OAKLEY, Kansas — Critics of actions by president Donald Trump shouted down Republican Sen. Roger Marshall at a town hall meeting in rural Kansas Saturday, causing the senator to end the meeting and leave as people shouted, booed and said “you’re not done.”
President Donald Trump won the rural northwest Kansas county of Logan with 85% of the vote. But opponents of the president’s recent actions and concerned Kansans from as far as Overland Park trekked to the small town of Oakley to voice their anger.
The room was only meant to seat 20 people. There was double in attendance at the small hospital cafeteria.
As soon as Marshall entered the meeting, people booed and started peppering him with questions and comments about the war in Ukraine, the hollowing of federal agencies and rural health care.
Marshall threatened to leave not long after the meeting started, but shared responses to questions about Kansas agriculture and Trump’s executive orders to pause some federal funding.
Marshall touched on the war in Ukraine a day after a tense meeting on the topic in the White House.
“Most Americans want there to be a swift peace to this situation. Personally, I think we've done enough to help foreign conflicts,” Marshall said.
Marshall also voiced his support for funding pauses and federal firings made by the president and the Department Of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
In response to questions about the cuts, Marshall told the crowd the actions are warranted.
“Seventy percent of Americans want us to get rid of fraud, waste and abuse,” Marshall said.
Anne Parelkar traveled from Overland Park and questioned Marshall about the efficiency of cutting federal workers. Marshall responded that she was fed misinformation, causing Parelkar to fire back.
“Half the people in the U.S. are brainwashed one way or the other way. So how do we get us on the same page again?” she asked.
The funding pauses Marshall discussed have had broad impacts, including freezing potentially millions of dollars of payments owed to Kansas farmers for work they already completed.
Marshall said in an interview with Newsmax that if he was Elon Musk, he would “double down, not slow down.” But some rural Kansans at the meeting weren’t happy with that.
About 20 percent of federal workers are employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Chuck Nunn, a local resident at the event, brought up concerns about the Trump administration’s funding freezes and job cuts affecting veterans.
“That is a damn shame,” Nunn said as members of the crowd applauded.
“I’m not a Democrat, but I’m worried about the veterans,” another man said in agreement.
After the back-and-forth with the crowd, Marshall abruptly ended the meeting as members of the crowd booed and shouted.
“We don’t have time for everyone to stand up. I do got two more commitments today. I appreciate everybody making the drive out and God bless America,” Marshall said before walking out to shouts and boos.
After the meeting, Rodney Bates, a Logan County native and board member at a local nursing home, said he felt like none of his concerns were addressed. He suspected an influx of people from eastern Kansas.
“I came because I wanted to see what was affecting nursing homes right now,” Bates said in an interview. “Rural hospitals are hurting but all people wanted to do was scream at the senator.”
Calen Moore covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can email him at cmoore@hppr.org.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
