More than 1,300 people packed the Sisters High School gymnasium Tuesday evening to hear U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden answer questions from constituents under a common thread: how to combat recent actions of the Donald Trump Administration taking an ax to federal programs and the federal workforce. 

With Republicans holding both chambers of Congress, Wyden rallied his frustrated base to engage in grassroots political movements. He said he was encouraged with high turnouts at Tuesday’s pair of town halls in Sisters and Prineville. 

“When I drove up and I looked in the parking lot, I said to myself, ‘There are a lot of people who are inside believing in democracy, and not walking away,’” Wyden said to the crowd. “The stakes are so high.”

Longtime Sisters resident Wendie Vermillion stood outside the auditorium holding a sign to promote an April 5 protest a few minutes before the town hall began. 

“I think it’s important for us to visibly understand how many other people are sharing our feelings,” Vermillion said. “That’s what town halls and protests are about. To let people know they’re not alone.”

Constituents urged Wyden for answers on how they could respond to cuts to federal healthcare programs, immigration policy and shrinking of the federal workforce and education departments, along with fear of the president’s potential to ignore court rulings checking his power. 

Over the weekend, the Trump Administration refused to follow the order of a judge who ruled against the deportation of immigrants from El Salvador. When Trump called for impeachment of the judge, Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked the president.

In response to a question from a constituent, Wyden said he was encouraged by the action from Roberts, a conservative. 

He also told reporters afterward that Trump’s recent actions have “enormous implications.”

“If you have a president who says he is just going to ignore what the courts are doing, that kind of activity is the makings of a coup,” he said. 

Several people who attended the town hall said they were frustrated with the Democratic Party’s lack of response to Trump’s actions, and asked Wyden, a senator of nearly 30 years, about the future of the reeling party. 

In perhaps the most confrontational moment of the town hall, Dylan Levi, who founded the Central Oregon Students for a Democratic Society, told Wyden he was “pretty damn disappointed with Democrats in Congress, citing senate Democrats’ unanimous approval of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who recently detained a green card holder over his involvement in a pro-Palestinian protest last year.

“Rubio said he wouldn’t do the things that he’s been doing,” Wyden said, adding that Democrats have introduced legislation to undo some of the actions. 

Levi said after the town hall said he “didn’t expect more than basic talking points” from the senator. 

He added that Democrats won’t be able to “vote our way out of our problems,” and that taking action would require political advocacy.

For some in attendance Tuesday, fear over the administration’s attack on non-U.S. citizens was personal. One woman, a Filipino citizen and resident of Bend who wanted to remain anonymous for safety reasons, told The Bulletin she was anxious about her status in the country. Another man, a Bend resident, pleaded with Wyden to help fight the looming deportation of his wife, a German national, after his family recently received a 30-day notice. 

Another strong concern Tuesday was how mass firings of U.S. Forest Service workers might affect the ability of agencies to fight wildfire in Central Oregon. One attendee asked Wyden if he could prevent those firings. 

He said he the issue could be a sticking point for Republican leaders in rural communities. 

“There are a lot of rural communities who think that this is a colossally bad idea,” he said. 

After the town hall, Bend resident Scott Jones, said he came to the event looking to hear “how we are going to defend our country against the chaos of the Trump Administration.”

“We wanted to hear some action item that we could do right now that would create some sort of impact, a big wave of pressure against the Trump Administration,” said Jones, a member of the city of Bend’s Human Rights and Equity commission. 

“Realistically, he was elected as president. That’s not super possible,” he said, echoing Wyden’s message about grassroots organizing.