The call was Hurd\u2019s first public speaking event since taking office Jan. 3. About 7,500 people tuned in, according to a spokesperson from his office.<\/p>\n
Since his swearing-in, Hurd has taken a markedly different approach from his predecessor, Rep. Lauren Boebert, a firebrand conservative who is now serving in Colorado\u2019s 4th Congressional District. Hurd has adopted a low profile, focusing on hyperlocal issues and hesitating to weigh in on national issues.<\/p>\n
But his quiet approach has attracted its own kind of attention, as hundreds of constituents have turned out at local events asking to hear from him or his staff.<\/p>\n
On Feb. 22, in his hometown of Grand Junction, more than 300 people showed up to the \u201cMusk or Us?\u201d rally asking Hurd to speak out against federal workforce cuts, according to a report from The Daily Sentinel<\/em><\/a>. Then, The Journal<\/em> in Cortez reported<\/a> that more than 200 people showed up for a chance to meet with Hurd\u2019s Southwest director at the library in Dolores on Feb. 24. The staff member didn\u2019t show, and organizers later told The Journal<\/em><\/a> that she went to the library but left because she may have not been prepared to meet with a crowd of that size.<\/p>\n Hurd first spoke out about his concerns with cuts to the federal workforce \u2013 among other issues \u2013 in a Feb. 27 interview with Colorado Public Radio\u2019s \u201cColorado Matters.\u201d It was nearly a month after the Trump administration offered buyouts to federal workers and about two weeks after 3,400 U.S. Forest Service workers were fired. During that time, Southwest Colorado saw several federal lands workers fired and many more who expressed uncertainty and fear about the future of their careers.<\/p>\n During this week\u2019s tele-town hall, several callers raised concerns about broad cuts being made to the federal workforce, especially to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.<\/p>\n Hurd said he shares those concerns. While he supports the president\u2019s efforts to find efficiencies, he said cuts must be more targeted.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the land managers on the ground in western Colorado and southern Colorado that should be cut,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 It should be the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., that are seeing their ranks trimmed. So that\u2019s something that I certainly am in communication with the White House on and with leadership in the Department of Interior and also the Department of Agriculture, making sure that the cuts that we see are happening in the right spots and those efficiencies are in the places that they\u2019re supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n He also pointed to his co-sponsorship of the Protect Our Probationary Employees Act. The bill would allow civil servants fired in their probationary period to resume that probationary period \u2013 ensuring that they don\u2019t have to start the period over \u2013 if they are rehired. It was introduced Monday but is unlikely to pass the House.<\/p>\n Other callers asked Hurd about energy policy and rising costs, which they said were a result of shifts toward renewable energy.<\/p>\n Hurd shared those concerns, saying \u201ca lot of these costs are being driven by bad public policy from Denver that\u2019s requiring, in my view, poorly thought out changes from reliable, low cost carbon-based fuels to renewable energy.\u201d<\/p>\n That \u201cbad public policy\u201d effectively acts as a hidden tax on every Coloradan, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you genuinely care about reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, you ought to support producing as much energy out of Colorado as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He echoed a point from a March 9 letter<\/a> he signed urging the House Ways and Means Committee to uphold Biden administration clean energy tax credits, arguing for an \u201call-of-the-above\u201d energy approach. The letter noted that repealing those incentives could disrupt the energy industry and cause costs to increase for ratepayers.<\/p>\n Hurd answered a question about potential cuts to Medicaid, saying Medicaid should have some type of work requirement for those who are able to work. He acknowledged there should be exceptions for students and others who may be balancing other responsibilities.<\/p>\n Hurd joined House Republicans in voting to adopt<\/a> a budget resolution in February that directs the Committee on Energy and Commerce \u2013 which oversees Medicaid \u2013 to cut $880 billion in spending. Though Republicans say the resolution does not specify cuts to Medicaid, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that hitting the $880 billion target <\/a>would require significant cuts to the program.<\/p>\n Another caller asked Hurd for his thoughts about the president\u2019s rhetoric toward Ukraine and the administration\u2019s pause on aid to the country as it defends itself against Russia.<\/p>\n Hurd responded that Russia and President Vladimir Putin are \u201cindisputably adversaries of America\u201d and that it is \u201cdishonorable and wrong not to stand up against the tyranny of Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPausing military aid to Ukraine weakens our hand, it emboldens Russia, and it invites greater danger down the road from countries just like China, who, again, are watching what\u2019s happening here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Other topics he hit on included his recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, his first bill that would move the BLM headquarters back to Grand Junction and his support of a bicameral bill<\/a> to compensate those impacted by the 2015 Gold King Mine spill.<\/p>\n One caller asked if Hurd plans to do any in-person town halls.<\/p>\n He said he opted for the virtual format because it was the best way to connect with people from across the vast 3rd Congressional District, one of America\u2019s largest. He added that he would be open to doing in-person town halls, but said \u201cI want to make sure that it\u2019s a productive dialogue and that we\u2019re talking about the issues, that I\u2019m hearing from my constituents, and that we\u2019re not devolving into political theater.\u201d<\/p>\n