Rep. Steve Chabot didn't see many fellow Republicans when he looked out at the 30 people in the council chambers of Lincoln Heights on Thursday night.

In this suburban Cincinnati village of 3,200 - where 85 percent of the population is African-American - residents did not hide their contempt for Chabot's party and President Donald Trump.

"I was wondering why is it taking so long to impeach the most-lying president in history?" asked Francine Hill, a 90-year-old resident of Lincoln Heights, seated in the second row.

It's gotten much harder these days to air such grievances face-to-face with your member of Congress.

Once a staple of congressional recesses, lawmakers have increasingly opted for town halls over the phone, the Internet or not at all. During the August recess in 2018, in-person congressional town halls decreased by 70 percent from the previous year, Politico reported.

Chabot, a Republican fromCincinnati's Westwood neighborhood,this month has made his first stab at in-person public meetings in about five years. Last year, Chabot's hiatus from in-person town halls provided fodder for his Democratic opponent, Aftab Pureval.

Chabot held five town halls this month through his Southwest Ohio congressional district, which spans old city neighborhoods, fast-growing suburbs, and rural areas. It was targeted heavily by the Democrats in 2018 and is likely going to be targeted again in 2020.

He heard from many dissatisfied with President Donald Trump, the Republican tax plan and health care. None of Chabot's town halls sparked the fiery outrage that beset Republican lawmakers right after Trump's inauguration. But some voices were raised in agitation at times.

The criticism didn’t rattle the veteran lawmaker. Back to that question in Lincoln Heights. Why hasn’t he impeached Trump?

Chabot said he hasn’t seen any evidence Trump has committed a crime. That drew some incredulous murmurs from the audience in Lincoln Heights.

It was a tentative first few steps back into the public meeting realm for Chabot. He did four town halls on Thursday and Friday in rural, suburban and urban areas.

The town halls weren't widely advertised until this past Wednesday, giving most people one to two days notice. Some were in the afternoon when most people would be working. His office said they did robocalls earlier to people in the area of each town hall.

About 25 to 50 people showed up at each meeting. And they asked some tough questions of Chabot.

Tax law targeted at town halls

"That new tax law is a bunch of crap," Carolyn Smith told Chabot in the Lincoln Heights meeting.

Many questioned fired at Chabot centered on the Republican tax plan signed by Trump in December 2017.

Smith, a lifelong Lincoln Heights resident told Chabot she believes the Republican tax plan only helps the rich. She doesn't believe the government is taking less out of paychecks in taxes as Republicans claim.

Chabot seemed surprised.

"You don't believe that's accurate?" Chabot said. "The information I have, most people are getting a tax break."

More:Some Americans face a costly surprise this tax season: tiny refunds or bigger bills

It turns out everyone is right -- or wrong if you want to look at it that way, according to political fact-checkers, such as PolitiFact and the Washington Post. Initially, 80 percent of taxpayers get a tax cut under the Republican plan, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center reported.

But in 2027, many of the middle-class tax cuts expire. If Congress doesn't renew these tax cuts, 83 percent of the tax benefits of the plan go to the top 1 percent of earners.

The Republican tax plan led to some testy exchanges with Chabot on Friday in the auditorium of Sayler Park School along the Ohio River.

Rupa Townsend stood up from her seat and brandished an article on General Motors' decision to shut down production at the Lordstown, Ohio, plant, cutting more than 1,500 jobs. The tax cuts didn't save those jobs as Trump promised, said Townsend, of Green Township.

"Why is this falsehood still being told to people?" Townsend asked Chabot.

Chabot, holding his microphone at his side, listened a few feet away as Townsend made her impassioned point about the damage done by the tax law he supported.

The closing of the GM plant has more to do with the auto industry rather than the tax cuts, Chabot told Townsend.

"I'm telling you, that most people got their taxes lowered, not everybody," Chabot said. "And if I had to vote for it again, I absolutely would."

That sparked some applause among the 50 people in Sayler Park School's auditorium.

Health Care draws heat

Chabot also drew some heat from the Republicans' opposition to universal health care.

Pacing back and forth, Naomi Liebson read Chabot the riot act on the United States health care system compared to the rest of the world.

"Obamacare wasn’t enough," Liebson said. "The crap Trump put through isn’t enough. The only way forward is to bring in full comprehensive universal healthcare like everybody else has. Why can’t we have nice things like everybody else?”

Chabot, in a rare move for a Republican, appeared to urge Liebson to vote Democratic.

"That’s an issue some candidates will be for," Chabot said. "If you feel strongly about that, I would urge you to, you know, determine who they are and support them."

Chabot then recited a conservative axiom, "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until it's free."

That drew jeers from the crowd.

"You're ridiculous," Liebson told Chabot before sitting down.

In rural areas, immigration a top concern

In the district's rural areas, Chabot found the crowd more sympathetic.

When Chabot went to the farmlands of Crosby Township Friday afternoon, he heard a lot about concerns surrounding the shuttered Fernald uranium processing facility that's now a nature preserve. Someworried about the lingering health effects, others about the lack of tax money generated by the Superfund-site-turned-nature preserve.

Immigration concerns also ran the highest here, with some attendees urging Chabot to get behind President Trump's plan to build a border wall.

Chabot supports building a wall, but doesn't think it needs to span the whole border with Mexico.

Robert Tabor, of Harrison Township, raised his hand. His shirt pocket brimmed with notes, pens and contact information for Chabot's office.

Congress needs to invest more in border patrol agents and Immigration and Customs Services rather than a wall, Tabor said.

“If you’ve read the Bible, walls don’t keep people out, people keep people out,” Tabor said.

More to come

Chabot plans to hold town halls throughout the year. He hopes to have the next round during his next break in the third week of March.

Chabot told The Enquirer he was pleased with the results of the town halls.

"Everybody's been respectful," Chabot said. "We may not agree with everything, and that's fine."

Who is Steve Chabot?

Age: 66

Party: Republican

Hometown: Westwood neighborhood of Cincinnati

Represents: Ohio's 1st Congressional District

In office: 1995-2009; 2011-present.

Committee positions: Ranking Republican on the House Small Business Committee; member of the Judiciary Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee.