The wheels came off the track at the mere mention of President Donald Trump’s top adviser Elon Musk.
“Don’t boo, don’t boo,” GOP Congressman Byron Donalds told his audience after someone asked what oversights lawmakers were putting on the world’s richest man and his work at the Department of Government Efficiency.
“What DOGE is doing is they are going through every agency and they are examining any contracts or any lack of efficiencies in spending federal dollars,” Donalds started to say, as the audience started shouting him down.
Donalds is Trump’s pick to be the next Republican governor of Florida. He won re-election in 2024 by about 32 percentage points.
Last month, House Speaker Mike Johnson encouraged Republican lawmakers to skip town halls that have been filled with protesters decrying the Trump administration’s slashing of the federal government, echoing the president’s claims that the demonstrations are fueled by professional protesters.
His advice came as GOP lawmakers often find themselves at a loss to explain the cuts that have left federal workers suddenly out of jobs in communities from coast to coast.
The scenes at the town halls are reminiscent of past moments — from the Obama-era health care battles, when tea party Republicans fought against the Affordable Care Act, and also the George W. Bush era, when Democrats and others protested his proposed changes to Social Security.
But more immediately, the town hall outbursts resemble the Trump-era protests of 2017 and 2018 when Republicans tried and failed to repeal Obamacare, and then approved sweeping GOP tax cuts — and Democrats campaigned against them, sweeping the midterm elections and reclaiming control of the U.S. House.
The speaker, protecting his thin-as-ever majority, advised his lawmakers to choose other forums — smaller community gatherings or telephone town halls — to discuss the issues with voters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
About the Author
