Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser met with local protesters before defending President Trump’s economic agenda during a luncheon with the Lebanon County business community.

The representative of Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District met with the “Mondays with Meuser” organizers Thursday morning. Organizers have been calling for Meuser meet in person with his constituents in Lebanon County in a town hall and address their concerns with the Trump administration.

Meuser said that he met with protesters for more than an hour and a half Thursday morning and stressed that he appreciated meeting with “very good people” and listening to their concerns.

“It was quite civil,” the congressman said about the meeting. “They offered questions and had comments that were important to them, and frankly important to me.”

Since March 24, local protesters have been lining the steps of the Lebanon County Municipal Building every Monday with signs saying “Where’s Dan?” and asking for Meuser to speak with his constituents. These protests, which organizers have called called “Mondays with Meuser,” have residents expressing concerns about President Donald Trump’s administration, actions taken by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and an inability to get in touch directly with Meuser to express their concerns.

South Annville Township resident and co-protest organizer Michael Schroeder told the Lebanon Daily News Thursday that protesters’ sit down with Meuser was a “constructive and productive meeting.” The discussions ranged from issues of public health, the Trump so-called “big beautiful bill” and actions made by the Trump administration over the last few months.

Schroeder said that organizers expressed concerns about Meuser’s enabling of “the rise of an authoritarian, neo-fascist regime in the United States” with regards to the Trump administration.

“He took it in; he listened,” Schroeder said. “I don’t think he agreed that that’s what his actions amount to, but that’s the whole point. For his constituents to express their views whether he agrees or not.”

Meuser also apologized to protesters for comments made by his staff saying that the Lebanon protesters were being paid by George Soros, according to Schroeder. Meuser’s staff originally told the Lebanon Daily News in March that the Mondays with Meuser protesters were “another example of a national, left-wing organization attempting to spread falsehoods and create disruption rather than engage in constructive dialogue.”

“So we were grateful that he agreed to apologize to us for that,” Schroeder said. “We went around the table and each of us expressed a different set of concerns. I thought it was a productive and constructive meeting.”

According to Meuser, at the end of the meeting one of the the protesters remarked that Republicans, Trump and the congressman were “Nazis.”

“I didn’t appreciate that, because a Nazi is an animal of a human, murderers and the worst types of people,” Meuser said. “That sort of language is hateful, and hatefulness can lead to violence.”

Despite both sides expressing a mostly positive meeting, Meuser said that he has not changed his mind about holding a broader public townhall despite acknowledging he has not hosted one “in a while.”

“People can get emotional, they can get vociferous, they can get pumped up, they can even raise their voices,” he said. “But to make very hateful commentary because it makes them feel good, which by the way is wildly absurd and false, we’re not going to set things up so that show can just take place.”

While appreciating meeting with Meuser and hoping to continue a dialogue, Schroeder said protesters will still be in front of the courthouse Monday, June 2 raising their voices in concern.

“We told him that we would continue to hold our Mondays with Meuser protests in Lebanon until he does hold a public town hall style meeting,” he said. “But our main ask is that he adhere to his oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States from the illegal and unconstitutional actions of the Trump administration.”

Meuser then spoke before the Lebanon County Chamber of Commerce Thursday afternoon, defending the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act by the U.S. House of Representatives May 22 and calling it “a step forward.”

“It’s not the end, it’s the beginning,” he said. “It’s one bill, there’s a lot in it and there’s a lot more to do.”

Meuser said the biggest problem the United States is facing currently is the debt, with deficits of $1.8 trillion a year. Meuser added that the country needs to focus on “must haves verses what it would be nice to have,” and there would have to be some “tightening of the belts” along the way.

“We’re going to be paying service on the debt $900 billion, if not a trillion dollars, this year,” he said. “Just service on the debt, out of now we’re spending $7 trillion a year where we were at $4.6 trillion five years ago. Fortunately revenues have gone up really well, almost 40%, but not as much as spending has gone up.”

The bill proposes nearly $700 billion in reduced spending in Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A preliminary estimate from the CBO said the changes would cause more than 7.6 million Americans to lose their health insurance over the next 10 years. More than 3.1 million Pennsylvanians are covered by Medicaid, according to KFF.

Meuser said government officials feel that the Medicaid program has not been audited in a long time, with some people who are on the rolls that are not eligible. While he said some of those are “illegals,” Meuser said they are not the whole problem.

Meuser added that the expense of Medicaid over the last five years has jumped from $600 billion a year to $940 billion a year, which is over a 50% increase.

“There are many audits that think that is not what’s needed, that there are those that are receiving it that are simply ineligible,” he said, adding that it’s over 50% increase in the last five years.

The bill would also implement work requirements for adults enrolled in Medicaid expansion for those between 18 and 60 years old of 20 hours a week.

“There’s no other cuts to disabled communities, there’s no cuts to social workers and there shouldn’t be any other cuts to hospitals, particularly if savings are realized,” Meuser said. “It should strengthen the plan for those who need it, and all the while root out potentiality of waste, abuse and fraud.”

The Trump administration originally vowed to eliminate taxes on Social Security income. However, the bill adds $4,000 to the standard deduction for seniors 65 and over for their Social Security payments.

“If someone receives $3,000 a month … they deduct that $4,000, the tax rate is 20%, they save $800,” Meuser said.

If passed, the bill would implement new requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The plan implements new work requirements for people ages 55 to 64, requires states to provide more funding for the program and limits SNAP eligibility to citizens and lawful permanent residents.

“(SNAP) went up during COVID, which made some sense, but it’s still $40 billion higher than it was five years ago,” he said. “So all we’re saying is that we need a higher level of audit, eligibility requirements need to be enforced and work requirements.”

The bill includes a change to the Pell Grant program, which provides federal aid to low-income college students. Students qualify for the maximum amount of aid if they take 12 credits a semester. The bill would change that to 15 credits a semester.

John Sygielski, president and CEO of Harrisburg Area Community College, told Meuser during the event that community college students take an average of 7.9 credits per hour.

“I would just ask that when you and your colleagues are conversing, that you think about community colleges,” Sygielski said. “We’re very different than the four-year institutions, but Pell is such an important part of our world. Fifty-two percent of our student body gets some form of Pell.”

The amount of the full child tax credit would increase to $2,500 per child through 2028, then would drop to $2,000 after that. The tax credit is currently $2,000, but will go back to $1,000 at the end of this year if not extended.

The cost of child care in Lebanon County is about $11,000 per child per year, according to Karen Groh, president and CEO of the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce. The average child care worker in Lebanon County makes about $12.50 an hour.

Meuser said he was looking to have a meeting on child care costs with the Schuylkill County Chamber of Commerce and other officials in the future, and invited the Lebanon County Chamber of Commerce to join in those discussions.

When asked by the media if he’s considering a run for Pennsylvania governor in 2026, Meuser said that he had a private conversation about a potential run with Trump in the last couple of weeks. But in the end, Meuser said it has to be his decision he makes with his family, and he changes his mind day by day.

“I meant no disrespect to (Gov.) Josh Shapiro, though he tends to disrespect me lately, but it’s really about a plan for Pennsylvania,” he said. “I think Gov. Shapiro has a plan for Pennsylvania Avevue, not for Pennsylvania.”

Meuser said he would make a decision by the end of June or July.