Republican town halls 'buzzsaw of criticism' as Trump’s 'Big Beautiful Bill' roils the Senate

30 May

Trump won this Texas county in a landslide. His supporters still forced the elections administrator to resign

The Hill reports Republican lawmakers are running ‘into a buzzsaw of criticism’ back home from constituents worried President Donald Trump’s budget proposal will cut too deeply into federal programs. Others are complaining the bill adds trillions of dollars to the federal deficit, against the pledges of many GOP incumbents who ran on a platform deficit reduction.

This week, constituents grilled Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb) over his support of the budget proposal, which includes changes to Medicaid against the approval of a wide swathe of voters, according to polls. Loud boos and screams erupted from the crowd when Flood admitted “I voted for that bill.”

Colorado Public Radio reports members of the state’s Republican delegation got a similar shout-down from protesters at a press conference while lauding the proposal. The crowd chanted “shame on you” and “midterms,” to the group while they made their case for support.

This week Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) encountered cat-callers in her crowd, fielding jeers, boos and shouts of “liar” while speaking in defense of Trump’s budget.

“I don’t know why you boo tax relief for you. I think it’s really important that you get to keep more of your own money,” Hinson told the crowd. She added that she intended to “clear up a lot of the misinformation that’s out here today” about the bill, but the audience continued to deliver noise and laughter.

Accusations from party leaders that Democrats were peppering town hall crowds with staged hecklers do not appear to be going as far as they did earlier this year. The Hill reports Flood openly rejected the claim at his own town hall.

“I don’t think one of you is here because you’re getting paid,” said Flood. “I don’t think one of you is here because you were trucked in.”

In addition to bad public reaction, Trump’s bill faces serious opposition from Senate Republicans as well. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) says he will refuse to support the bill because of the cuts it threatens to the nation’s social safety net program, while others like Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) say the bill does not cut enough from the federal budget to stall the deficit.

Read the full Hill report at this link.

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