Tempers flare as few Republicans hold in-person town halls

By Eric Bradner, Steve Contorno and Brian Todd, CNN

(CNN) — Republicans faced frustrated constituents at town hall meetings Tuesday, offering a glimpse at the building anger over Donald Trump’s sweeping overhaul of the federal government among portions of the electorate — and, in the face of it, the deference GOP lawmakers continue to show the president.

In Iowa, Sen. Chuck Grassley was repeatedly urged to stand up to Trump and push back against the executive branch.

“We would like to know what you, as the people, the Congress, who are supposed to rein in this dictator, what are you going to do about it?” one man asked Grassley.

In Georgia, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s highly scripted event marked a dramatic departure from the town hall held by the Senate’s most senior Republican. Instead of taking questions face-to-face, the far-right Trump ally mocked the critical questions she received, which she had required be submitted in writing.

Asked by a questioner why she was supporting tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency’s “slashing of Medicaid, Social Security offices, libraries,” Greene responded: “Unfortunately, you’re being brainwashed by the news that you’re watching.”

Members of Congress are at home for a two-week recess, and in the opening days of lawmakers’ break from Washington, many in the GOP have so far heeded the advice of party leadership and declined to hold in-person meetings. But on Tuesday both Grassley, the eighth-term senator, and Greene, the firebrand Trump loyalist, held public events.

Though weeks removed from eruptions of anger at town halls earlier this year, the lawmakers at times faced similar ire over the Trump administration’s efforts to slash spending and shrink the federal workforce, as well as tough questions over its hardline immigration policy and the bounds of the president’s power.

‘I’m going to support my president’

Greene, attempting to head off protests, opened by telling attendees she was holding a town hall, not a political rally. But she avoided town halls’ hallmark direct engagement with constituents, instead delivering lines reminiscent of political rallies.

Greene started her event with a video featuring former President Barack Obama touting cuts to wasteful government spending. She said Obama’s message “is exactly what you’re hearing today from President Trump and Elon Musk.”

“All of us together, no matter where we stand on the political spectrum, together we’re in debt at $36 trillion,” she said. “Americans have been defrauded for decades.”

The congresswoman claimed without evidence that “dead people” are receiving Social Security benefits, and she touted her role chairing the House Oversight Committee’s Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee.

Greene displayed some critical questions on a projector screen and read them aloud.

In one instance, a woman had submitted a question asking whether the congresswoman would push back against Trump’s tariffs and his “chainsaw approach” to cutting spending. It was met with scattered applause from the audience.

“Oh, poor Christina. Poor, poor, Christina. I’m sure, Christina, you think you’re pretty smart,” Greene said. “But the reality is, you are being completely brainwashed by whatever source of news you listen to.”

“What am I going to do? I am going to stand by my president. I’m going to support my president. And I’m going to fight for his agenda with everything I have in Congress,” she said.

Greene was interrupted several times by protesters, but was dismissive and moved on quickly as local police escorted them from the room.

“Protest is outside. Bye. Have fun out there,” she told one person.

Law enforcement officers arrested three people and removed more from the Acworth town hall. In two instances, a CNN crew witnessed officers use stun guns after physical scrums with male attendees as they tried to remove them from the building.

“The Democrats have been rioting. They are the party of violence,” Greene claimed, without offering specifics, after those protesters were removed.

Grassley acknowledges potential tariff pain

Taking a different tack, Grassley mostly listened to complaints about Trump and concerns about the administration’s actions months into his second term.

But the answers the senator provided did little to lessen the angst in the room.

Asked point blank by one person: “Are you proud of Trump?” Grassley replied tightly: “There’s no president I’ve agreed with 100% of the time.” The response drew groans from the crowd, where angry constituents occupied most of the seats.

And Grassley, the chair of the powerful judiciary committee, appeared to side with Trump in the ongoing legal saga over Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man erroneously deported to El Salvador. After someone else yelled out, “Are you going to bring that guy back from El Salvador,” Grassley the case was outside the bounds of Congress.

When the same person shouted back, “The Supreme Court said to bring him back,” Grassley echoed the White House’s argument that the US couldn’t force El Salvador to return him.

Asked about Trump’s tariffs, Grassley acknowledged the potential for pain to Iowa farmers, especially grain producers. He touted his bill that would limit tariff powers of presidents going forward. “When you put something negative, like a tariff, on some country, they seem to retaliate against agriculture,” he said.

The senator promised to stand in the way of cuts to Social Security, but signaled support for work requirements on able-bodied people who receive federal food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. He also defended the Republican push to extend the Trump-era tax cuts, though he expressed openness to raising the income tax rate for top earners.

Despite the palpable frustration in the room, many attendees also expressed gratitude at Grassley for holding the forum while other Iowa Republicans have avoided similar town halls. When some members of the crowd shouted down Grassley or interrupted him speaking, several jumped to defend him, saying, “Let him finish.”

Grassley, who famously visits all 99 counties in Iowa each year, started the meeting by acknowledging an increased interest in his activity and said his office has received more emails this year than it did in all of 2024.

While he worked off a list of topics he wanted to first cover – saying he was before criticized for letting questions about Trump dominate the discussion – the more structured approach didn’t alter the tenor of the event. All but one question asked was critical of the administration.

One person who attended Tuesday to thank Grassley started his remarks by saying, “I’m a rarity here: I’m a happy Republican.”

Democrats urged to ‘meet the moment’

While the majority of town hall meetings scheduled across the country so far are being held by Democrats, the party has faced its own criticism from voters.

Already Democrats have heard the familiar refrain that their caucus has a messaging problem and isn’t fighting hard enough to combat Trump and Republicans in power. Reps. Laura Friedman of California and Chellie Pingree of Maine heard it in town halls earlier this week, and Maryland Rep. Sarah Elfreth faced some of her own pressure Tuesday night.

At Elfreth’s town hall in Annapolis, a woman said she’d quit her federal government job because Trump’s return-to-work order made her life “impossible.”

“This is personal to me. It’s personal to my family. And I want to know what you’re going to do to meet the moment,” the woman said. “Being milquetoast — milquetoast and not inspiring people to believe that you can change something for them — won’t inspire them to vote. So what are you going to do with the megaphone you’re given in the House? Because that’s really all you have in the minority.”

Elfreth responded that she is “using every tool” available to her.

“I hear the criticism,” the first-term Democratic congresswoman told CNN in an interview after the town hall.

“I also don’t agree that all 215 members of the Democratic Party need to be activist, loud members. I think we need all sorts, and all kinds, and all styles. This is my style.”

CNN’s Ryan Young and Jason Morris contributed to this report.

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