KEARNEY, Neb - Senator Pete Ricketts has completed his first in a series of public town hall meetings, with the first one taking place in Kearney.

Nebraskans from across the state came to visit the Senator and hear an update about Washington, and also ask him questions about some of the country's most pressing issues.

Ricketts says that much has already been accomplished during this administration and more is on the way.

Ricketts highlighted how he supports the Trump administration's stance on having a strong illegal immigration policy along with cutting federal spending.

He said the most pressing issues for America right now is domestic debt and China.

The approximately 150 people in the audience met the senator's comments with a wide range of emotions.

The crowd was anxiously waiting their turn to speak and ask questions, even yelling at the senator that his 30 minute introduction period had gone over time.

One audience member asked Ricketts if he stands with the Constitution or with President Trump and, after some time, Ricketts said that he will "always uphold the Constitution and always support the U.S."

Another similar moment came when Senator Ricketts affirmed his support for Ukraine and called Vladimir Putin a dictator.

"Like other dictators, he says what he's going to do and he's trying to go do it. If he's successful in Ukraine, he will try to do that other places as well. And for example, if he invades the Baltic states, their NATO allies, that's World War III. So that's why it's in our interest to make sure that Vladimir Putin gets stopped in Ukraine," said Ricketts.

The rest of the Q&A session was largely confrontational with most of the disgruntled audience members having issues with Ricketts' support for Trump and his lack of pushback on his agendas.

Many of the questions from the audience were centered around spending cuts and several of Ricketts' answers got boos or yells in response.

When asked about federal funding for veterans, Ricketts said "We have to take care of our veterans and we have to make sure that we're doing a good job of that, we also have to keep our expenses in line and make sure we're doing it in a way that's cost effective."

The crowd verbalized their displeasure following that response.  

Despite the contentiousness, Ricketts thanked everyone for their questions and for participating in the democratic process.

Ricketts also recommends that citizens can submit more questions and concerns to his staff in an effort to keep the conversation going.

This is just the first opportunity for citizens to interact with the Senator, with Ricketts appearing in Valentine and Scottsbluff on Friday to close out the series.