Republicans hoped to catch their breath by largely choosing virtual over in-person town halls. Democrats thought they could satisfy ticked-off constituents by holding an array of events to dig at the Trump administration.
Instead, both parties are catching heat for President Donald Trump’s overhaul of the federal government that centers on Elon Musk’s cost-cutting agency known as DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency.
Democrats saw a chance to “fill the void” after House Republicans were instructed not to hold in-person town halls to avoid blowback. Back home in their districts, Democrats expected a warmer homecoming but were instead met with frustration over the lack of a cohesive strategy to resist Trump’s agenda.
Democrats were accused of being unwilling to raise hell in their fight against a GOP trifecta in Washington with a muddled road map: Do they continue down a path of activism and fight Republicans at every turn, or do they reach across the aisle as the party longs for a 2026 comeback?
These are four takeaways from lawmakers’ raucous constituent events this week.
1. Lawmakers hammered over Medicaid and Musk
Constituents across Democratic and Republican town halls made clear their dissatisfaction with the GOP’s proposed cuts to Medicaid, plans to root out “waste” in Social Security benefits, and the power that Musk’s DOGE wields within the executive branch.
At Republican town halls, it was constituents vs. lawmakers.
One hosted by Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY), the state’s sole representative, drew in hundreds of attendees — but the congresswoman faced a barrage of heckles and boos after she downplayed the impact of the Trump administration’s actions.
“It’s so bizarre to me how obsessed you are with federal government,” Hageman said, prompting angry outbursts from the crowd.
“You guys are going to have a heart attack if you don’t calm down,” she added. “I’m sorry, your hysteria is just really over the top.”
She cut the event short after the crowd’s torrent of heckles and outbursts did not subside. In a statement, Hageman’s adviser claimed to NBC News that the interruptions were “pre-planned and organized partisan disruptions.”
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), the chair of House GOP’s campaign arm, previously told Republicans that in-person events would only serve to give activists and Democratic operatives a platform. Indivisible, the anti-Trump resistance group, has orchestrated several demonstrations at Republican town halls in recent weeks.
One attendee at Hageman’s town hall told NBC News she found the claim that the constituents were paid protesters “insulting.”
“It’s insulting because we’re concerned,” said Kelly Hess. “We want to hear answers, and to be accused that you’ve been paid by somebody … I mean, I don’t even — it’s just really insulting that people would assume that.”
In red Nebraska, Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) repeatedly told attendees to “remain calm” after the crowd broke out in a chant of “tax the rich.” Flood, vice-chair of the moderate Main Street Caucus, was pressed on Musk’s role in the federal government and the GOP budget proposal to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and reduce federal spending.
“It is not going away unless we deal with Medicare and Medicaid. Let’s remain calm. Let’s remain calm,” Flood said over shouts from the crowd. “Let’s remain calm. And let me remind you, if you’re going to ask me a question, let me answer the question.”
At Democratic town halls, constituents and lawmakers were in agreement: Musk is the problem, and Medicaid must be protected.
But the crowds became frustrated with their Democratic representatives when it was clear the lawmakers didn’t have concrete answers for their concerns.
Constituents at Rep. Glenn Ivey’s (D-MD) town hall hoped to hear more about what Democrats are doing to protect federal workers caught in the widespread DOGE layoffs.
“Concretely, I haven’t heard anything about what he can do for us. He talked about voting in 2026, 2028,” a female federal worker, who was granted anonymity out of fear for her job, told the Washington Examiner. “We came out here to find out, what can we do so that we can save our jobs?”
In another part of the state, Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and April McClain Delaney (D-MD) faced similar criticism.
“It was a feel-good moment listening to Raskin. But I’m still like, ‘Ugh, what are we going to do?’” said a 57-year-old female federal worker, who was also granted anonymity. “I need to know we’re to do ‘this’ and ‘this’ is going to happen. I don’t think we’re in that position.”
2. AOC, Sanders, and Walz take the fight to Republican strongholds
After Republicans were advised to skip in-person town halls, progressive lawmakers Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) began organizing “Fighting Oligarchy” tours across the country.
