Congressman McGuire explains support for Trump and Elon Musk in telephone town hall

Republicans currently control all three branches of the federal government after the 2024 election.

President Donald Trump carried 31 states, won 312 electoral votes, and carried the popular vote by about 2.3 million votes.

Republican presidents have filled six out of nine positions on the United States Supreme Court.

Republicans hold 53 seats in the United States Senate compared to 45 Democrats and two independents. Republicans have 218 seats in the House of Representatives compared to the 215 held by Democrats. There are currently two vacancies, both in Florida. Special elections will be held on April 1.

The next elections for the House of Representatives will be held on November 3, 2026.

There is no Constitutional requirement that Representatives meet with constituents to explain their positions. This week, the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee is reported by Politico to have ordered his colleagues not to hold any more town halls.

On February 26, 2025, newly elected Representative John McGuire held a telephone town hall which lasted for about 45 minutes. McGuire ran a primary challenge against former Congressman Bob Good because Good had initially supported a different candidate than Donald Trump in the 2024 election. After defeating Good by a couple hundred votes, McGuire defeated Democrat Gloria Tinsley Witt in the general election 249,564 votes to 184,229 votes.

In the first minute of the event, McGuire introduced a poll question.

“Before we start, I have a poll question for everyone tonight,” McGuire said. “Do you think the government should cut, waste, fraud and abuse? Press one for yes. Press two for no, press three for unsure. And if you have any questions or want to join the conversation, please press star three.”

Definitions were not provided, and McGuire went on to give his background and to state he has already co-sponsored 36 bills and has introduced two of them. He’s also on the House Armed Services Committee and the Oversight Committee.

“I am also a member of the Republican Study Committee, which is considered the conservative conscience of the Republican Conference,” McGuire said.

One of the bills McGuire has introduced is what he called the Uranium for Efficiency Independence Act which is in the House of Representatives system as HR1622. Details are not yet available online, but the Congressman explained that the bill would list uranium on the United States Geological Surveys critical mineral lists.

“Inclusion on the list would open up federal funds and fast track permitting for domestic uranium projects,” McGuire said. “As a matter of national security, we should not be reliant on foreign adversaries for our critical mineral needs. Uranium plays a vital role in our nation’s nuclear capabilities and nuclear energy, but it is not currently designated as a critical mineral.”

Two days after the town hall, McGuire released a statement that argued the bill would not overturn a moratorium imposed on uranium mining by the Commonwealth of Virginia. There is a large uranium deposit within the Fifth District in Pittsylvania County, according to the Virginia Department of Energy.

McGuire said his office has been busy with requests from constituents.

“These cases range from passport renewals to expedited requests to the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms] for suppressors and special order firearms, to secured Medicare coverage and benefits for constituents,” McGuire said.

McGuire said he is a member of the caucus associated with the Department of Governmental Efficiency which is ordering the firing of federal workers across the board.

“As a member of the DOGE Caucus, we’ve already uncovered a surprising amount of waste, fraud and abuse,” McGuire said. “My colleagues and I are excited to have a unified Republican government in Washington. We have our work cut out for us to make America great again.”

Questions and answers

The first question came from a man from Albemarle County who identified himself as Joe.

“My question, sir, is I have good friends that I go to church with who are foster parents and they have a lovely family and they’re very concerned about these cuts to Medicaid. Do you know if that will affect foster children, people that are brought up in the foster system?” Joe said.

McGuire said there was no mention of Medicaid in the version of the budget resolution that the House of Representatives passed on February 25 on a 217 to 215 vote. You can check the text of the resolution here. McGuire added the House version has to be reconciled with the Senate version.

The next question came from a retiree who did not give a name.

“I depend on Social Security and Medicare for my income and my health care,” said the caller. “I got surgery coming up next month. I hear a lot of talk about cuts to Medicare and Social Security. And our family also has a disabled son who can’t work, who’s dependent on Medicaid, SSI and SNAP for his basic needs. And so, you know, I paid payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare specifically for about 50 years. And you know, that’s money that I’ve paid, hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

McGuire responded by saying that the administration and the Republican majority do not believe that Americans have trust and confidence in their government.

