If I had to use one word to describe the meeting I attended Monday with Sen. Roger Marshall in Yates Center, it would be “orchestrated.”
But that shouldn’t be surprising, given his refusal to address a crowd of frustrated constituents earlier this month in Oakley. In contrast, this week’s gathering in a small conference room in the basement of the Woodson County Courthouse was not a public town hall. Only those invited to participate were given the opportunity to speak – while about 20 constituents holding signs reading “DO BETTER” and “I WISH I WAS GETTING PAID TO BE HERE” exercised their First Amendment rights outside.
As one of about 20 people in the crowded conference room, I witnessed something unexpected: even this hand-picked audience did not refrain from sharing legitimate concerns and asking pointed questions. In a litany of carefully crafted responses, Sen. Marshall managed to dodge them.
Although Sen. Marshall promised he was “going to do his best to protect critical access hospitals” and stressed that “no one is talking about cuts to Medicare,” he did not specifically address the proposed cuts to Medicaid or USDA that would wreak havoc on Southeast Kansas. It seems he, like many of his colleagues, is willing to cede power to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE.
Representatives from local hospitals and law enforcement, including Wilson Medical Center, Yates Center Police and Thrive Allen County expressed concerns about what federal cuts would mean for a region already struggling to combat economic hardships, mental health concerns, juvenile delinquency, and a dire need for health care professionals. When parents struggle to survive, communities are forced to lean on government services. Already strapped for resources, these leaders know that further cuts would be devastating.
In response to community leaders’ concerns, Sen. Marshall recited from the Trump playbook. He blamed autism on smart phones, blamed China for a price hike in Canadian potash our farmers need to fertilize their crops, blamed wars for increased consumer prices, and assured attendees that “tariffs are resulting in more jobs coming home.”
When one like-minded business leader asked about the never-ending cycle of continuing resolutions and the ongoing failure to pass a budget or Farm Bill, Marshall blamed Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and promised that “You will see us bring every one of those funding bills to the floor this year.” (The budget bill was due in early February and even the Republican House appropriation chairman has said Trump’s budget proposal could “slip” until May.)
Trump’s budget proposal, which passed in the House in February, calls for $880 billion in cuts to the health care and energy sectors, $230 billion from USDA, and $330 billion from education programs. The proposal would cut $5 billion per year in Medicaid funds to Kansas. For comparison, the total operating cost for all Kansas hospitals is $10.6 billion per year.
Nearly all Kansas hospitals rely on Medicaid to stay open. With nearly 60% of rural Kansas hospitals already at risk of closing, unless we change course, we’ll lose most of them, and countless lives, in the next decade. Those that remain open will compete for a dwindling amount of capital improvement funds managed by a devastated government workforce. Cuts to education will make it impossible to train much-needed healthcare workers, and Kansans will die.
U.S. SENATORS have three major roles: budget reconciliation, checking executive power and overseeing federal agencies, and participating in relationships with other countries. Based on what I saw in Yates Center, Marshall is failing at all three.
Republicans have had control of the White House and majorities in the U.S. House and Senate for two months, with two months before that to plan. Still, Congress can’t pass a budget or Farm Bill and keeps kicking the can with continuing resolutions. Instead of checking Trump’s power, Congress is supporting his “big beautiful” budget bill, which, if he is listening to his constituents, Marshall knows would devastate our state. Senators are tasked with overseeing federal agencies; but instead of a strong publicly accountable federal workforce that could help his constituents navigate federal funding programs, they’re allowing an unchecked president and his billionaire corporate raiders to sow a chaotic system of private contractors.
Marshall isn’t just sitting idly by and watching this happen; he is playing an active role. As a member of the Senate DOGE Caucus, he has boasted about meeting with Elon Musk. Last week, he applauded Trump’s nomination of television personality Mehmet Oz, who also dodges questions about Medicaid cuts, to lead the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Medicaid provides health coverage to 1 in 7 Kansans and 41% of Kansas children. Even if Marshall’s plan to regulate social media curbs autism diagnoses, how will parents of autistic children access programs? And how will the Kansas hospitals Marshall says he is committed to, the ones that rely on Medicaid for as much as half of their incomes, survive?
Sen. Marshall opposes earmarks. In Yates Center, he said he had tried unsuccessfully to supplement his staff with a grant writer. Here’s a better idea: rebuild a publicly accountable civil service to keep a watchful eye on tax dollars and assist everyone, not just the billionaires, in accessing federal funds.
AFTER HIS invite-only meeting at the Woodson County Courthouse, Marshall visited the still-smoldering site of Yates Center Health and Rehab, a nursing home destroyed in a wildfire fueled by Friday’s windstorm. Mission Health is looking for funds to rebuild. Even if Congress appropriates funds for these types of projects, who will be left to help the community navigate them? Who will cover costs for this and other Kansas nursing homes who now bill Medicaid for 65% of their residents?
As a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Marshall has the responsibility to fund USDA Rural Development and deliver a Farm Bill that is already two years late. As a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, Marshall has the power to check Trump’s disastrous tariffs and protect Medicare, Social Security, AND Medicaid.
