GOP Lawmakers Have Been Finding Out Trump’s Extreme Agenda Isn’t Going Over So Well in their Districts

It turns out that taking a sledgehammer to the federal government and essential services isn't that popular back home.

The U.S. House was in recess last week, which means that House Republicans were in their districts to get a glimpse of how their constituents feel about the GOP’s extreme agenda, which has included the purging of dedicated civil servants and more recently a proposal to gut Social Security, food assistance, and Medicaid funding for our loved ones in order to help pay for mass detention camps and “bloody” mass family separation. And in the real world, this agenda isn’t playing very well. In fact, GOP lawmakers are now “weary and wary of in-person town hall meetings” after facing angry crowds back home, NBC News reports.

In Georgia, Republican Rich McCormick “was peppered with boos and catcalls” as “hundreds of critics jeered the Republican” for backing Trump’s agenda, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. “So many people showed up that some were turned away by local authorities. Others filed into overflow rooms to watch the back-and-forth.” Many attendees were angered over CDC job cuts initiated by billionaire and conspiracy theorist Elon Musk’s “DOGE” outfit. It was quite the blowback from a district that Trump won by 22 points in 2024:

One of the sharpest exchanges came after one attendee questioned McCormick on the DOGE-backed cuts of roughly 1,000 workers at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

McCormick said he has been in “close contact” with the CDC and that “a lot of the work they do is duplicitous with AI” as some in the audience groaned.

It’s unclear if the congressman knows the meaning of the word “duplicitous,” but what we do know is that in Georgia, these mass layoffs are a really big deal and will be devastating for local communities. “For every one job at the CDC, three jobs are created. One job at the CDC creates three jobs in the Georgia economy,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock. “If the CDC were a business, it would be the seventh largest business in my state.” 

It seems McCormick felt the heat: CNN’s Jake Tapper said that the Republican was a no-show for a scheduled appearance following the disastrous town hall.

It wasn’t only Georgia. In town halls and other district events, numerous GOP members across the country have been booed and faced blunt questioning from constituents angered over the Trump administration’s devastating orders taking a sledgehammer to the jobs of thousands of federal workers, our nation’s immigrant tradition, and the very principle of rule of law. In Wisconsin, community member John Kelnhofer told Wisconsin Public Radio that he got to Republican Glenn Grothman’s town hall 30 minutes early and still couldn’t get a seat. Inside the venue, Grothman was jeered by the packed house.

In one notable moment, the audience erupted in outrage when Grothman claimed that Trump’s unlawful attempt to terminate birthright citizenship via Sharpie pen was a good thing. Trump has “gotten rid of birthright citizenship,” Grothman falsely claimed (he did not, it’s in the U.S. Constitution). The crowd immediately booed in response, with constituents shouting “no,” and “illegal as hell!” During the event, Grothman also stated that cutting Medicaid funding “would be a mistake.” But that’s exactly what the GOP’s budget reconciliation plan seeks to do.

In Oklahoma, Republican Stephanie Bice tried one of Trump’s trademark diversions when faced with tough questioning: blame immigrants. It didn’t work. When a registered Republican voter brought up concerns about letting Musk’s unqualified “DOGE” tech bros come in to slash benefits for veterans like himself, Bice pivoted to falsehoods about freebies for undocumented immigrants. The veteran quickly called out her claim as a “red herring, a false flag.”

In California’s San Bernardino Valley, Republican Jay Obernolte’s defense of Musk and the firing of six Joshua Tree National Park rangers also put him on the receiving end of boos from town hall attendees, Hi-Star Desert reports. “This community struggles with gainful employment. Six jobs have already been lost,” one attendee said. “You talk about how the military isn’t paid enough. So let’s take away SNAP benefits? You know who uses SNAP benefits? Military communities because we don’t pay them enough.” Obernolte objected that he had voted to take away any benefits, but Hi-Star Desert had the receipts:

Obernolte is on the Congressional Budget Committee and voted “yes” on a Feb. 12 budget resolution that calls for at least $238 billion in cuts over nine years to programs through the House Committee on Agriculture, which would include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

It also would mandate at least $330 billion in cuts for the House Education and Workforce Committee, which oversees child nutrition, and $880 billion over nine years in cuts for the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid.

In another viral moment in California, attendees jeered Republican Kevin Kiley after he called the state’s popular high speed rail project a “disaster.” Kiley, who has joined in on Trump’s demonization of immigrant communities, was visibly startled by the protests. “Protesters immediately started shouting and chanting after hearing this statement and didn't stop for the remaining 30 minutes of the news conference,” FOX26 reported.

The pushback from constituents back home has been so fierce that House Republicans may now be putting the brakes on in-person events, NBC News reported. “Party leaders suggest that if lawmakers feel the need to hold such events, they do tele-town halls or at least vet attendees to avoid scenes that become viral clips, according to GOP sources. A GOP aide said House Republican leaders are urging lawmakers to stop engaging in them altogether.”

“Mere weeks ago, media outlets were still publishing pieces asking where the ‘resistance’ was,” as The New Republic recently reported. “It seems we are now well past that: Possibly, that’s because ‘the resistance’ is bubbling up in too many places to track.” This includes pro-immigrant demonstrations condemning the Trump administration’s nativist policies, with actions ongoing for weeks now in a slew of states including Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and Washington. “Day Without Immigrants” events, which took place on Feb. 3, were seen in at least 120 cities across 40 states, according to Payday Report. 

In one of the pro-immigrant actions seen throughout the month, students in Texas organized a walkout despite warnings from their school that they could face repercussions. “Pay attention to what your children are saying,” said Jacquline Caldwell, a community member who joined the students. “Pay attention to what changes are being made in the law and in the city because it’s affecting us as parents and that’s going to affect our children as they grow up.”

While the challenges we’re facing as a nation remain steep, the protests aren’t letting up. During his town hall in Austin, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar urged the crowd to not give in to cynicism.

“It’s the idea that they try to implant in us that we can’t do things together. Because if they get rid of that, then they can take over everything themselves. And so ask people to inspire you,” Rep. Casar told the audience. “Do some work that inspires you. And when you feel that inspiration, find someone that’s feeling the way you are and pull them out of the rut if you can. Take a break if you have to, but then get back in it … when you must. And I think that that’s what we all have to do. I’m trying to find my, honestly, best way of doing that right now. And I hope that by members of Congress acting courageously, and pushing members of Congress to act courageously in the coming days and weeks, that it inspires courage out there in the country, and that I’ll see you out there marching here in the coming days.”