Spooked by public outrage, GOP aides urge lawmakers to reconsider future town halls

After an initially tepid response to President Donald Trump's return to the presidency, a series of drastic and possibly unconstitutional cuts to the federal workforce has incited anger among people who fear that they and their communities will suffer from those policies. While a handful of protests outside federal agencies targeted by Elon Musk's DOGE has drawn the most media attention, viral clips of rowdy crowds at lawmakers' town hall meetings have since spread across the internet.

Many of the anti-Trump protests have been organized by progressive groups like Indivisible and MoveOn, who have seen a surge in membership and fundraising. While Republicans contend that the backlash is the creation of liberal activists rather than an organic uprising of Americans in general, videos also show unmistakable anger from constituents in deep-red congressional districts as well.

In one town hall in the district of Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., an attendee, citing cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanded: “Why is the supposedly conservative party taking such a radical and extremist and sloppy approach to this?”

McCormick tried to assuage his questioner by saying that overspending would result in shortfalls to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, prompting the attendee to retort that the administration was taking a "chainsaw approach" that was "rushed" and done "sloppily." As the town hall continued, McCormick was interrupted several times by constituents saying, “we’re pissed,” and “don’t bend over,” as well as chants of “shame!”

Party leaders, apparently spooked by the hostility, are advising members to consider avoiding in-person town halls and the risk of confrontation, GOP aides told NBC News. Part of the rationale is that yet another town hall episode would not only hurt a lawmaker in their district, but could make its way onto the screens of people in other districts and damage the Republican brand there.

The pressure also appears to have forced some Republicans into publicly vowing to urge the Trump administration to take a more measured approach with the cuts. After his town hall, McCormick said that he would reach out to Musk and urge him to show more compassion and use a previously scheduled meeting with Trump to "bend" his ear over the issue.

“If we have layoffs at the [CDC], some people are going to be affected. The question is, do we give people time to adjust to their lives? And I think that’s my biggest concern, is that we’re being compassionate,” McCormick told NBC News.