Representative Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chairman of House Republicans’ campaign arm, issued a stark message to the G.O.P. rank and file on Tuesday: Stop having in-person town halls with your constituents.
The directive, relayed to lawmakers during their private weekly meeting in the basement of the Capitol, comes as Republican town halls have devolved into angry shouting matches across the country. They have become forums where voters confront members of Congress about the sharp spending cuts they are proposing and President Trump’s moves to fire federal workers and defund programs across government.
Mr. Hudson told Republican lawmakers that Democratic activists were bombarding town halls and drowning out actual constituent voices, and predicted the trend would worsen, according to two people in the room for his remarks. He encouraged House Republicans to instead hold tele-town halls or Facebook Live events. Both of those formats allow moderators to filter questions and comments.
At recent town hall events, some of the most strident complaints have come from participants who identified themselves as Democrats. But a number of questions pressing lawmakers have also come from Republicans. During a telephone town hall with Representative Stephanie Bice, Republican of Oklahoma, a man who identified himself as a Republican and retired U.S. Army officer voiced frustration over potential cuts to veterans benefits.
“How can you tell me that DOGE with some college whiz kids from a computer terminal in Washington, D.C., without even getting into the field, after about a week or maybe two, have determined that it’s OK to cut veterans benefits?” the man asked, referring to the Elon Musk-led effort known as the Department of Government Efficiency.
Similar scenes played out in 2017, when protesters swarmed Republican town halls across the country and urged their lawmakers not to vote to replace the Affordable Care Act. Since then, a number of members of Congress have scaled back their participation in public town halls events, leery both of security concerns, and the optics of being subjected to testy confrontations.
