Rep. Bill Keating of the 9th Congressional District believes the nation is in a time of crisis as the Trump Administration continues to target the checks and balances that the country’s democracy relies on.

“This is the greatest crisis of democracy since the civil war,” Keating told the crowd of about 500 residents from the South Coast and Cape, who filled the auditorium of Wareham High School on Thursday, March 20 for a Town Hall hosted by the rep. 

The Town Hall gave residents from Keating’s district, which includes Wareham, an opportunity to ask questions about pressing issues in the federal government.

Keating said the Trump Administration intends to act quickly to establish their agenda before there is another shift in power. In order to accomplish this, checks and balances are under attack, including manipulation of elections, courts and Congress.

To combat this, Keating said Democrats are working to block these attempts through legislative and judicial action. 

As an example, he highlighted the Social Security 2100 Act, which aims to protect financial compensation by securing increased benefits for low income seniors, widows and widowers, cutting taxes for middle-income beneficiaries and adjusting benefits based on current inflation trends.

The Trump Administration is already working to attack Social Security by making it inaccessible to the public through cuts to offices and administration, making offices remote, getting rid of the 1-800 number and moving operations online, which can especially be difficult for senior citizens and those with disabilities, according to Keating.

The Social Security 2100 Act is still a work in progress. Keating said, “Just because a bill is not passed, doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything,” especially given the Republicans hold the majority in Congress, but said “we are pushing forward in spite of that.”

In addition to Social Security, Keating also addressed anticipated cuts to Medicaid.

Over a quarter of residents in his district receive benefits from Medicaid, with children and seniors being the primary benefactors. Therefore, the anticipated erasure of the program is a “real problem,” he said.

“It helped people who don’t have insurance get insurance,” he said.

Keating expressed that the elimination of Medicaid would severely impact hospitals and health care centers, noting that Tobey Hospital in Wareham has a disproportionate amount of patients who use Medicaid compared to the general population.

To justify cutting the program, the Trump Administration claims the Medicaid program is rampant with fraud. Keating says defunding the program is not the solution to the problem and “if there’s fraud, then let’s deal with the fraud.”

Keating said a number of the changes Trump’s Administration is making, especially within the Department of Education, are unlawful and across the country, case brought against these actions are winning.

He said eliminating the Department of Education cannot be done without congressional approval, so Republicans are putting together a “skeletal organization” in an attempt to avoid legal challenges, adding that much of this work is being done to push an ideological agenda for Christian, conservative education. 

“Eliminating the Department of Education isn’t about money, it’s deeper than that,” said Keating.

In addition to ideological concerns, Keating fears that the dissolution of the Department of Education will have disastrous consequences in states like Mississippi where 73% of their education budget comes from federal sources.

During the Town Hall, Keating received multiple attendee submitted questions regarding the impact of the Department of Government Efficiency, commonly referred to as DOGE, which is spearheaded by Elon Musk.

He describes acts done by DOGE as “indefensible” morally and legally, referring to departments “decimated with cuts” that previously worked toward ensuring clean air and water, public safety and education for American citizens.

“These are people’s lives — these are public servants,” Keating says of federal employees who were illegally fired by DOGE.

Keating said actions like these are only being taken in this way in effort to get the Trump Administration agenda out quickly and efficiently, adding they are cowards with no accountability.

Attendee Alexie Rudman of Dartmouth said she works as a coastal climate researcher and wanted to know more about what Democrats are doing to protect the environment and science amid administration cuts to the environmental protection agency and related departments.

“This attack on science has an enormous effect on our economy, on our health,” Keating said, highlighting how the new director of the environmental protection agency, Lee Zeldin, doesn’t believe climate has an effect on human health.

“It’s been very difficult even before this administration,” he said.

Given the fact his district is largely coastal, he said this is a high priority issue: “I see it every time we have a storm.”

Some residents weren’t satisfied with Keating’s responses to questions, repeatedly shouting out throughout the duration of Town Hall, “What are you going to do about it?”

“We are working through courts. We are working through Congress,” he said. “Because that’s what we can do. Don’t ask us to do what we can’t.”