House Republican leaders urged GOP lawmakers to stop holding in-person town halls with their constituents after U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick and other Republicans faced biting backlash over President Donald Trump’s push to downsize the federal government.
House Speaker Mike Johnson repeated baseless accusations at a news conference that the upset voters at McCormick’s town hall and other GOP events around the nation were “professional protesters” as he urged Republicans not to give them a forum.
“The best thing that our members can do is communicate directly, frequently, consistently, with their constituents — and there are other avenues to do it,” he said.
And Politico reported that U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, the chair of the House GOP’s campaign arm, advised Republican lawmakers in a private meeting early Tuesday to avoid in-person town halls or risk being on the wrong side of a viral blowup.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The directives aren’t binding orders, but they reflect the growing concerns among Republicans over how to handle discontent over cuts led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency that have pushed thousands of federal workers out of their jobs.
Since McCormick’s town hall last month in Roswell, Georgia Republicans have struggled over whether to avoid holding in-person town halls entirely or find ways to tightly control their formats to prevent more headline-grabbing moments.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution survey of Georgia’s U.S. House members last week found that three GOP members of the delegation still plan to hold town halls: U.S. Reps. Mike Collins of Jackson, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Rome and Brian Jack of Peachtree City.
A deputy to U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter said the Republican will continue to hold events in his Savannah-based district “in a variety of formats and settings.” Others didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Scaling back in-person events is a familiar strategy. Fifteen years ago, lawmakers from both parties pulled back from town halls after Tea Party demonstrations erupted at public events protesting President Barack Obama’s health care law and spending plan.
McCormick’s event at Roswell City Hall last month had echoes of those raucous demonstrations. The second-term Republican struggled to counter the backlash, at one point comparing the jeering crowd to the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
But McCormick softened his tone days later, telling the “Politically Georgia” podcast that he empathized with their concerns as he urged the White House to slow the pace of sweeping changes.
Notably, McCormick also didn’t rule out another in-person town hall — so long as he thinks it will be a productive back-and-forth.
“I just want to make sure that it’s going to be a good conversation.”
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