Protestors gather in 6 counties Monday to demand Meuser hold a town hall

The 64th edition of Mondays with Meuser in Lebanon County marked the first time that simultaneous protests were held in six of the 12 counties within U.S. Congressman Dan Meuser’s 9th district, organizers said Monday.

Meuser represents all of Lebanon, Bradford, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming counties, as well as portions of Berks, Luzerne, and Lycoming counties.

ICE OUT UPPER BERN, a non-partisan citizens’ group in Berks County, organized the coordinated multi-county protest. About 60 people gathered Monday in Hamburg for a protest, according to a report by the Reading Eagle.

The protest series, originally known as “Mondays with Meuser” when it began in March 2025, has since been rebranded as “Mondays without Meuser.”

“From the fields of Lebanon County in the south to Susquehanna County on the PA/NY border, hundreds of Meuser’s constituents will air their hopes and grievances through signs, chants, and speeches in public spaces and outside Meuser’s district offices,” said Upper Bern coordinator Debra Miller Schnell, who also said protestors at the six sites numbered in the hundreds. “Some protests will take place in public parks or other public areas for higher visibility but the intent is the same: to protest his lack of representation, his failure to meet with and meet the needs of his constituency.” 

Nearly 100 individuals gathered on the steps of the Lebanon County Courthouse Monday to protest the lack of a town hall-style meeting by Meuser with his constituents, according to event co-organizer Michael Schroeder.

“We began our weekly peaceable assemblies by insisting that Rep. Meuser hold a public town hall-style meeting with his constituents,” said Schroeder. “That’s an essential part of the job of any elected public official: To meet with your constituents and listen to their concerns.”

As time has passed with no public forum for voters, the reasons for protesting have grown, said Schroeder.

“After a few months, our demands expanded to include an even more essential job requirement: that he adhere to his oath of office to support and defend the Constitution, something he has manifestly failed to do,” Schroeder said. 

Schroeder said Meuser, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations of the Financial Services Committee, should be conducting hearings and investigations into the actions of the Trump administration.

Like past protests, this one included protest songs, including one penned Sunday by Lee Smedley of Annville as a variation of the old Irish standard “Danny Boy.” Other songs included a take on Country Joe & the Fish’s Vietnam protest song “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag” with the lyrics to that ’60s protest song rewritten to oppose the war in Iran.

An additional parody saw Pat Steely of Palmyra present to a life-sized cardboard cutout of Meuser the first-ever “Golden Bootlicker” award, for what she called “extraordinary achievements in putting ambition above dignity.”

About a half-dozen or so speakers addressed attendees during the event.

Tom Maiello of Myerstown read the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s song “Blowin’ in the Wind” and then added a verse of his own. 

“How many times do we have to suffer and bleed for democracy, for human rights, and to treat people with dignity? You know, there are things in life you have to earn, like respect, but even a little baby is born with dignity. A human being regardless of how much money you make, you come into the world naked and you have dignity,” Maiello said. “So everyone here, you have dignity and the people we’re fighting for also have dignity.”

Instead of answers “blowin’ in the wind,” Maiello said they can be found within.  

Two speakers, Dr. Tom Overholt of Cornwall and Ryan Fretz of Mount Gretna, told attendees to support and campaign for Rachel Wallace, Meuser’s Democratic challenger in November.

“I encourage everybody in this election season. We’ve got to find Democrats who didn’t vote. We’ve got to find independents, and you’ve got to persuade them. And I found that you don’t have to be anti-Trump, you just have to be pro-Rachel,” Overholt said. “You just have to be pro-Rachel and explain that Dan isn’t representing us.” 

Fretz encouraged attendees to write letters or call Meuser letting him know their thoughts. “Most importantly, come November, let’s let him know how we feel and raise your voice,” he said.