Republican lawmakers hold telephone town halls as protesters demand more

HOLLAND, Mich. — (AP) — Protesters demanding an in-person town hall from their western Michigan GOP congressman chanted loudly Friday as honking drivers signaled support, disrupting the usual calm of a conservative family vacation town.

Mere hours later, Rep. Bill Huizenga held a town hall — by phone. The vocal disruption seen outside his Holland office earlier in the day was absent, as the more controlled setting allowed for questions from people who wrote and called in.

“I know this may not be satisfactory to some who would like to just create a scene and be, you know, be disruptive,” Huizenga said on the call. “But we know that this is extremely effective for reaching people.”

Some Republicans have opted to hold telephone town halls after GOP leaders in recent days have advised lawmakers to skip town halls that have been filled with protesters decrying President Donald Trump administration's slashing of federal government. GOP lawmakers have at times found themselves at a loss to explain the cuts, led by billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, that are leaving federal workers suddenly out of jobs in communities across the country.

Trump and other Republicans have accused paid activists of taking control of town halls. On Tuesday, Huizenga told News Channel 3 in west Michigan that the outreach overwhelming his office was “funded and organized by outside partisans.”

Meanwhile, longtime Holland resident Linda Visscher and other protesters faced freezing temperatures and falling snow outside Huizenga’s office on Friday. Holding a sign that read, “Our House seat is not your entitlement, you are accountable to your constituents,” she insisted she wasn’t being paid to protest.

“I’m trying to think of a nice way of saying B.S. They are not activists,” said Visscher, who said her political affiliations “lean towards liberal.”

“People who go to town halls are concerned citizens. And just because some of the representatives are getting yelled at or uncomfortably questioned doesn’t mean that you stop doing it," she added.

Nearly 50 people gathered outside Huizenga’s office as cars, ranging from semi-trucks to Ford pickups, honked as they drove by. His Holland office is in Ottawa County, a deeply religious area known as a bastion of conservative politics. Trump secured the area in the 2024 election with 59.5% of the vote.

Nancy Berg, a volunteer at the local Christian Neighbors food bank, held a sign opposing cuts to Medicaid. She said the food bank serves people who are food insecure and “depend on the resources we provide,” adding that she doesn’t know how they will manage if the expected cuts materialize.

Many of the questions Huizenga faced at his phone town hall related to Social Security. Among the potential changes to the Social Security Administration are layoffs for more than 10% of the agency’s workforce and the closure of dozens of offices throughout the U.S. It is all part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Huizenga insisted, “Social Security is not being touched,” adding that DOGE has no authority over it.

Despite facing critical questions, Huizenga concluded his hour-long town hall by saying, “My job as a representative is not to necessarily agree with everybody."

“It’s also, frankly, not to just go out there and stick my finger in the wind,” Huizenga said. “I get hired to use my experience, my judgment, and then to make tough decisions. And then I get a very public job review every two years.”