U.S. support for Israel and policies of former President Donald Trump dominated discussion at Sen. Ron Wyden’s Benton County town hall Monday in Philomath.
Wyden spoke before a nearly full auditorium at Philomath High School, marking the 1,133rd town hall of his Senate career.
The most contentious topic was Wyden’s stance on support for Israel. Several audience members referenced Wyden’s recent vote against a Senate bill that sought to block U.S. weapons sales to Israel.
Gallery: Ron Wyden Town Hall (Aug. 20, 2025)
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden holds his annual Benton County Town Hall event at Philomath High School on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.
When asked why he voted no, Wyden said “because I believe that there is a right for Israel to defend itself,” a response met with some boos and a shout of “it’s not defense!” from an audience member.
Both Wyden (D-Oregon) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) signed a letter this week calling for an investigation into reports of Israeli settlers blocking humanitarian aid convoys from reaching Gaza, and of attacks by settlers on Palestinian Americans in the West Bank. At the meeting, Wyden said he intends to introduce legislation to impose penalties on anyone who interferes with the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Wyden called recent events in Gaza ‘horrifying’ and blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to act.
“Benjamin Netanyahu has been much more interested in his preservation than the preservation of the Israeli nation, and I think that’s a big part of the problem,” Wyden said.
Several audience members felt this reaction was not strong enough and the mood in the auditorium became tense at times.
“They can keep the bombs that we’ve already sent them, keep them for when they’re being harassed by, say, Iran,” one audience member told Wyden. “But not for the kids in Gaza.”
Several in the audience asked for Wyden’s response to policy changes made by the Trump administration.
Wyden said Trump’s takeover of Washington D.C.’s police force was an “authoritarian use of power with absolutely no legal foundation” and expressed concern that it could occur in other cities.
“I think this is wrong, I think this is unconstitutional and when Congress comes back there will be a group of us who will legally try to put some restrictions on what Donald Trump can do,” he said.
Additionally, Wyden said he wanted to fight against job cuts at federal agencies and was opposed to cuts to housing and food aid. Key to this, he said, was closing loopholes in taxes that fund programs such as Social Security.
“Billionaires have to pay their fair share, we don’t cut hunger and housing by giving them a free ride,” Wyden said, summing up his priorities for tax legislation.
This fall, Wyden said plans to look for ways to overturn Citizens United, a statement met with loud applause from the audience. Wyden called the 2010 ruling, which removed limits on political campaign spending by corporations, “arguably the most horrible Supreme Court decision.”
The senator also discussed an ongoing financial investigation by his staff into Jeffrey Epstein.
In a July 31 letter to then-Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Billy Long, Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Finance, said that Epstein had received hundreds of millions of dollars for tax consulting, despite not having any apparent experience in accounting. Wyden added that none of these transactions were ever investigated or audited by the IRS, and that the money had been used to fund Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
At the meeting, Wyden said he wanted information on the financing of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation to be released to the public and that he wanted reforms on banking regulations to ensure suspicious transactions are reported.
“If you follow the money, you’ve got a chance to catch these people,” Wyden said.
One attendee asked Wyden to not run for re-election in 2028 and to spend the remainder of his term finding a younger successor for his Senate seat.
Wyden, 76, was first elected to the Senate in 1996, and before that had been a member of the House of Representatives since 1981, according to his website. Wyden has already filed his candidacy for the 2028 election and said he did not want to discuss elections at town hall meetings.
“My view is … the best politics is to get results, and the kinds of things I’m trying to do are on the cutting edge,” Wyden said.
Also attending were Philomath Mayor Christopher McMorran, who opened the meeting, and Benton County Commissioner Nancy Wyse, who introduced Wyden, along with other local officials.
At the beginning of the meeting, McMorran noted that Wyden, Merkley and Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Oregon), the three members of Philomath’s congressional delegation, had all taken part in a town hall meeting in Philomath this year.
“I think that’s amazing, I think it is something that everyone in the United States should have the opportunity to do,” McMorran said.