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rich mccormick
Tim Walz Offers to Meet With Voters Whose GOP Reps Refuse to Hold Town Halls
"Canceling town halls to avoid voter backlash is the thing you do, right before you lose the majority," said one Democratic strategist.
Mar 04, 2025
Voters in Republican districts may see considerably less of their members of Congress in the coming months following a directive from the chair of the U.S. House GOP's campaign arm on Tuesday, but Democratic leaders including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz offered to fill in for lawmakers who don't want to face constituents who have questions about the Trump-Republican agenda.
"If your Republican representative won't meet with you because their agenda is so unpopular, maybe a Democrat will," said Walz, who was former Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate in the 2024 election. "Hell, maybe I will."
Walz's offer followed reports that Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), said in a private meeting that members of the right-wing caucus should no longer meet in person with constituents at town halls to avoid the outcry that has garnered media attention at many recent meetings.
As the party has pushed for $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid and federal food assistance in the budget proposal that the House passed last month—to help fund a tax cut for the richest Americans—and as President Donald Trump's billionaire ally, Elon Musk, has spearheaded massive cuts to federal agencies, Republicans at town halls have faced angry voters from across the political spectrum.
In Kansas on Saturday, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) stood up and left his own town hall after a voter asked how the GOP can support mass firings that have impacted thousands of veterans.
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) was booed last month at a town hall as voters denounced the Republican Party's support for cuts to federal health agencies, and lawmakers in Alaska, Wisconsin, and Oregon faced similar reactions.
Right-wing commentators quickly dismissed the outcry about cuts to crucial public services as the result of Democrats mobilizing their voters—in apparent disbelief that constituents, without being prompted, would express anger about cuts to a healthcare program that serves nearly 80 million people.
On Monday, Trump dismissed people who have spoken out at town halls as paid "troublemakers," and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday that those who have demanded answers from lawmakers about Musk's activities and the budget proposal are "Democrat activists who don't live in the district."
"They're professional protesters," he told reporters. "So why would we give them a forum to do that right now?"
Republicans have not presented any evidence that people speaking out about Musk's Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE) and the party's economic agenda are being paid to do so.
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) went as far as to compare people who object to public spending cuts to Neo-Nazis and threatening to arrest people who are "disruptive" at town halls and charge them with a misdemeanor.
"I'm not going to put up with these agitators," said Van Orden. "We're not doing it. Republicans are too nice."
Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of the podcast "Pod Save America" and a former Obama administration official, said that "canceling town halls to avoid voter backlash is the thing you do, right before you lose the majority."
At the GOP meeting, Hudson reportedly told lawmakers that "the paid resistance people are out there like in 2017," leading Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) to ask whether the Republican Party also blames the "paid resistance" for their loss of more than 40 House seats in the 2018 elections, which followed the party's attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and its passage of the 2017 tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy.
Walz suggested Republicans' refusal to engage with their constituents could present an opportunity for Democrats to win more support in GOP districts.
"If your congressman refuses to meet, I'll come host an event in their district to help local Democrats beat 'em," said the governor.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote in a column at The American Prospect Tuesday that he already has plans to meet with voters in Republican voters, just as GOP lawmakers retreat.
"Starting March 24th, I will be going to three red districts in California to speak out against DOGE's mass firings and the Republicans' Medicaid cuts. This is a moment for progressives to speak directly to people across the country, especially in places that have been hollowed out by the offshoring of jobs and failed policies that have put billionaires over the working class," wrote Khanna, noting that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) spoke in Nebraska and Iowa districts last month where GOP members face competitive elections in 2026.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) added that she hosts "a town hall every single month because it gives me an opportunity to hear from my constituents and not hide from them."
"But I am not surprised Republicans are cowards," she said, "and will now be hiding from their constituents."
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'Extremist and Sloppy': GOP Congressman Hectored at Town Hall Over Trump Cuts
"What's not reasonable is taking this chainsaw approach," said one attendee speaking of federal cuts.
Feb 21, 2025
Rep. Rich McCormick, a Republican representing Georgia, faced a tough crowd during a town hall Thursday, during which constituents questioned him sharply about his support for U.S. President Donald Trump agenda during his first month back in office.
McCormick faced boos and catcalls, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,including when answering questions about the administration's targeting of federal workers.
In reference to personnel cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and elsewhere, one speaker asked why the approach has been so "radical and extremist and sloppy."
McCormick responded that he's been in "close contact" with the CDC and—speaking of the over 1,000 probationary employees targeted for removal by the Trump administration—"a lot of the work they do is duplicitous with AI," a remark that prompted an audible negative reaction from the crowd.
Another person said that trying to do more with less was a reasonable goal, but "what's not reasonable is taking this chainsaw approach."
"My understanding is when you say you have this many employees that you have to cut, that organization decides who to cut,” McCormick said.
In the past month, the Trump administration, with the help of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, has moved to carry out personnel cuts at various agencies—impacting workers who do everything from conduct independent audits of federal agencies to assisting with processing Americans' tax returns. Many of the administration's measures have been challenged in court, with mixed success for the plaintiffs.
Separately, constituents in Republican districts in other parts of the country targeted GOP lawmakers over the Trump administration's cuts and other issues this week.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein wrote that the town hall, which took place in Roswell, was so well attended that local authorities turned away some would be town hall goers.
"The rowdy town hall was one of the first examples in Georgia of Trump-driven backlash trickling down to the grassroots," wrote Bluestein in his write-up of the town hall. Bluestein also posted multiple times on X about the event, and some observers on the social media platform, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, said Bluestein's posts were not viewable to them.
