
Attendees livestream U.S. Rep. Summer Lee’s town hall meeting on their phones at Ebenezer Baptist Church, in the Hill District, on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Cameron Croston/PublicSource) -
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, speaks to town hall meeting attendees at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pittsburgh’s Hill District on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Cameron Croston/PublicSource)
In what may have been a veiled reference to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, Lee said “there’s no shame” in elder leaders stepping aside.
“If you’ve served for 40 years, if you’ve served your time and this isn’t the moment you’re willing to fight back … then maybe it’s OK to step aside,” she said.
The gathering was the latest representation of local opposition to the White House, where President Donald Trump has used his first two months back in power to begin a sweeping remaking of the federal government, shut down refugee resettlement and launch a large-scale deportation campaign.
Activist-led protests have occurred on city streets at times since the Jan. 20 inauguration, ranging from a couple dozen attendees to hundreds.
“We’re going to see actions and they’re going to escalate across the country,” Lee said.
Long an unassuming part of American democracy, town hall meetings have gained added significance this year. Republican congressional leadership observed a surge in protests at town halls held by GOP lawmakers, and urged them to stop holding the meetings. Democrats, meanwhile, have seen the open gatherings as opportunities to galvanize opposition to Trump.
In sharp contrast to the Trump administration’s focus on removing any references to diversity and multiculturalism from government spaces, Thursday’s town hall began with a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” commonly referred to as the Black national anthem.
The first question from the audience concerned Trump’s move just hours earlier to attempt to begin shutting down the federal Department of Education via executive order.
Lee predicted dire implications for residents, noting that the federal government provides thousands of dollars per student for Pittsburgh schools and predicting that if that money stops, schools will falter or the cost will be passed onto local property taxpayers.
“If you cut and you gut public education, any child can be left behind,” Lee said. “… What does that mean for the future of America?”
Another audience member asked about the influence of billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on the government. Musk was Trump’s biggest campaign backer last year, spending a quarter billion dollars to boost his candidacy and those of other Republicans, and now has a wide-ranging role in shaping White House policy. Musk and the Musk-inspired Department of Government Efficiency have focused on making significant cuts to the federal workforce, sometimes going further than federal judges will allow and leading to lapses in federal services.
Lee railed against the “idiocracy of Elon Musk and those babies he has working for him” and said she would use her seat on the House Oversight Committee to probe his business conflicts of interest.
Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.
This article first appeared on PublicSource and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