“I will tell you, I don’t think it’s a secret that we spend more money per day than we bring in per day. And, you know, if you did that with your household, you would be out of a house, on the street. If you did that in a business, you would be out of a business. But again, I know that President Trump talked about no tax on tips. There’s certainly no, no tax or cuts on Medicare.”

The third question related to another bill McGuire has introduced to increase the allowable weight for some agricultural vehicles on interstate highways. The text of HR1487 is not yet available for review.

The fourth question came from a woman who said her father fought in the Second World War and her husband was in the Air Force during the Korean War.

“My concern is that there is an increasing number of veterans who are homeless, who are committing suicide and who are impoverished,” said Sandra from Albemarle. “They and their families are suffering. And when I see that the [Department of Defense] is going to be gutted, and I see that a department, really, that was not authorized by Congress,” McGuire said.

McGuire said Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency are not themselves taking any specific actions.

“They are only identifying waste, fraud and abuse, but they’re not firing anyone,” McGuire said. “They are just making recommendations to different departments. But we are spending an incredible amount of money. We’re not efficient. All Americans cannot stand being robbed by the waste, fraud and abuse are going on.”

A quick search on “news.google.com” on DOGE firings reveals the following stories.

• DOGE continues to hollow federal workforce after already firing more than 30,000, PBS News Hour, February 28, 2025
• Science agency reinstates some fired employees, includes people with disabilities, veterans, military spouses, USA Today, March 3, 2025
• Democrats seek to probe Musk conflicts and DOGE firings with resolutions of inquiry in the House, Associated Press, March 4, 2025
• Democrats to Focus on DOGE Firings at Trump Address as Voters Split on Cuts, Newsweek, March 4, 2025
• I was fired by DOGE, but I am not a victim, Jonathan Kamens, The Hill (opinion), March 4, 2025
• Fired NOAA workers say cuts could hinder weather forecasts and programs to keep people safe, NBC News, March 4, 2025

The Town Hall continued. The sixth question related to a specific tax provision that McGuire said he would have to do more research on. The seventh came from Tom in Amherst who is proud McGuire won election.

“I’m glad President Trump won his election and I know that you two working together can get this country turned around,” Tom said. “I don’t think the President’s got any intention of doing away with programmes that are specifically needed by the farmers and that type of personnel that need depend on their occupations to get this country back on track.”

A quick look at news.google.com reveals several stories of employees of the United States Department of Agriculture losing their jobs.

• Job cuts at USDA in Boston could weaken New England food security, GBH, February 26,2025
• As Trump administration cuts funding, lays off USDA staff, Colorado farmers and ranchers feel the hit, CPR News, February 26, 2025
• USDA workers among thousands fired as Trump administration continues to shrink the federal government, Spectrum News 1, February 28, 2025
• Mass layoffs at USDA leave an uncertain future for researchers and rural areas, Nebraska Public Media, March 3, 3025
• New Hampshire farmers join Shaheen for roundtable about USDA federal funding cuts, Manchester Ink Link, March 3, 2025

McGuire did not acknowledge the comment but acknowledged not everyone on the call was one of his supporters.

“I am honored to represent everyone in the fifth Congressional District,” McGuire said. “And I gotta tell you, if you voted for me, I love you. If you did not vote for me. I love you. If you disagree with my position on a policy, I still love you. I’m here to try to listen to people, be respectful, bring them together.”

He then repeated the instructions for the poll.

The next caller from Bedford County most likely pressed one.

“I want to let you know that I am for finding fraud and waste, but I’m concerned, why are so many people getting laid off and fired?” said a woman named Cindy. “Isn’t there a different way of handling things?”

McGuire responded that everyone gets fired at some point in their lives but he said there are bigger threats to the country. He said the national debt is too high and cuts have to be made.

“Almost every nation that went under was because of bankruptcy,” McGuire said.

The next caller from Albemarle County identified as a person who has worked for the Department of Defense for 12 years and pressed for more information about who gets to decide what gets cut. McGuire responded by saying his faith is in Elon Musk.

“[The Department of Government Efficiency] and Elon Musk, they are some very bright minds,” McGuire said.” It’s amazing. Look at the spreadsheets and the data that they’re able to go through with 3D simulations. They are definitely identifying some waste, fraud and abuse.”

The website for the Department of Governmental Efficiency is an official website of the United States Government that has the slogan “the people voted for major reform.” The “about” section points to a White House executive order that turned the United States Digital Service into the Department of Governmental Efficiency.

