Депутат Джефф Херд провел встречу с избирателями в Гранд-Джанкшен, отвечая на вопросы о коррупции и политике Трампа

In-person grilling took up much of U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd’s Tuesday morning, with the representative fielding questions and complaints on corruption, healthcare, energy, immigration and the Trump administration. The Grand Junction Republican held a “Coffee with the Congressman” event in his hometown amid his bid for reelection in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, meeting with constituents at the old Mesa County Courthouse. At the event, Hurd went from table to table, spending eight to 10 minutes with each group of three to five people to hear from and respond to them while taking notes. More than 60 people showed up, many of them angry at the national state of affairs. One woman chided Hurd for his vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill, another said he’s “doing a good job rearranging chairs on the Titanic” by addressing smaller issues while siding with the Trump administration on larger issues, and a third asked him why Mike Johnson (R-La.) isn’t being ousted as speaker of the House after abruptly calling for an early adjournment of Congress, to which Hurd responded, “We should be working more.” “I’m not perfect. I’m going to make mistakes. There are probably better ways I could be doing it,” Hurd told one constituent. A common theme of the day was corruption, with attendees criticizing what they see as corruption in the Trump administration regarding cabinet members’ interests in other countries or President Donald Trump’s $2 billion in cryptocurrency profits this year. When Shari VanderVelte pointed out some of these examples, Hurd responded, “When any public servant does that, it’s wrong.” Hurd took the opportunities to show a divide in how he handles outside financial influence in his work compared to others in Congress. He noted with multiple constituents that he voted in support of the Stop Insider Trading Act in July that would ban members of Congress from engaging in insider trading, that he sold his stocks after being elected and currently owns no stocks, and that Congress should approve a bill to ban government employees and officials from using prediction markets. Betsy Longenecker, a local family physician, told Hurd he should be more vocal about standing up to Trump and the GOP on issues that impact his constituents beyond tariffs, a topic in which Hurd and Trump have been publicly at odds. “We need a world that’s not burning up,” Longenecker told Hurd. “My kids are checked out. They’re cynical. They don’t believe the government works for them. I want you to use your voice. I understand you have limited power regarding legislation, but people would respond a lot to you saying, ‘I’m not OK with this.’” One man asked Hurd about the Jeffrey Epstein files. Hurd voted in November 2025 to release the Epstein files, but the files released, while enlightening in some cases, were also heavily redacted, leading to this constituent asking what would be needed for more transparency. Hurd responded that he’s not sure any new law or discharge petition is needed, and that the tools are already there for Congress to get more information. “We need to take it to court and make sure the law is being enforced as written,” Hurd said, adding that responsible disclosure of Epstein’s associates is “the right thing.” One man asked Hurd about the GAME Act, a proposed Bureau of Land Management land transfer of 2,158 acres in Garfield County to ranch owners and 2,103 acres of private land to the BLM. Hurd’s general election opponent, Dwayne Romero (D-Snowmass Village), has criticized Hurd for being linked to a draft of the act, which has not been formally introduced as a bill in the House. Hurd responded that he’s heard from other constituents concerned about the GAME Act, saying it’s still in the stakeholder process and “we’re not there now.” Hurd said his office is gathering feedback and that he currently does not have any plans to formally introduce or support such a bill at this time.