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.
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 and instead opt for tele-town halls or Facebook lives.
Hudson reasoned that holding the events online would still allow members to hear from constituents while avoiding disruption from activists.
But doing them online would also avoid the recent images of Republicans running off stage, getting drowned out by boos and being challenged on unpopular cuts to programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
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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.
Trump has accused “paid troublemakers” of attending these Republican townhalls to artificially stir up resistance, but there is no evidence that activists are being paid for disruptions. GOP leaders on the Hill, however, have been pointing to liberal groups, like Indivisible or MoveOn, for organizing protests against lawmakers that have been going viral.
“The best thing that our members can do is communicate directly, frequently, consistently, with their constituents,” Speaker Mike Johnson said at his weekly press conference. “There are other avenues to do it than just going in to try to give the other side sound bites.”
Republicans leaving the meeting seemed supportive of Hudson’s advice.
“What you see Democrats right now doing is they are trying to run counter to efficiency and governance, and so they’re trying to purposely storm these things to build a narrative,” Rep. Josh Brecheen said.
In the meeting, after Hudson told lawmakers to avoid in-person meetings, Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert told her colleagues that activists have been harassing her children at her house.
“I’ve always made myself available to my constituents,” Boebert said after the meeting. “But to show up at my personal home… I think that’s really crossing the line and unacceptable even for those who disagree with policies.”
Regardless of the intention of Hudson’s advice, Democrats were already seizing on the comments.
“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.
Hudson’s spokesperson, Will Kiley, posted on X after the meeting that Hudson supports members communicating with as many constituents as possible.
“Using technology makes this a heck of lot easier,” Kiley wrote.
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Daniella Diaz and Reese Gorman are reporters at NOTUS.
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