What to Do When Your Congressperson Doesn’t Listen
Here's my advice
It is not an unusual occurrence these days.
The president is galloping toward anti-democratic, anti-American, authoritarian fascism, embracing and launching one policy after another that seems aimed clearly at breaking America. The majority (Republican) party in Congress couldn’t care less. They enable him every step of the way. His cabinet is filled with sycophants who know next to nothing about what their jobs even are, much less how to actually do those jobs.
You wrote your US House member or US Senator and asked them to act to stop this destruction, to stand up to the president, to preserve America and save democracy.
The reply you receive - if you receive any response at all - is nonsense. It is either non-responsive to the issues you wrote about, or it is filled with falsehoods, simply made up. Repeats of the lies constantly told by the president.
Sound familiar? For many Iowans, the answer is a very loud “YES.”
On February 9, 2025, I published a column on how to make sure your voice is heard by your elected representatives in Washington, DC. It received wide circulation, and contained advice gleaned from decades of working in Congress in senior roles in both the House and Senate.
Since then, a number of Iowans have written letters to members of Iowa’s congressional delegation, and shared with me the letters they received in reply.
Many of the letters they received make clear that Iowans in Congress are far more interested in lip-syncing the president’s anti-democracy, destructive policies than they are in listening to any one.
So, what do you do when your US Representative or US Senators don’t - or more to the point, won’t - listen?
You turn up the volume and keep pushing, that’s what you do.
Here’s my advice:
Remember, they work for you. It is their job to hear you and to reply to you, honestly.
Keep pushing for an actual reply, and an honest response. I’ve seen some letters that come back from members of Iowa’s delegation that are not only non-responsive to the points raised, but also contain boilerplate that looks like it could be an actual reply, but often turns out to be an irrelevant filibuster. Or worse yet, they are packed with made up nonsense. Flat out lies, easily documented as such.
Send their nonsense letter back, marked up like your old high school English teacher used to take a red pen and mark up your essay on “What I Did Last Summer.”
Include a new letter that points out how their first letter did not respond to the questions or points you raised, or simply contained errors of fact. (Yes, put it nicely. No one ever won an argument with anybody by helpfully and loudly pointing out that the other party is a “gd liar.” Document your corrections of errors of facts. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of documentation out there.
If that doesn’t fix things, call, write or visit their office in Iowa or in Washington, DC. Ask to speak with the Office Director, Chief of Staff or the Legislative Aide who works with the elected official on the issue about which you are communicating. Tell them their letter did not respond to the points you raised, and didn’t answer the questions you asked.
Tell them you want to give the office - or the office holder - the opportunity to try again. (See how we’re keeping it all friendly and respectful?) But, again, always remember, they work for you. You are their constituent. It may not be their job to agree with you on everything (and it isn’t) but it is their job to at least listen to you and hear you, whether that is through your letter, your phone call, or personal conversation, and to honestly reply to you. That. Is. Their. Job.
Don’t let them blow you off. You have a right to speak and a right to be heard by your congressional representatives. Granted, a delegation that works as hard as this one has to hide from their constituents is obviously not going to be chomping at the bit to meet with or hear from anyone who is not already 100% pre-certified as a political ally. Sorry, but that’s not your problem. They ran for the job. They won it. They have it. They cash the pay checks. Hearing the opinions of people who have different views than they have on public issues is part of that job.
Keep writing. Keep calling. Keep trying to speak directly to your elected official. Remember, part of the MAGA/Republican strategy is to “flood the zone” with so many outrages that no one can possibly keep up with or respond to them all. Normally, my advice would be to be to avoid becoming what congressional offices call “pen pals,” folks who send way too many letters or emails, way too often. When responding to a “flood the zone” strategy, however, I wouldn’t worry about writing or calling too often. Write or call as often as you need to do so. They keep a count of incoming mail and phone calls and you want to make sure the tally against outrages keeps up with the volume of outrages.
Remember: They want you to give up - fed up, frustrated and exhausted. Don’t do it.
See my February 9 column for a review of previous advice on how to make sure you get heard by your elected representatives in Congress. There are lots of good tips in there.
A couple of final points:
Keep your cool. Remain respectful and polite. No matter how angry the outrages make you, how disgusted you are with the unwillingness of your MAGA/Republican congressional representatives to do their actual jobs and stand up for democracy, remember, you need to remain respectful and polite.
If you are treated rudely or disrespectfully, document what happened to you immediately and share that information on social media and with news reporters. Also, report such treatment, directly, to Chief of Staff in that office, and to the office holder.
In the event your representative or Senator does hold a Town Meeting, attend it. Take friends with you. Speak up, boldly and directly. Your public office holders work for you. You may need to remind them of that fact these days.
WEEKLY OVERDUE FARM BILL TICKER - 589 DAYS: The number of days that have passed since the 2018 Farm Bill expired on September 30, 2023, without Congress passing a new one. (Total days as of Sunday, 05/11/2025).
Two thirds of Iowa’s congressional delegation serves on the U.S. House and Senate Agriculture Committees: Grassley (R-IA) and Ernst (R-IA) in the Senate; Nunn (R-3rd IA) and Feenstra (R-4th IA) in the House.
There is little indication Congress will act any time soon to pass a new Farm Bill, or if it does - given the Trump wrecking ball and the eagerness of Republicans in Congress to appease him - that it will be helpful to farmers.
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Good article, I wonder if the people who elected these people see where we are headed or care?
Thanks, Barry, for the good advice and encouragement. It's appreciated.