The next caller from Nelson County wanted to know more about Musk’s role in all of this. She listed a number of cuts that have been made by the executive branch without consultation of the legislative branch.

“Cuts to the [Veteran’s Administration], [National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration] [Federal Emergency Management Agency], [Transportation Secutity Administration], Medicare, all those things have been cut,” said Amy. “And I’m trying to figure out how it is that a person that is not elected, I’m talking about Elon Musk and has not been vetted and is not a government employee and should not have access to sensitive data, is in charge of this effort.”

McGuire claimed that Trump is not doing anything different than any other president and that all administrations have the opportunity to pick who advises them.

“I will tell you that, you know, there’s a lot of misinformation out there, but Elon Musk has top secret clearance and then clearances you might have never heard of,” McGuire said. “ As far as security, you know, he is. He’s definitely got the security to do that. And again, his team is identifying the waste, fraud and abuse, but they’re not acting on it, they’re just reporting it to the different committees and then the committees decide what to do. He just gives his recommendations.”

The word “recommendation” does not appear in the White House executive order.

McGuire did not elaborate on what committees were involved. There is no official Department of Governmental Efficiency Committee in Congress, but an ad hoc caucus with hundreds of members.

The next question dealt with illegal immigration. The one after that had a follow-up question about the budget resolution. The caller reminded McGuire that he had said there was no mention of Medicare or Medicaid.

“I think that’s a little misleading because it does cut about 880 billion from the House of Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees healthcare spending and programmes like Medicaid,” said a woman who identified as Allison.

Allison pointed out that the budget increases spending over the next years and doesn’t include enough spending cuts. She asked for an inventory of specific examples of waste, fraud, and abuse.

“Where are the arrests?” she asked. “Where is the accountability? Who are the people who are allowing all of this fraud and waste to happen? Why aren’t they being held accountable? And why are the only people that I see being affected are people who are losing their jobs?”

McGuire called the budget a “very complicated business” and that the House and Senate will identify more spending cuts in the conference committee. He said he supports the federal tax cuts that Trump wants to make permanent.

“You said you haven’t heard anything about people being held accountable,” McGuire said. “Hey, Listen, I’m all about that, but we’re getting there. We’re not there yet. But again, thank you so much for the question”

The next question sought more details on potential cuts to Medicaid, details that weren’t provided on the call. After that was a question from someone who wanted to know what McGuire’s day to day life was like.

After that, Martha from Charlottesville wanted a specific example of waste, fraud, and abuse. McGuire responded by saying that he’s been given evidence of experimentation on cats and dogs.

“We may disagree on policies and ideologies, and I still love you anyway, but, you know, trying to do sex changes on animals, dogs and cats, makes no sense to me,” McGuire said. “There’s no way anybody’s going to explain to me, that’s okay. And we uncovered evidence of cat cannibalism. And when they brought that up, I was like, they gotta be making this up. And what they do is they put cats in a room and they study how long it takes before they start eating each other.”

Specifics were not provided but the concept appears to be traced to federal research into toxoplasmosis, as reported by NBC News in 2019. The story was brought to their attention by a nonprofit group associated with the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The final question came from Bill from Nelson County. He noted that McGuire celebrates the legacy of President Ronald Reagan, but reminded the Congressman of one of Reagan’s catch-phrases.

“Ronald Reagan said trust everybody and cut the deck,” said Bill. “Trust but verify. Now, you gave a couple of examples of waste, fraud and abuse. And I think every time that [the Department of Government Efficiency] points out our fines as weight fraud and abuse that it should be published. Unfortunately, as you know, on their website, they claimed that they had hundreds of billions of dollars of waste, only to have it taken down because it turned out not to be true when the Wall Street Journal actually looked at it.”

McGuire repeated that he is on the Department of Governmental Efficency Caucus and claimed there is full transparency.

“They’re not firing anyone,” McGuire said. “They’re making recommendations, and their pace is quick. And I’ve asked for more information on their decisions.”

McGuire said Republican control of all three branches of government will restore trust. He said President Trump has a mandate and urged people to trust him.

The results of the poll were never revealed.

McGuire urged people to sign up for his newsletter, which can be done at his website.

Before you go: Note that there is audio included with this story. This went out in the March 4, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Support the work through Patreon.