PHOENIX – Last night, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) spoke to over 3,000 Arizonans during his first telephone town hall. Sen. Gallego was able to hear directly from constituents about their concerns over threats to Social Security and Medicaid, housing prices, and federal layoffs.
“Last night made it clear that the dangerous game being played by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, with their reckless attempts to gut the federal government, is not sitting well with Arizonans. People are scared they could lose access to their health care, VA benefits, and even their jobs. This uncertainty and chaos is creating real fear among families who deserve stability and security,” Senator Gallego said. “This is why I ran for office, to give the people of Arizona a voice in Washington. It was a pleasure connecting with the thousands of Arizonans who took the time to join.”
Protecting Medicaid
This week, Congressional Republicans passed a budget resolution that would make the most drastic cuts to Medicaid in U.S. history. On the call, Senator Gallego spelled out exactly what that would mean for Arizonans.
“Right now, if you’re a rural Arizonan, there’s a 33% chance that you are on AHCCCS. If you’re in urban Arizona, it’s about 15%. AHCCCS provides health care to some of our rural hospitals that would essentially shut down, their emergency rooms would shut down, if you don’t have AHCCS,” Senator Gallego said.
“And let’s be clear why they’re doing this. The only reason they’re doing this is because they want to find a way to give tax cuts to their billionaire friends,” he continued. “They’re going to try to kill as many poor, poor people by kicking them off Medicaid so they could justify their tax cuts.”
Tackling Rising Grocery Prices
Recently, Senator Gallego urged the Administration to allow farmers to vaccinate chickens to stop the spread of bird flu. On the call, he explained why it matters.
“We have avian flu that is growing, and there’s two problems when it comes out. Number one, if it gets severely into our food system, it’s going to increase prices. We’ve already seen that with eggs, for example,” Senator Gallego said. “Maybe you guys are noticing, and I surely notice when I go to the grocery store, the prices of a dozen egg, at … my Fry’s is about $7.50, a dozen, and that’s because we did not, and we have not, controlled the spread of avian flu. And they’re killing millions of chickens, and this Administration has done nothing to actually bring that in line.”
Stopping DOGE and Elon Musk
Many constituents expressed concerns over the alarming and unprecedented efforts by Elon Musk and his DOGE coders to dismantle the federal government. Senator Gallego echoed their fears, pointing out that DOGE is hurting Arizona’s veterans.
“These are real, real consequences that Musk is creating, and it is hurting Arizonans, and we are going to use our time and every political leverage we can to remind people of that, and the more we can make Elon and his plans unpopular, the weaker they get,” said Senator Gallego.
Addressing Immigration and Border Security
Senator Gallego also commented on addressing immigration and border security in Arizona.
“I want, and do believe, the only way for us to have ultimately a secure border is for us to have comprehensive immigration reform that really brings these millions of families out of the shadows and puts them on a pathway to citizenship while at the same time clamping down on people crossing the border illegally and giving pathways to come to this country legally,” said Senator Gallego.