People in Idaho are searching for the state’s four federal lawmakers, according to missing politician posters circulating on social media and gaining momentum.

The last known whereabouts of three-term Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were in Washington, D.C., one flyer posted to Facebook purported.

“Last seen: Nowhere near his constituents — rumored to vanish at the first sight of accountability,” it read.

Similar online handbills were mocked up for each of Idaho’s other three longtime federal delegates: Republicans U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, and Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher.

Under President Donald Trump, major upheaval has included mass federal layoffs and deployment of new tariffs on longstanding trade partners, and Idaho residents have questions for their elected representatives. Some are seeking out chances to attend public forums about the Republican administration’s policy shifts, such as actions taken by the “Department of Government Efficiency,” the advisory group known as DOGE under the guidance of the world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk, and cuts to services and personnel at the state’s vast federal lands.

Idaho’s federal lawmakers have not made themselves available to answer questions from voters in an open public setting since Trump took office in January. And opportunities to speak directly with Republicans who support the president’s agenda appear to be growing increasingly scant nationwide.

A handful of incidents have erupted at public meetings where Republican lawmakers faced backlash in their home states from residents frustrated with new Trump policies, CBS News reported. Last month, a Republican committee town hall event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, that included state lawmakers sparked national headlines after a woman who objected to comments from speakers was dragged out by an unidentified private security force.

National GOP leadership has since warned House Republicans off holding in-person town hall meetings, according to Politico. In a post on social media this month, Trump dismissed the issue, blaming Democrats and calling such interruptions at scheduled Republican events the work of “paid ‘troublemakers.’"

Gov. Brad Little, a fellow Republican, has made traveling throughout Idaho to meet with and hear from constituents a priority throughout his tenure and continues to do so, according to his office. A broad swath of the public, from business leaders to public school teachers and students, remain at the top of his list, said Joan Varsek, Little’s spokesperson.

“Gov. Little recognizes the importance of government being accessible to the people it serves,” she said in a statement to the Statesman. “Gov. Little greatly values the perspectives and experiences Idahoans bring from all corners of the state.”

The Democratic Party in Idaho called on the state’s federal leaders to change course from their ongoing absence and appear before voters in a public forum.

“Idaho Democrats refuse to let Republican lawmakers silence their constituents,” the party said in a statement. “As Republicans continue to evade accountability, the Idaho Democratic Party remains committed to ensuring Idahoans’ voices are heard.”

‘Going through the motions’

Last week, Boise residents Kayla Dodson and Diane Garvey organized a group of three dozen people to gather outside of Risch’s regional office downtown near the Capitol and speak with the staffers of Idaho’s U.S. senators. They aimed to share their recent concerns about happenings at the federal level, and also request that Risch and Crapo host a public town hall meeting during the March congressional recess this week.

Risch’s office space only allowed for 10 people from the group to meet with the senators’ representatives, and a short time allotted for the meeting, said Garvey, who lives in Southeast Boise. So the other attendees wrote letters they asked be delivered to Risch and Crap, and asked for a response. They also sought a follow-up meeting with the offices next month, which went unscheduled, she said.

“It was just like they were going through the motions, just sit there for 20 minutes and listen,” Garvey told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview. “ ‘We don’t really know what the senator thinks of the issues, but we’ll get back to you.’ … And then they went out a back door and went to their next meeting.”

The group learned that Crapo is set to speak at a Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce event Monday, March 17, at The Riverside Hotel in Garden City. Tickets cost $50 and it had already sold out.

Unable to attend, the group created an online petition to ask Crapo to make time for a public meeting while he is in town. They also plan to wave signs and demonstrate with other supporters outside of the hotel Monday during his scheduled appearance.

“The narrative is these Republicans are not having town halls because we’re just paid agitators,” Garvey said. “But we’re real people, and federal workers have been affected. People are losing veterans’ benefits and Social Security. People have real concerns and it’s a very scary time, and we need our congressional delegation. They need to show up and explain to us what is going on, and what they’re doing to help us.”

