Montgomery County Commissioner Tom DiBello visited the Eisenhower Building on the White House campus last week to meet and get to know administration officials.
He was one of several Pennsylvania Republican county commissioners invited to the three-hour meeting, with Lancaster, Bradford, Potter, and Somerset among the other counties included. But Montgomery County, with 870,000 residents, was the most populous, he said.
It was DiBello’s second time visiting the White House. The first time was after the Eagles won the Super Bowl, and the team was feted by President Trump on the South Lawn. DiBello was among a few hundred guests who attended the celebration there in April.
“It was very intimate,” said DiBello. “I didn’t know if there were going to be 10,000 people on the lawn or whatever. It was really nice.”
On Friday, “we finished up the meeting and we’re standing outside the door of the West Wing when [Secretary of War] Pete Hegseth walked by and we had the opportunity to talk with him.”
“We were talking about very high-level (issues),” he said. He hopes that at the next meeting they’ll get more into the details. “We did have a brief conversation because the election just passed.” They were asked if they wanted to bring up any problems.
“I think we all agree that voter ID is necessary in the election process,” said DiBello. The other issue was “clean voter rolls. That’s something the states need to take a serious look at.”
They also discussed the issue of “undocumented people and ICE involvement,” as well as “affordable housing,” and the “growing expenses” that counties have, including “growing mandates from the state,” that increase counties’ costs.
Asked whether he mentioned that Montco seems to be a sanctuary county under control by the two Democrats on the county board, he said, “I did mention the county majority is Democrats, and although not officially a sanctuary county, there are processes that lend themselves to not working easily with federal authorities.”
During President Trump’s first term, the administration met with county officials “a lot,” said DiBello. He believes it’s a good idea to get to know federal officials, so it’s easier to help Montgomery County residents and businesses when issues come up.
However, for security reasons, DiBello could not disclose which federal officials met with the county commissioners.
“We hope this is the first of many meetings. I hope to go back for future conversations to start delving into some topics,” said DiBello. “I’m doing what I can to represent Montgomery County.”
Before being elected to the county Board of Commissioners in 2023, DiBello served as president of the Spring Ford School Board, chaired the Limerick Township Board of Supervisors, was Limerick Township auditor, and president, vice president, and treasurer of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU). He’s been active in the county, serving on various boards and coaching youth sports.
Professionally, DiBello designed and implemented large global technical software solutions in both the tax and defense industries. Mr. He was also a small business owner.
“I want people to know that I work hard for them,” DiBello said. “I’m not sitting back on my laurels, for sure.” And, the fiscal watchdog mentioned that he paid for the trip himself rather than charging Montgomery County taxpayers.
