GOP deals with town hall fury – POLITICO

By MIA MCCARTHY, CALEN RAZOR and BENJAMIN GUGGENHEIM,

08/06/2025 04:50 AM EDT

IN TODAY’S EDITION:
— Republicans try to brush off town hall backlash
— GOP gets specific on changing Senate rules
— Scrapped litigation tax could get a second chance

Republicans are back home trying to sell President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” But not all constituents are buying it — and there’s partisan division over how to account for the backlash, as Nicholas Wu and Cassandra Dumay report with Mia this morning.

On the GOP side: Republicans are brushing off the criticism, saying the outbursts — including the jeers during Rep. Mike Flood’s town hall Monday night — are choreographed by Democrats and don’t represent the actual views of voters.

“I think Democrats have been organized to actually act out in town halls,” Sen. Mike Rounds told reporters Tuesday. “If you’re going to have a town hall where you’re inviting people to come in with the intent of protesting, that’s what you’re going to get.”

And from the Dems: Left-leaning activists say Republicans are downplaying the concerns of their constituents and discounting a genuine rebuke of GOP policies.

“I would say the level of energy and grassroots anger at Congress is at a higher level of intensity now than it was in 2017, and I think that’s evidenced by just the numbers that you’re seeing on the ground,” said Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of Indivisible, a progressive organization he helped found in response to Trump’s first election.

One complicating factor: Republican lawmakers are doing fewer in-person, open-access town halls than they have in the past, offering a smaller sample size from which to draw conclusions about the megabill’s popularity. Rep. Aaron Bean, who represents a solid red district in Florida, told Mia his recess schedule is packed with speaking engagements with small civic groups and at GOP events, but he’s passing on scheduling any larger public forums.

“Only people who have never supported me want me to do a town hall,” he said.

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING. Email us: mmccarthy@politico.com, crazor@politico.com and bguggenheim@politico.com.

IN OTHER RECESS DRAMA — A new police report shows Lindsey Langston, a former Miss United States and a Florida Republican state committeewoman, is accusing Rep. Cory Mills of threatening to release nude photos of her, Aaron Pellish and Gary Fineout report with Mia.

Mills denied the allegations to us last night and claimed Anthony Sabatini, Langston’s lawyer who challenged Mills for Congress in 2022, is attacking him “to score political headlines.” Mills added he had not been made aware of the report or allegations from law enforcement.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

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