Some Republicans are facing pushback in their hometowns as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency make severe cuts across the federal government, both through sweeping employee terminations and looming budget cuts.
Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., faced a grilling from his constituents on DOGE’s and Trump’s massive cuts at a town hall Thursday night.
“We are all fricking pissed off about this — you’re going to hear it,” a constituent told McCormick.
McCormick was interrupted multiple times as he tried to defend Trump and Musk’s efforts to overhaul the federal government and the thousands of firings across the United States.
“By and large, the president has great purview over where this money goes,” McCormick said at one point, before the crowd started to shout him down. “You can go and yell whenever you want, but I can’t understand 10 people, let alone 100 people, at once.”
A main point of contention was the firing of hundreds of workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based in Atlanta and roughly 20 miles from the town of Roswell, where the meeting was held.
“It is a fact of budgets, based on whose in control of the government, where that money goes,” McCormick said, prompting more shouting.
“The conservative approach is to take this in a slow and methodical way so that you make sure you do it right, and that’s not happening,” a constituent shouted back.
DOGE wasn’t the only tense topic the Georgia congressman faced. Some voters also brought up Trump’s recent comments on Ukraine.
When asked about Trump claiming Ukraine was responsible for its own invasion, McCormick said, “I want Ukraine to win, and President Trump said he wants Ukraine –,” before he was cut off by more shouting.
Another constituent, who introduced herself as Virginia and said she was a direct descendent of Revolutionary War orator Patrick Henry, said she took issue with a recent Trump post in which he promoted a photo of himself in a crown.
“Tyranny is rising in the White House, and a man has declared himself our king, so I would like to know … what you, congressman, and your fellow congressmen are going to do to reign in the megalomaniac in the White House,” she said, leading to a standing ovation from the crowd.
“When you talk about tyranny, when you talk about presidential power, I remember having the same discussion with Republicans when Biden was elected,” McCormick responded, to boos and shouts from the audience.
McCormick arguably faced the toughest crowd so far this week, though Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wisc., also heard strong objections from his constituents about Trump’s collaborations with Musk.
“How can we be represented by you, if you don’t have a voice in Congress?” a woman asked Fitzgerald, according to video from WTMJ-TV’s Charles Benson.
“The end result of the fraud and abuse that has been discovered already –” Fitzgerald began answering before being shouted down by the disappointed audience.
“Certainly the discussion in and around DOGE and with the probationary moves that have already been done, they’re going to have be scrutinized at some point,” Fitzgerald said.
In a town hall on Wednesday, Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kansas, was pressed repeatedly on where he would draw the line with Trump and Musk’s federal overhaul.
“Is there anything that Trump and Elon could do that you would not support?” a constituent asked. “Tell me, tell me what you would not support.”
“They’re going through the government in way that’s never been done,” Mann responded, avoiding detailing what he would not support.
Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, also was grilled by his constituents during a virtual town hall Monday night. However, due to the virtual format, Begich’s team was able to maintain control over the town hall, though the livestream received more than 2,000 comments.
“I’m a lifelong Republican,” one constituent named Joel said, according to Alaska Public Radio. “But I am in the majority, I think, with a lot of Americans, a lot of Alaskans, that are really concerned that we have an executive branch that is more than willing to push or remove the guardrails that are on the executive branch, and what we need from Congress and from the courts is to play that checks and balances role.”
“Look, the Congress has certain roles and responsibilities. The executive does as well,” said Begich, who noted he is a member of the “DOGE caucus.”
“And if the Congress or the executive branch steps outside of its constitutionally defined boundaries, the courts step in and realign and say, ‘Hey, you’re out of bounds,'” he added. “To the extent that the executive branch may or may not have exceeded that authority, there will be an opportunity in the courts for that to be challenged, and I would expect many of these challenges to be brought to the Supreme Court.”
Another constituent pressed Begich on this, asking in a post on the livestream, “When are you going to express your authority to hold the president accountable to the Constitution?”
In the wake of the pandemic, many lawmakers haven’t returned to holding traditional in-person town halls, preferring to reach a larger audience virtually while having more control over situations that melt down.
While some voters in these town halls have supported DOGE, even constituents in deep-red districts, who say they’re Republican voters, are upset with what they’re seeing.
“I’m a registered Republican voter, and this administration has gone absolutely off the tracks long ago,” remarked one man on a telephone town hall with Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla. “All of these things really concern me.”
Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, noted that some of his constituents were fired then rehired, and he told locals to come to him if they have any problems.
“We had seven researchers that had gotten caught up in the cuts. They’re back to work — we just had to make the calls. … With offices in USDA, there were some cuts — they’re getting restored,” he said. “If you have concerns, please come to me.”
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Oregon, was questioned by a constituent on how the federal firings were carried out.
“I’m all for fiscal responsibility and downsizing the government, and we’ve been through downsizing before. And you can do it in a way that is humane and treats people with dignity and doesn’t fire them on the spot for performance when we all know how hard these people work,” a woman said with tears in her eyes.
Bentz didn’t directly respond to the remark, instead thanking the woman and the audience and encouraging people to share thoughts or comments with his team.
When asked by ABC News’ Mary Bruce on Friday what response he has to those who voted for him who are concerned after his first month in office, Trump touted that he has the highest poll numbers “of any Republican president ever” — despite his approval rating being worse than every other president at this point in his term since 1953, with the exception off Trump’s own first term, according to Gallup polling data.
“They like the job that we’re doing. They like the job that Elon is doing. He’s doing something that a lot of people wouldn’t have the courage to do,” he added, refusing to address those who spoke out in the town halls. “So, it’s actually just the opposite. … People are thrilled. They can’t even believe it’s happening.”
Earlier Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about growing criticism from the public on DOGE and Trump’s executive orders, including among conservatives.
“I love how the media takes a few critics when the overwhelming response from the American people is support for what this administration is doing. If you look at the public polling, 70% of Americans, according to CBS, believe that President Trump is delivering on the promises he made,” Leavitt said, adding that Trump’s actions amount to precisely what he campaigned on.
“There should be no secret about the fact that this administration is committed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse,” she added. “The President campaigned on that process campaigned on that promise. Americans elected him on that promise, and he’s actually delivering on it. And this is something that Democrats promised they would do for decades. President Trump is just the first president to get it done.”
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