By Shania Shelton and Eric Bradner, CNN
A man shouts at Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) during a congressional town hall meeting on March 13, 2025 in Asheville, North Carolina. Photo: SEAN RAYFORD / AFP
Shouts of "January 6" and "tax the rich" flooded a town hall in Laramie, Wyoming, on Wednesday, where GOP Rep Harriet Hageman faced a hostile crowd as she attempted to drown out the noise and answer questions, the latest such Washington lawmaker to be grilled in their home states.
Hageman said she liked the opportunity to do town halls "because it lets me come here, give you an update on what I'm doing back in Washington, DC," prompting a swift response of "nothing" from one man.
"If you have so little respect for our process and for what we are in this country," Hageman started before being interrupted by some boos. "Then I would ask you to leave."
Voters have expressed their frustrations in several town halls across the country in recent days as they publicly vocalize their dissatisfaction with those in office. Constituents have criticized Republican members of Congress about President Donald Trump's executive power and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency efforts, while some Democratic members have faced complaints of being disorganized and not fighting Trump hard enough.
Rep. Hageman’s town hall has been going on for only 15 minutes but she’s already been booed and heckled several times
— Kate Santaliz (@kate_santaliz) March 20, 2025
The loudest boos came when Hageman spoke about codifying DOGE cuts
There are almost 500 people in the audience, with a mix of supporters and protesters pic.twitter.com/8jm3E99GZu
Hageman attempted to speak on DOGE and its efforts to reconfigure the federal government at one point, telling constituents at her town hall on Wednesday, "Here's the only thing that DOGE has done, it's so bizarre to me how obsessed you are with federal government." She was immediately interrupted with jeers of disapproval and loud boos.
"You guys are going to have a heart attack if you don't calm down," Hageman told the crowd after repeatedly attempting to take control.
Democratic Rep. Sean Casten was interrupted several times by pro-Palestinian protesters during his own town hall Wednesday night in Downers Grove, Illinois. He warned that people "are going to decide not to come to town halls anymore because it's not productive."
Pro-Palestinian protestors confronted Democratic Rep. Sean Casten at a town hall in Illinois’ 6th congressional district last night pic.twitter.com/hSj8fkLnvB
— Julia Manchester (@JuliaManch) March 20, 2025
At one point, a man jumped onto the stage with Casten, prompting the congressman to tell the crowd he would step off the stage and call the police.
"Sir, get off the stage! Get off the stage!" Casten yelled at the man.
In another instance, a woman in the audience stood up and yelled at Casten about US support going to Israel.
"Ma'am, can you please sit down? Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am… what is your point in disrupting this event? I recognize your face, you have disrupted many events," Casten responded.
Police asked the congressman to end the event and send everyone home after several heated exchanges.
A man shouts at Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) as members of law enforcement escort him out of the buiding during a congressional town hall meeting on March 13, 2025 in Asheville, North Carolina. Photo: SEAN RAYFORD / AFP
A rise in heated confrontations from constituents
The town halls on Wednesday night illustrate growing signs of unease and dissatisfaction from constituents across the country.
Hageman faced another round of hostility at her town hall on Thursday, where in a tense exchange she was questioned by a voter about the Trump administration's claims of fraud in government spending.
"You are a lawyer, where is this fraud?" the voter, who identified herself as a retired military officer and Republican, asked Hageman, according to CSPAN video of the town hall. The voter added: "What company, what organization, what personnel are we going after?"
(Left to right) Congressional representatives Sean Casten and Harriet Hageman. Photo: CNN / Getty
Hageman pointed to spending by the US Agency for International Development - which the Trump administration and DOGE are attempting to dismantle - as the fraud. "This is what it is. This is the spending associated with the fraud. This is the fraud, spending is the fraud," Hageman asserted, to the dissatisfaction of the constituent and other attendees, who repeatedly interrupted her as she attempted to cite numbers.
GOP Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia faced some tough criticism and occasional boos from constituents last month as he fielded questions about the Trump administration's early actions.
At one point during his February town hall, McCormick was pointedly asked about the firings of hundreds of workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is based in Atlanta: "Why is a supposedly conservative party taking such a radical and extremist and sloppy approach to this?"
"I'm in close contact with the CDC. They have about what, 13,000 employees, 13,000 employees at the CDC. In the last couple years, those probationary people, which is about 10% of their employee base, about 1,300 people, which you're referring to. A lot of the work they do is duplicitous with AI," McCormick said.
The mention of AI led to "no's" and murmurs from the crowd, leading the Republican representative to say, "I happen to be a doctor. I know a few things."
GOP Rep. Cliff Bentz faced a similar reaction from his constituents during a town hall last month in La Grande, Oregon, where he also received questions on DOGE. One constituent asked, "Since DOGE was created without the Congress, who is paying for it," leading to applause from the crowd.
"The DOGE committee, as I understand it, is being filtered into, if that's the right word for (it) or put into another agency, but we are looking into that now to find out. I don't know the answer," he said before being interrupted by some boos and jeers of disapproval.
Some of the tough criticism and oftentimes angry remarks have led to police action. One man who identified himself as a veteran was escorted out of a town hall in Asheville, North Carolina after he shouted in protest following GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards' comments about voting for the House budget resolution.
Veteran, Sam Bingham, left, points at Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) before a congressional town hall meeting on March 13, 2025 in Asheville, North Carolina. Photo: SEAN RAYFORD / AFP
Edwards told CNN following the town hall, "There were so many people that took time to be there, that took time to put questions in the box that they wanted answered. I believe it's part of the democratic process, even though it might be uncomfortable from time to time. I think town halls are necessary."
Other members of Congress showed more frustration about the matter. GOP Sen. Roger Marshall left his town hall earlier this month in Oakley, Kansas, after a larger-than-expected crowd pressed him about DOGE cuts including jobs held by veterans.
Fears of angry protesters have deterred some in office from going in front of crowds. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer postponed planned book tour events in several cities citing security concerns, after receiving heavy backlash from within his caucus and the Democratic base over his decision to vote to advance a Republican-led funding bill last week.
Local chapters of Indivisible, a progressive group created in 2016 after Trump first took the White House, had planned protests around events for the book tour.
- CNN
