House Speaker Mike Johnson has advised Republicans to avoid hosting public forums, alleging that paid protesters are causing disruptions.
LEESBURG, Va.—House Democrats said on March 12 that they would visit Republican districts to conduct town halls after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said alleged “professional protesters” are holding demonstrations in the wake of sweeping cuts across the federal government.
Last week, Johnson advised his delegation to skip town halls in their districts after several GOP lawmakers were disrupted by protests criticizing the federal spending cuts resulting from audits conducted by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Johnson alleged that Democrats were sending paid protesters to GOP town halls, echoing remarks from President Donald Trump, who called them “paid ’troublemakers’” in a Truth Social post on March 3.
During the Democrats’ annual retreat in Leesburg on Wednesday, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said he is planning several town halls in Republican districts.
“We’re filling a void that’s left open by our Republican colleagues who are too scared to show up to town halls in their own districts because they’re doing things that are not popular,” he said.
Several videos of confrontations between protesters criticizing Trump’s policies and GOP lawmakers staging town halls were posted online. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) faced callouts from audience members asking about the firings of veterans from the federal workforce.
Other Republicans also alleged Democrats are funding protesters.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) dismissed those allegations in a March 3 press release.
“We don’t need paid protesters. The American people are with us,” Jeffries said.
Democrats have vociferously criticized the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to the federal government and Musk’s unprecedented role in helming DOGE, which is tasked with identifying wasteful spending and inefficiencies in the federal government. Having hosted several town halls in their own districts all year, House Democrats are planning a blitz of public forums next week to highlight Republicans’ proposals to tweak the Medicaid program.
“I think that, at this moment, the American people want to feel seen,” Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) said at the retreat in Leesburg.
“As much as we can show up and talk to people, and listen—give people an opportunity to share their stories—and allow that to inform the work that we do, then we will be successful.
“It’s about listening to people. It’s not about where.”
By Jacob Burg