Likewise, Bryan Smith, the Idaho Republican Party’s national committeeman, told the Statesman in an interview that it was incumbent upon lawmakers to meet face to face with the people who put them in office.

“It’s important that our elected officials — especially on a national level as often as is necessary and reasonable — hold town halls and address their constituents directly in Idaho,” Smith said by phone. “That is the glue that holds our republic together, discourse between constituents and elected leaders. If that doesn’t happen, time and again, elected leaders will lose touch with constituents and soon forget the reasons why they’re there.”

Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, told the Statesman that it may be more important now than before that Idaho’s federal lawmakers schedule open public appearances to speak to the Trump administration’s policies. All four federal delegates endorsed Trump for president.

“What has happened at the federal level is deeply unpopular. People don’t feel like they voted for Elon Musk to take a chain saw to veterans’ health care and vital services in Idaho,” Rubel said in a phone interview. “The congressional delegation is in hiding. They don’t want to be facing the angry mob awaiting them from the highly unpopular actions of the administration the last two months.

“It’s easier not to hold a town hall and come to terms with the havoc wrought on people from Washington, D.C.”

Rubel and other Democrats make it a priority to host as many as five town halls every legislative session, she said. The events are important to learn about issues residents bring to them, and develop ideas for legislation to address problems, Rubel said.

“We almost feel guilty when we only have four town halls as opposed to five, but sometimes we scale back because we get so busy,” she said. “I can’t even fathom going years on end with none. It’s inconceivable.”

Idaho GOP official: Voters deserve to hear from elected leaders

Crapo, 73, serving his fifth term in the U.S. Senate, hasn’t held a public town hall since 2022, last doing so in Sandpoint, according to his Senate website. Risch, 81, hasn’t hosted such an event since 2020, the Idaho Democratic Party reported. Risch was the keynote speaker at a similar ticketed chamber event in November 2023. It was branded as a Q&A, but he took no questions from the audience.

Fulcher, 63, is in his fourth term representing the state’s congressional district that includes the western half of Idaho, including the Panhandle and a portion of Ada County. He last hosted a town hall in January 2024 in Meridian. It was upended by protesters over the Israel-Hamas war, and Fulcher canceled another public event scheduled for the next day in Nampa.

It’s unclear the last time Simpson, 74, hosted a public town hall. He’s serving his 14th term dating to 1999 representing Idaho’s congressional district that includes Eastern and Central Idaho, and part of Boise. The Idaho Democratic Party said it’s been since 2011 — when Simpson was in his seventh term — that he’s held even a telephone-based Q&A event so constituents can call in to ask questions.

None of the congressional offices for Simpson, Fulcher, Risch and Crapo returned repeat requests from the Statesman last week for information about their histories of public appearances around the state, or when they may schedule future town hall-style events. Risch hasn’t responded to requests for comment from the Statesman in a year and a half — not since before a September 2023 report that he pushed to divert airplanes over his Southwest Boise home near the airport because of noise.

Risch’s current term is up in 2026. He hasn’t formally announced if he will seek reelection, but told attendees at January’s Idaho GOP winter meeting, also at The Riverside Hotel, that he planned to run, according to Brian Almon, an Idaho Republican Party district chair and author of right-leaning blog the Gem State Chronicle.

To his credit, Smith said, Crapo participated in a debate with his two opponents during the 2022 general election, the last time he ran for reelection. Fulcher and Simpson both declined to do so in the 2022 and 2024 elections.

Smith unsuccessfully challenged Simpson for his congressional seat in the Republican primaries in 2014 and again in 2022. He remains frustrated that Simpson would not submit to a public debate against him in that most recent race, Smith said.

“Your constituents deserve to hear from you. It’s not all about your opponent; it’s about your relationship with constituents,” he said. “If they would have elected me over Mike Simpson, you’d be getting lots of town halls.”

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