Pa. Congressman Dan Meuser signals possible governor bid during Philly visit, as Democrats voice frustration over federal cuts

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Republican Representative Dan Meuser visited Germantown Wednesday night, joining local business and community leaders at a mostly Republican town hall-style community event. He fielded a handful of questions, defended Republicans in Washington and said there is a “very good chance” he will run for governor in the next election.

“There’s a lot more that can be done in that governor’s office unfortunately than I can do… in the U.S. House,” he said.

Meuser has suggested he may run for the state’s highest office before which may help explain why he was visiting Philadelphia, a city well outside his current district. Pennsylvania’s ninth congressional district is situated between Harrisburg and Allentown, encompassing Bradford, Columbia, Lebanon, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties, as well as parts of Berks, Luzerne and Lycoming counties.

Newly elected state Rep. Andre Carroll took issue with Meuser appearing in his district, saying he only found out about the event hours before. However, he attended, noting that it was a “community event” and “when there’s a community event in my district, I show up.”

He pointed out that Meuser wasn’t holding a town hall in his own district.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to hear from people who can vote against him or for him,” Carroll told WHYY News. “He doesn’t want to hear their frustration with the cuts that they’re making in Washington. So he would rather come to a Black and brown community of folks he doesn’t represent and people who he doesn’t know and that don’t know him, that won’t press him too much on the issues.”

Republicans around the country have been facing angry audiences at their town halls, which Meuser cited in a recent interview.

“We don’t want our town halls being taken hostage and run by those who come in from other parts of the district or other parts of the state and just turning it into a scene of havoc,” Meuser said.

Calvin Tucker, who led the program, billed Meuser’s visit as an effort to show “appreciation” to Black Philadelphia voters who shifted in support for Trump. Tucker served in senior roles in the state and city Republican parties and worked on Trump’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns, but said he hoped the event would offer opportunities for bipartisanship resolutions to local problems.

“These are the kind of dialogues that are very important in our community, so that we can build a stronger community by bringing all parties together that they begin to have that dialogue,” he said. “We may agree on some, we may disagree on some, but it is a negotiation. I know what your issues are, what my issues are, but how do we solve that legislatively. I think that’s what this meeting is all about.”

‘I don’t think anyone in this neighborhood appreciates it’

Shortly before the event, Carroll joined state Sens. Art Haywood, Vincent Hughes and Sharif Street in a sidewalk press conference, where they railed against Republican support for the White House’s wide-ranging cuts to federal programs, including education and policies regarding diversity, equity and inclusion.

In his speech, Haywood played with the concept that Meuser was attending an “appreciation event” to make his point.

“I don’t appreciate folks taking our Social Security,” he said. “I don’t appreciate folks taking our health care, our Medicaid. I don’t appreciate that. I don’t think anyone in this neighborhood appreciates it.”

Shortly before the event was scheduled to start, Meuser appeared at the venue where the Democrats took the opportunity to challenge him on those very issues, leading to a polite exchange.

Meuser told them that he wasn’t opposed to DEI, but said that it had “gone too far.”

“They’re filling people in some seats and that’s coming first, not like it’s an ‘also,’” he said. “That’s the view now. It’s going to be reviewed and looked at … It’s way too much of a talking point and it should be done in a reasonable way.”

Carroll told Meuser that half of his 66,000 constituents receive some federal assistance.

“When you’re voting on health care, you’re voting on Medicaid and Medicare,” he said. “You cannot overreach and some of those cuts are going a little too far.”

Meuser, who filed a bill that targets overpayments made to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security recipients, said that there is “no plan” to cut people off from federally subsidized health care.

“I’m not going to vote for any cuts of benefits to those who are eligible, currently eligible for Medicaid or some of the other assistant programs,” he said. “So the whole focus is on if there’s waste, abuse and ineligible individuals receiving it. That’s entirely the plan. Nothing more.”

Republicans have proposed a budget that aims to cut $880 billion from national spending and, while the proposal does not specify cuts in Medicare or Medicaid, many experts on health care policy argue that it could be impossible to make the cuts without impacting those programs.

Meuser: Trump loyalist

Meuser previously served as the state’s Secretary of Revenue from 2011 to 2015 under Governor Tom Corbett. Before entering public service, he ran Pride Mobility Products, a manufacturer of motorized wheelchairs. ​

In 2008, Meuser unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. ​He finally won election to Congress in 2018 and currently serves on the House Financial Services Committee, where he is chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and on the House Small Business Committee. ​

Meuser has proven to be one of Donald Trump‘s strongest allies in the commonwealth. He voted against certifying Pennsylvania’s electors in the 2020 election that Joe Biden won. In June 2023, he publicly endorsed Trump and joined the campaign’s Pennsylvania leadership team. He appeared alongside the candidate at rallies during the 2024 presidential campaign, and was present at the July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when an assassination attempt was made on the Republican presidential nominee.

In November, Meuser won his fourth term with 70% of the vote in his district, which Trump won with around 68% of the vote in both 2016 and 2024. Meuser has been an unwavering Trump ally, backing the president’s reelection efforts and supporting the administration’s policies, including the mass cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency which has been dismantling the federal government agency by agency. He serves on the DOGE Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives.