Democrats are plotting a fresh round of town halls in GOP-held districts to hammer Republicans for scaling back open forums amid backlash to the Trump administration’s cuts.
Top of their town-hall target list over the upcoming recess, according to information shared first with POLITICO: the North Carolina district of NRCC Chair Richard Hudson, who told GOP representatives last month to stop holding in-person town halls.
The April 24 event in Hudson’s district is one of five “People’s Town Halls” the DNC, DCCC and Association of State Democratic Committees are organizing in vulnerable Republicans’ districts over the two-week recess. The others are slated for the districts of Reps. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, Gabe Evans of Colorado and Ann Wagner of Missouri.
Democrats expected to participate in the town halls include Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Cory Booker of New Jersey, as well as Reps. Greg Stanton of Arizona, Greg Casar of Texas and Maxwell Frost of Florida. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has encouraged his members to take part.
Democrats have held 71 town halls in 35 states over the past three weeks in an effort to harness anger over Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s deep cuts to government agencies and services. They’re also warning of the potential for more cuts to federal jobs and services as part of congressional Republicans’ party-line push to enact the president’s border security, energy and tax agenda. Trump and GOP leaders insist they won’t cut benefits like Medicaid.
“While vulnerable Republicans continue to run scared because they’re voting to raise costs, gut Medicaid, and threaten working families livelihoods, we’re going to make sure voters know they don’t have to wait until Election Day to hold them accountable,” DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said in a statement.
