It wasn’t a typical Friday night event in the downtown of Montana’s largest city.
The only music played at the event was a closing song, “America,” which brought the crowd of nearly 1,000 to its feet.
About the only people missing from the event that filled the spacious Lincoln Auditorium in Billings (capacity: 1,636) were the three chairs reserved for Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy as well as Rep. Troy Downing whose congressional district covers the Magic City and all of eastern Montana.
Not unlike dozens of other town-hall style meetings across America, the purpose was to ask questions of leaders about what is happening in Congress, with President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. And not unlike many recent meetings, the elected leaders did not show up.
That did not stop residents, some from as far away as Missoula and Wibaux counties, from showing up, standing in long lines to ask a question, and former Gov. Marc Racicot from urging the crowd to fight for democracy. Racicot himself has been an example of the changing political winds: The former chairman on the Republican National Party was booted from the state Republican Party after criticizing the direction of the party and Trump.
The Daily Montanan reached out to all three Congressional representatives who were invited. Only Sheehy’s office responded.
“Here is my response to media asking if I will attend Democrat dark money group Indivisible’s left-wing rallies: No, I will not legitimize a radical group that wants to defund the police and abolish ICE,” Sheehy said.
Indivisible, a national group that started in the wake of George Floyd’s death, started as a movement to rein in abuse and to curtail funding to police and other law enforcement agencies. Yellowstone Indivisible organized the event, although during the event, not a single speaker spoke about defunding law enforcement or police brutality.
“There have been town meetings since this country was just 13 colonies and ruled by a king. We want to make it clear to our elected officials that we still don’t want a king,” said Yellowstone Indivisible co-leader Elizabeth Klarich. “We could be doing March Madness, or we could be attending the boys basketball tournaments at the Metra, but we decided to do democracy tonight.”
President Donald Trump campaigned on a far-ranging platform of reform, including to reshape government as well as reduce consumer prices and curbing inflation. Montana is also a heavily Republican state with every member of the Congressional delegation and the five state “constitutional officers” all being Republican. In Montana, Trump took 58% of the vote in the 2024 Election.
Speakers who asked questions and told raw personal stories drew applause, sometimes standing ovations, including for the opening Pledge of Allegiance.
“If we were hired to do a job and refused to do it, we’d get terminated,” Klarich said. “Have they forgotten we have the power to fire them?”
The organizers recorded the meeting, and said they will be delivering a copy of the video to Daines, Sheehy and Downing so they can see the response and turnout.
Billings resident Elizabeth Halvorson worried about the impacts of tariffs on Mexico and Canada, since they represent a combined 93% of imports to Montana.
“What are you going to do protect ag producers? What are you going to do to protect us from higher costs?” she asked.
Throughout the meeting, residents spoke to the trio of empty chairs, each with a placard naming the Congressman who didn’t show.
Steve Held, who ran for Congress as a Democrat and whose daughter was part of the historic youth climate trial that bears his name, spoke on climate change.
“Climate change doesn’t give a damn if you live in Broadus or Bozeman, and the Montana Club will not protect you,” Held said, traveling from Broadus to attend.
Bailey Desper, who is a transgender woman worried about Elon Musk, a common concern at the meeting in Billings and at other meetings, was using government data.
“How are they going to make sure that our rights to privacy are entrusted?” she asked.
Jason Severeid of Billings said that he’s been living independently for two years thanks to help from insurance programs like Medicaid. He has an autoimmune disease that requires infusions every three weeks. Without those programs for him, it’s literally a matter of life or death.
“What assurances can you give me so that my treatment can continue? Please don’t touch Medicaid,” he said.
Maybe the longest and most thunderous applause came for Peggy Wellknown Buffalo, a member and leader on the Apsaalooke (Crow) reservation. She has been lauded for her efforts of providing more than 2 million pounds of food during the COVID-19 pandemic on the reservation in southern Montana, and still runs a food assistance program.
At first she addressed the empty “Congress chairs” in Crow. Then, she spoke in English.
“Your First People are worse off. How much more do we have to give up?” she asked.
Randi Hall of Billings said she’s met Daines previously and voted for him.
“Canada is our friend. You’ve been to the Hi-Line and seen the flags together. You are turning our greatest ally into an enemy. Who would have thought that would happen? Who would have seen the day when Albertans refuse to buy from us? I voted for you and I feel betrayed. I am Montanan and begging you to start voting and acting like one,” she said.
Political science professor Paul Pope, who teaches at Montana State University-Billings, said he wasn’t speaking on any particular issue, but made a different kind of plea.
“If any of you want to seek public office, I am offering my help to run against these absentee representatives,” he said.
Sheehy ousted former three-term U.S. Senator Jon Tester, 53% to 45%. Downing won handily in the conservative Second Congressional district, capturing nearly two-thirds of the vote. And, Daines was the head of the National Republican Senate Campaign Committee that helped the GOP regain control of the U.S. Senate. He will stand for re-election in 2026.