The town hall crowd peppers Rep. Rich McCormick with boos and catcalls as he struggles to answer a pointed question from a resident who says she's a descendant of Patrick Henry who pressed him on whether Trump was moving toward "tyranny." #gapol https://t.co/gicXVC7AFJ pic.twitter.com/BkSIaxtgQb
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) February 21, 2025
"X appears to be censoring Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter [Greg Bluestein's] posts covering Rep. Rich McCormick's (R-Ga.) town hall. The now 'unavailable' posts, which per Bluestein were not deleted, showed McCormick being booed after he defended DOGE," posted Aaron Fritschner, a deputy chief of staff for Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).
Fritschner included screenshots of the posts showing up as "unavailable." Some of Bluestein's posts also appeared that way for Common Dreams.
Only a month into the Trump administration's efforts to radically reshape the federal government, how the public views these efforts—especially those who voted for Trump and other GOP lawmakers—is still coming into focus.
According to the findings of a Quinnipiac poll released on Wednesday, 45% of voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 49% disapprove. Ninety percent of Republican voters said they approve. Meanwhile, 38% of voters had a favorable view of Elon Musk, and 50% had an unfavorable view. Seventy-five percent of Republican voters had a favorable view of him.
When it comes to impact, the advocacy organization Americans for Tax Fairness released an analysis on Thursday suggesting that proposed cuts by Republicans could lead to electoral pain for the GOP.
According to the group, a "dozen Republican House members won their seats by margins smaller than the number of constituents who could be affected by proposed cuts to federal jobs, Medicaid, and food assistance."
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'Palestinian People Are Not Disposable,' Says Rashida Tlaib During House Censure Debate
"Speaking up to save lives—no matter faith, no matter ethnicity—should not be controversial in this chamber. The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me."
Nov 07, 2023
Update:
U.S. House lawmakers voted Tuesday night to censure Tlaib. The vote was 234-188, with 22 Democrats joining almost all Republicans in approving the resolution. Four GOP lawmakers voted against the measure.
Earlier:
As the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday advanced a resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib for affirming Palestinian human rights and opposing Israel's war on Gaza, the Michigan Democrat defended herself—and the people of her ancestral home—during an impassioned House floor speech.
"I'm the only Palestinian American serving in Congress... and my perspective is needed here now more than ever," Tlaib asserted. "I will not be silenced and I will not let you distort my words."
"Folks forget I'm from Detroit, the most beautiful, blackest city in the country where I learned how to speak truth to power even if my voice shakes," she added. "Trying to bully or censor me won't work because this movement for a cease-fire is much bigger than one person. It's growing every single day."
A motion to table Rep. Rich McCormick's (R-Ga.) resolution to censure Tlaib "For promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel" failed, with one Democrat—Rep. Brad Scheider of Illinois—joining 212 Republicans in voting down the measure.
Tlaib has never called for the destruction of Israel.
Six Republicans—Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.), John Duarte (Calif.), Mike Garcia (Calif.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Thomas McClintock (Calif.), and Ryan Zinke (Mont.)—voted to table the motion.
"It's not our job to censure somebody because we don't agree with them," argued Buck.
Many Republicans and Democrats have accused Tlaib of antisemitism, especially for calling Israel's war on Gaza a "genocide"—an assessment with which many experts concur—and for using the phrase, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."
Tlaib has explained that, to her, the phrase—which is also a
core component of the original platform of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party—"is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate."
But to little avail, as House Republicans answered with censure resolutions, including a failed effort by far-right Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. House lawmakers are set to hold a final vote on McCormick's resolution on Wednesday.
"While I will continue to defend First Amendment liberties for those I disagree with, I will not support the right to call for a violent genocide," Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said.
There is no evidence that Tlaib has ever called for any genocide.
However, statements by some
congressional Republicans—and many Israeli officials including Netanyahu—have been condemned by human rights defenders as advocating genocidal violence against Palestinians.
Speaking on the House floor Tuesday, Tlaib said:
There are millions of people across our country who oppose Netanyahu's extremism and are done watching our country support collective punishment and the use of white phosphorus bombs that melt flesh to the bone. They are done watching our government... supporting cutting off food, water, electricity, and medical care to millions of people with nowhere to go. Like me... they don't believe the answer to war crimes is more war crimes.
"The refusal of Congress and the [Biden] administration to acknowledge Palestinian lives is chipping away at my soul," Tlaib said. "Over 10,000 Palestinians have been killed."
"Let me be clear: My criticism has always been of the Israeli government and Netanyahu's actions. It's important to separate people and governments—no government is beyond criticism," she stressed. "The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent and it's being used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation."
"Do you realize what it's like, Mr. Chair, for the people outside our chamber right now listening in agony to their own government dehumanizing them?" Tlaib asked. "To hear the president of the United States who we helped elect
dispute death tolls as we see video after video of dead children and parents under rubble? Mr. Chair, do you know what it's like to fear rising hate crimes... and worry that your own child might suffer the same horrors that 6-year-old Wadea [Al Fayoume] did in Illinois?"
"I can't believe I have to say this but Palestinian people are not disposable," she said. After a long pause in which she choked back tears, she added, "We are human beings just like anyone else."
"The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent and it's being used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation."
Holding up a photo of her grandmother who lives in the illegally occupied West Bank and flanked by her friend and colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Tlaib said her "Sity," like all Palestinians, "just wants to live her life with the freedom and human dignity we all deserve."
Tlaib said she is "inspired by the courageous survivors in Israel, who have lost loved ones, yet are calling for a cease-fire," and "grateful for the people in the streets in the peace movement, with countless Jewish Americans across the country standing up and lovingly saying, 'Not in our name.'"
"Speaking up to save lives—no matter faith, no matter ethnicity—should not be controversial in this chamber," she argued. "The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me. What I don't understand is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you all. We cannot lose our shared humanity."
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