Horn hears frustration from constituents over impeachment

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U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn faced frustrated constituents on Sunday at a town hall meeting, where people voiced anger over impeachment and the lack of accomplishments the divided government has produced this year.

“As an independent voter, I think you’re in a lot of trouble if you vote for this impeachment,” Susan Jaslow, of Edmond, told Horn.

Ronda Peterson, of Edmond, who identified herself as a conservative, said Congress had been consumed all year with impeaching President Donald Trump.

“We want Congress to get back to work for the American people, please,” Peterson said.

Horn, D-Oklahoma City, who had earlier reiterated her position that she hasn’t made up her mind on impeachment, told Peterson, “It’s frustrating for me. Because that’s not what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis. I didn’t run to impeach anybody. I ran to fight for Oklahoma, for education, for health care … and that’s where I’ve been spending my time.”

Horn's district includes most of Oklahoma County and Pottawatomie and Seminole counties. She held the town hall meeting on Sunday at Santa Fe South High School in south Oklahoma City.

Horn is one of about 30 Democrats who represent districts that favored Trump in 2016. A freshman who scored an upset victory last year, she is considered among the most vulnerable House Democrats going into 2020. Eight Republicans have already announced they would run for the seat.

Two Republican-aligned groups have financed recent ad campaigns attacking Horn's voting record and urging people to call her office to express opposition to impeachment.

Horn voted last month to extend the impeachment inquiry into a public phase. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to begin drafting articles of impeachment soon, and a full House vote may come before Christmas. If Trump is impeached, the Senate would hold a trial.

The House has been investigating whether Trump conditioned military aid to Ukraine on whether that country looked into potential corruption involving the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat who may be Trump’s rival for the presidency next year.

Horn has sponsored legislation on student loans, prescription drugs, mental health, defense and other topics but acknowledged Sunday that impeachment was taking up “most of the air in the room.”

She blamed the media in part, saying “it’s just easier to cover those things that fire people up and divide them.”

One audience member noted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, had refused to consider dozens of bills approved by the House, which is controlled by Democrats, and asked whether the rules could be changed.

Horn, referring to the fact that Trump opposed many of the Democratic bills, said work on legislation should be conducted whether the president opposes it or not.

“It’s not a vertical reporting structure,” she said. “We’re co-equal branches. … There’s not a lot we can do at this moment but continue to advocate for the Senate to take up some of the bills.”

The House this week is expected to vote on a bill aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Horn told reporters the bill was “a good start” and she expected to vote for it.

“It contains some provisions that will move us down the road to helping address the astronomical cost of prescription drugs, including the bill that I introduced to cap the out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare Part D at $2,000 per year, which would save them $3,100 per year,” she said.

Responding to a reporter’s question about the potential political cost of impeachment, Horn said, “When I am making any decision, the thing that is first and foremost is my oath to protect and defend the Constitution, to protect our systems … and to look at every issue that comes in front of me with scrutiny, not through the lens of a partisan issue, as a Democrat or a Republican, but: Is it the right thing to do?”

Jaslow said she was a part of a big group of independent voters in Edmond who were upset about impeachment. Jaslow said she voted for Horn last year.

“If she votes for impeachment, she’s screwed,” Jaslow said.

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