Hundreds gather at Greensboro town hall for Sen. Thom Tillis despite his absence

Hundreds of people recently packed a Greensboro church to share their concerns about the direction of the country.

The town hall was intended to send a message to U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who was invited but was not in attendance. About a dozen speakers touched on topics ranging from threats to social security and Medicaid to the impacts of the Department of Government Efficiency's cuts to federal funding.

Local educator Erin Wenger, who was one of the speakers, said she's part of a group that's focused on improving best practices for childhood learning. But that work stopped after the Department of Education was gutted.

"My colleagues lost their jobs," Wenger said. "We lost our collaborative cohort, and children in our state have lost out on an opportunity to have their best education experiences."

Town halls across the country filled with people expressing their discontent with the Trump administration have made headlines in recent weeks. It's led to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson encouraging his colleagues to skip them.

Senator Tillis' office did not respond to WFDD's request for comment.