Both appeared in Las Vegas on Thursday and at another event at Tempe at Arizona State University. They’ll hold another in Tuscon on Saturday. Similar gatherings are also planned for Colorado.
“We’re filling a void that’s left open by our Republican colleagues who are too scared to show up to town halls in their own districts because they’re doing things that are not popular. And it’s not just Democrats showing up, it’s Republicans showing up,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who advises his caucus on messaging strategy, said at House Democrats’ retreat in Virginia last week.
Other Democrats are heeding Sanders’s and Ocasio-Cortez’s calls for listening sessions in GOP-controlled areas. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes recently held her own town hall to address DOGE as lawmakers and activists eye meetings in Republican districts.
In the absence of a town hall in Rep. Scott Perry’s (R-PA) district, progressive group Working Families Power held a meeting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to hear concerns about Medicaid cuts. An attendee filmed a video and asked Ocasio-Cortez to come to the Keystone State.
The New York congresswoman responded with a familiar tune: “I’m making a list. Checking it twice. Finding which reps are naughty and nice…”
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), former running mate of Kamala Harris, announced he too would hold events in Republican districts.
He traveled to districts in Iowa and Nebraska this week as part of his opposition tour to the Trump administration. He said he was not there to attack representatives unwilling to hold in-person town halls; instead he wanted to highlight the risks of federal layoffs, Trump’s tariffs, and cuts to numerous agencies.
“There is not going to be a charismatic leader [to] ride in and do this,” Walz said, via NPR. “It is going to be people coming out on a beautiful Friday afternoon, demanding change and holding people accountable.”
3. GOP scales back in-person constituent events
Republicans have found workarounds to escape heated confrontations with constituents: move the in-person conversations to the phone lines, or avoid them entirely.
The moves haven’t extinguished the frustration expressed by voters, but they have allowed lawmakers to sidestep awkward or contentious made-for-TV-moments featuring shouting constituents.
In the absence of town halls, regional chapters of Indivisible have taken matters into their own hands.
They’re planning a protest in the district of Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) to show that “Schweikert that he can’t hide from his constituents or the actions of the Republican Party!” In Maine, Indivisible held a protest in hopes that Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who faces a competitive reelection next year, would hold an event.
Indivisible and another progressive activist group, Blue Anchor Project, went so far as to hold mock town halls with invitations to Collins and the rest of the state’s congressional delegation that includes Sen. Angus King (I-ME) and Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME). None of the events were attended by the lawmakers.
In a battleground Wisconsin district, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) faced backlash for dodging constituents after minimizing scrutiny with a Zoom call and pre-submitted questions.
4. Democrats’ town halls appear to backfire
Democrats have found themselves more divided than ever over how to message against Trump’s agenda just two months into his second term.
Preserving Medicaid and stonewalling Musk have been primary targets. But armed with little substance on concrete plans, Democrats have retreated to a familiar line: It’s up to the courts.
The political reality has created Democrats’ latest dilemma of whether to present a wall of opposition to Republicans or strive for bipartisanship to secure legislative wins.
“I have done as much as I feel like I’m capable of doing to respond in words to what Trump is doing, but I can’t just be an activist,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) said at a town hall.
Criticizing the progressive wing of her party, the battleground senator from a Trump-won state questioned what those like Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) have “actually done to change the situation with Donald Trump and the cuts and the attacks on our judiciary and the attacks on our constitution?”
“All of those things require me to be more than just an AOC,” Slotkin added. “I can’t do what she does because we live in a purple state, and I’m a pragmatist.”
But the majority of Democrats and Democratic-aligned independents say, 57% to 42%, the party should prioritize stonewalling the GOP’s agenda over passing pieces of their own legislative agenda with bipartisanship.
HILL REPUBLICANS GET TO KNOW DOGE — AND THE BUSINESS TITANS RUNNING IT
Democrats with more liberal constituencies, such as Raskin, leaned into the desire to put up roadblocks even if Democrats have limited power to do so in the minority.
“In the big picture, this is not the struggle of two days, or two weeks, or two months, or even two years,” Raskin said at the Maryland town hall with Delaney. “This is the fight of our lives, my friends. We’re in it together until the end.”
