Telephone town halls: Why Utah's members of Congress may call you this summer

Every August, Congress recesses and lawmakers head back to their districts. The break has traditionally been a time for town halls, where members gather with constituents to meet face-to-face and answer questions.

But this summer, most of Utah’s federal lawmakers have scheduled no in-person town halls. Instead, members of Congress are increasingly opting for telephone town halls, which allow them to reach wider groups of constituents — but also screen questions and avoid raucous crowds.

As of Thursday afternoon, among Utah’s all-GOP congressional delegation, 3rd District Rep. Mike Kennedy was the only member of Utah’s congressional delegation to host in-person town halls during the recess, having held three between July 29 and 31 in Dutch John, Vernal and Roosevelt. The rest of Utah’s