Read Here: Congress is off for August. Will Iowa Rep. Miller-Meeks host an in-person town hall as pledged?

Miller-Meeks’ office did not respond to emailed questions and messages sent this week by The Gazette seeking comment.

In the past week, Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks has attended a Lee County GOP reception, answered questions from county fairgoers in Maquoketa, Indianola, Iowa City and Columbus Junction, and spoken at a potluck supper and meeting of the Jasper County Republican Party Central Committee in Newton.

Absent from the list is a public town hall.

In April, during a private event in Bettendorf, the Congresswoman said: “Just like I’ve done every single year, we’ll do in-person town halls.” She reiterated that commitment a week later.

“In the future, we’ll have more telephone town halls, but also be doing town halls within the district,” Miller-Meeks said during an April 29 tele-town hall that her office said drew more than 6,300 callers. “I look forward to seeing you in the district.”

Miller-Meeks’ also hosted a tele-town hall in February, where her staff said 12,000 people joined.

With lawmakers back in their district for their monthlong August recess, the question remains when, and if, the former ophthalmologist and 24-year Army veteran will use that time to honor her pledge to hold a public in-person town hall.

Protests across Iowa’s 1st Congressional District have called on her to do so, with Democrat-aligned groups claiming she’s not accessible and responsive to constituents’ concerns.

Miller-Meeks’ office did not respond to emailed questions and messages sent this week by The Gazette seeking comment on a public town hall.

Congress has adjourned for the month and is on a six-week recess, traditionally a time for lawmakers to return to their districts and engage with constituents.

Miller-Meeks attended a Republican Party of Iowa fundraiser in Clear Lake, stopped at the Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport, toured electrical component supplier Interpower in Oskaloosa and attended a media event at the Jasper County Courthouse for the announcement of a public-private partnership between Jasper County and Iowa Interstate Railroad for a 367-acre industrial park, according to posts to her social media accounts after the fact. She also participated in a webinar exploring how AI-powered mining and new technology could help secure a U.S. edge in the global critical minerals supply chain.

It does not appear she held events open to all constituents, and offered little, if any, public notice of her appearances. It’s unclear whether she has any public events planned for the remainder of the summer break.

As with a two-week Easter recess, Miller-Meeks and other House Republicans in the nation’s most competitive districts have continued to limit their exposure, this time to potential backlash to spending cuts to programs like Medicaid and food assistance to offset the cost of tax breaks contained in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by the Republican-led Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump, as well as Trump’s refusal to release federal files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Epstein case has rattled congressional Republicans and the White House, forcing Trump to defend uncomfortable connections to Epstein. House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled votes and sent members home a day early for its summer recess to avoid having to hold votes on releasing files related to Epstein.

Town halls hosted earlier this year by other members of Iowa’s all-Republican congressional delegation have turned raucous and confrontational, and led to viral moments that Democrats have been able to use in attack ads.

Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst received national backlash over a controversial comment during a town hall meeting in May about proposed changes to Medicaid included in Republicans’ recently passed sweeping tax and spending bill.

Ernst — who voted for the bill — responded, “Well, we all are going to die,” after an audience member expressed concern over potential loss of coverage. Ernst quickly followed up saying Medicaid spending will focus on the most vulnerable who meet the program’s eligibility requirements.

The remark grabbed national headlines. Ernst attempted to address the situation with a follow-up video filmed at a cemetery, where she sarcastically “apologized” and downplayed her previous comment.

Fellow Iowa GOP U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley faced pointed questions about tariffs and deportations during an April town hall, and was heckled and jeered by an agitated crowd weeks prior.

Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Marion, was met with a mix of boos and applause during a town hall meeting in Elkader, and was booed, heckled and shouted at as she defended Trump’s agenda during an April town hall in Mason City.

The chair of the House GOP’s campaign arm earlier this year encouraged lawmakers to meet with their constituents in public, but to be wary of in-person town halls that could divert attention from a House member’s message and agenda amid a wave of angry backlash over funding cuts and mass firings of federal employees undertaken by Trump’s administration, the Associated Press reported.

Johnson, the Republican House Speaker, also urged lawmakers to consider convening dial-in conferences where thousands can listen and lawmakers take questions.

Politico on Friday morning reported National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson recently started pressing members to reinstate their face-to-face gatherings with constituents over August to aggressively sell the big domestic policy law Trump signed last month.

Miller-Meeks has survived two close elections and national Democrats have once again targeted Iowa’s 1st Congressional District as a potential pickup in the 2026 midterm elections. She won re-election last fall by 799 votes, the closest U.S. House race won by a Republican incumbent in the country last year.

The 20-county district includes the cities of Davenport, Iowa City, Burlington and Indianola.

The Cook Political Report, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections all categorize the 1st District race as a “toss-up.”

She earned a first term in Congress when she defeated Democrat Rita Hart by just six votes in 2020.

Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor and former state representative, is seeking to challenge Miller-Meeks for a third time.

Muscatine attorney Taylor Wettach, University of Iowa Health Care employee Travis Terrell, and former state lawmaker and veterans advocate Bob Krause of Burlington also are running for the seat as Democrats.

Miller-Meeks also once again faces a challenge from her right from David Pautsch, a Davenport Republican and founder of the Annual Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast. Pautsch took 44 percent of the vote in the 2024 Iowa GOP primary.