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Day after day, House Republicans continue to feel the heat for their disastrous budget to cut Medicaid and take food off the tables of hardworking Americans to pay for tax breaks that benefit their billionaire donors. This week, Republican Party bosses issued a new playbook for their vulnerable members to follow: Run, hide, and stop holding town halls.
The aftermath of this directive has not gone over well.
Read more below on how House Republicans’ cowardly decision to stop holding town halls is playing across the country:
Wall Street Journal: GOP Leaders Tell Lawmakers: No More In-Person Town Halls
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Rep. Richard Hudson (R., N.C.), the head of the House GOP campaign arm, issued the advice Tuesday during a closed-door weekly conference meeting and predicted that the protests outside of town halls and district offices would only get worse, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Hudson, the chair of National Republican Congressional Committee, likened the situation to 2017, in President Trump’s first year in office. Back then, the Republican Party saw an uptick of people crashing town-hall events and picketing, and tailing members around the district. The GOP lost the House majority in the 2018 midterms.
NBC: Republicans advised to avoid in-person town halls after confrontations over layoffs go viral
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The chairman, Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., compared the moment to 2017, when a series of GOP town halls made headlines after angry attendees confronted lawmakers.
NOTUS: Head of House GOP’s Political Arm to Republicans: Quit Doing In-Person Townhalls
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During a closed-door meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday, National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Rep. Richard Hudson had a surprising bit of advice for his fellow GOP lawmakers: Stop holding in-person townhalls.
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With Republicans facing severe backlash to President Donald Trump’s agenda and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cuts, Hudson in effect asked Republicans to avoid the spectacle of booing and jeering[…].
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The images have been perhaps the clearest manifestation of growing opposition to Trump, and they have served as a stark warning to Republicans as lawmakers work on a reconciliation bill that would cut $2 trillion in spending — with much of the reductions coming from Medicaid.
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“So House Republicans’ political strategy is ‘see no families nor workers,’ ‘hear no protesters’, ‘speak to no one’ and hope everyone gets less angry at them when they rip away Americans’ health care? Got it,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton.
Associated Press: Speaker Johnson tells GOP lawmakers to skip town halls after an onslaught of protests
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The speaker’s advice Tuesday comes as GOP lawmakers often find themselves at a loss to explain the cuts, led by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, that are leaving federal workers suddenly out of jobs in communities from coast to coast. Democrats are jumping in to shine a bright light on what is happening.
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Republicans are feeling the heat back home.
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[…] the town hall outbursts resemble the Trump-era protests of 2017 and 2018 when Republicans tried and failed to repeal Obamacare, and then approved sweeping GOP tax cuts — and Democrats campaign against them, sweeping the midterm elections and reclaiming control of the U.S. House.
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As Trump and Musk bulldoze through the federal government, Republican leaders are looking to cut even further, enshrining the reductions and other changes to Medicaid, food stamps and other programs into law as part of the budget process. They are hoping to reach some $2 trillion in cuts to help finance some $4.5 trillion tax breaks.
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It has all left rank-and-file Republicans struggling to keep pace with the onslaught.
Cincinnati Enquirer: GOP leaders just discouraged in-person town halls. Why it won’t change anything here
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Republicans here haven’t held any public, in-person town halls since President Donald Trump took office, at least none that were well publicized. And none appear to be scheduled.
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It’s become even less likely people will see a Republican member of Congress hold a town hall in the region.
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The Enquirer asked the local delegation what town halls they have held recently and whether any are scheduled. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie, Warren Davidson and David Taylor didn’t respond.
KCRA: ‘We want to talk to you’: Protesters demand town hall meeting with Rep. Kevin Kiley
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Dozens of residents gathered outside Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley’s office in Rocklin on Tuesday to demand a town hall meeting to discuss their concerns about recent government cuts.
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“A town hall isn’t about Republican or Democrat. It’s about constituents. It’s about people in his district that want to know he hears our concerns,” Auburn resident Sue Michaels said.
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One by one, demonstrators made their way to Kiley’s office Tuesday to sign his visitor’s log and leave messages urging him to protect federal programs like Social Security and Medicare.
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“Kevin Kiley, if you hear this – if you’re listening – we want to talk to you. We’re your constituents. You took a commitment to represent us and hear us out, and listen to our words,” said Rocklin resident Missy Wright.
New Republic: Republican Congressman Compares Town Hall Protesters to Nazis
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But at least one Republican has decided the best option is to threaten criminal charges for Americans who dare to dissent against Donald Trump’s agenda. Speaking with the Meg Ellefson Show on Friday, Wisconsin Representative Derrick Van Orden likened his constituents to Nazis, claiming that only Communists and fascists would protest their lawmakers.
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