Elizabeth Sillerud, a pastor at American Lutheran Church, described the immigrant families her congregation has helped. Quoting from the Bible, she ticked off passages that urged kindness and hospitality toward foreigners and strangers.
“How are you all — descendants of immigrants and people of faith — responding to immigrants?” she asked.
Gerald Kessler, a retired school teacher and counselor, said he feared for America’s standing in the world.
“You have turned the world order upside down,” he said. “Russia, North Korea and Israel are now our friends when Canada, the U.K. and Denmark — Denmark, really? — are turned against us? In 1949, George Orwell wrote a book called ‘1984’ and I am sorry to say the only thing he got wrong was the date.”
Megan Cassel of Billings said she worried about how this period in history will be remembered.
“History will not remember that we made America great for all the casual pain and hate,” she said.
Laura McGee, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, said that she had spoken repeatedly to Daines’ office about fraud and waste but hasn’t received an answer.
“We demand our treaties, our healthcare, our education and to protect our tribal colleges and universities,” she said.
University of Montana student Shannon Sheehy had pointed words for Montana’s newest senator.
“I’m Shannon Sheehy — no relation,” she said, as the audience laughed. “I am the only Sheehy with courage to get on stage. I am a student at the University of Montana. There is fear there because the climate studies students fear that their program will be dismantled. Trans students are told they are not safe here. And I am worried about student loans. You are not here tonight, and it is clear that no Republican is willing to stand up.”
She also had a different, more personal message for Sen. Sheehy, who often uses his last name as a recurring joke about pronouns, she and he.
“Also, don’t ever use my name as a transphobic punch line again,” she said.
Ryan Chaddick, a pastor in Billings, spoke about his concerns for those who are neurodivergent.
He said that politicians see neurodivergent folks as those who are broken or needing to fix.
“I live with an invisible disability and don’t always show it,” he said. “Many of our leaders are invisible tonight, but my message is that we are neurodivergent; we are here; and we are watching.”
Dozens of people spoke during the event. As the time wound down, ending before all could make it to the microphones, many left questions in a basket that would be forwarded to the trio of absent leaders.
As the town-hall style meetings have spread throughout the country in the wake of the upheaval of the Trump administration and Musk’s action, Republicans who have shown up to these meetings have faced stiff opposition and anger, even from people identifying as Republican. One of the more notable events happened when Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming appeared at an event in Laramie this week.
That event saw Hageman roundly booed, as she said it was “bizarre” that the audience members were so focused on the federal government. She urged them to calm down and suggested they were “hysterical.”
At a similar town-hall style meeting in Bozeman on Friday, an estimated 350 residents gathered but no member of the Congressional delegation attended.
Republican strategists and leaders have urged Republicans not to show up for the meetings, which is why Racicot appeared to lend some perspective as a Montana leader. Former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, who was beaten in November by Sheehy, sent a message to the Yellowstone County crowd, too.
In a state where politicians brag about how many miles they put on cars traveling to meet constituents, the lack of participation is something new to Treasure State residents. The Daily Montanan had reached out to Pope, a noted political scientist, prior to the event to ask about the shift and the strategy behind not attending these events.
“By not attending, they simply can avoid saying the wrong thing or just defending their actions or inactions. The risk of making people angry by not showing up may be perceived as less than if they did and add fuel to their fire. They forget, they represent us, and the Constitution requires them to defend their own powers against a president who is trying to usurp both their law making and budgetary powers. I believe they are doing this out of party loyalty,” he said.
Pope did not mince words in his analysis of the dangers that the American democracy faces at this particular moment.
“If Congress and the courts fail to hold the President accountable to the Constitution and the rule of law, then they have no ability to constrain the people to the rule of law. This creates chaos and that kind of chaos often leads to violence. In short, Congress’ inactions to constrain the president could literally mean the end of the union,” he said.
Racicot spoke to the crowd and delivered a message to the crowd as people shouted “Racicot for president.”
He spoke about the crafting of the Constitution and the dangers of defying the rule of law, villainizing judges, and reaping pain by creating emergencies.
“It reveals a complete lack of respect for the rule of law. We have had a democratic republic for 237 years, and yet it is fragile and based on the concept that every American must choose it and practice self discipline to maintain order and a respect for fellow citizens,” Racicot said. “To those who seek to lead us at this existential moment of peril, we will strive to be informed and learn. And we will demand loyalty to the Constitution and the rule of law.”
The event closed after singing “America” twice, but not before Klarich declared the event a successful example of democracy alive.
“You beautifully saw how democracy works. We will not brandish pitchforks, we will join arms and not tear each other down,” she said. “The selfish greed of power-hungry oppressors will not rob us of seeking our dignity and our joy.”
Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com.