On Tuesday, March 18, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern will host a town hall at the Greenfield Middle School, 195 Federal Street, Greenfield. This event, sponsored by Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution (FCCPR), is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Rep. McGovern will open with brief remarks about the national crisis we face, and will then take questions from the audience.

The Trump-Musk administration is following the anti-democratic playbook from Project 2025 which Trump swore he had nothing to do with. Trump-DOGE are taking a sledge hammer/chain saw to the federal agencies responsible for the care and well-being of residents of our country. The DOGE tech-bros have been released into the Office of Personnel Management, where private information including pay and benefits of federal employees, is held by what is supposed to be an independent agency.

DOGE’s willy-nilly illegal firing of thousands of federal employees (80% of whom work outside Washington, D.C.) hit us here with the pending closure of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Hadley, the threat to the Veterans Administration in Leeds, massive cuts to Medicaid (Mass Health), and withholding grant funds from UMass.

Rep. McGovern will address these and other concerns. We are grateful that he has the courage to hold town halls throughout his district, unlike most elected Republicans who have been told to stop holding public appearances where they face constituent fury over the trashing of services dear to the American public.

Susan Triolo

Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution, Sunderland