The NPR Politics Podcast - Most GOP Congress Members Are Avoiding Town Halls, But One Held 15 In A Week

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Most Republican members of Congress are shying away from holding town hall meetings, but Missouri Republican Mark Alford is bucking that trend. We discuss what goes on at Alford’s events and why more Republicans aren’t holding big events in their districts.This episode: White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram, Congress correspondent Barbara Sprunt and politics correspondent Ashley Lopez. This podcast was produced by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. RWJF is a national philanthropy working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right. Learn more at RWJF.org. Hi there. I'm Presley Simblis from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I'm on the last day of my research internship. This podcast was recorded at 12.58 p.m. on Thursday, August 28th, 2025. Things may have changed by the time that you've, listen to this episode, but I will have presented my findings to faculty. Okay, now, enjoy the show. That's cool. Congratulations. I never did the academic route, so that just sounds really scary.

School sounds very hard. School's too much for me. I took it way too seriously. It stressed me out too much, yeah. And now you're here. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Deepa Shibaram. I cover the White House. I'm Barbara Sprint. I cover Congress. And I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics. Okay, so today on the show, Congress is still in recess, and it's a time when traditionally members hold town halls and meet with constituents in their home districts. Many Republicans, though, appear to be avoiding town halls this August, but we're taking a look at one in particular who is actually embracing them. So, Barbara, you've been spending some time with Republican Congressman Mark Alford in his home district in Missouri, and he's an outlier in having town halls at all, right? Yeah, that's right. He is really bucking the trend.

And the NRCC, the campaign arm of the House GOP, had sent guidance earlier this year, basically telling members to avoid these in-person town halls, which can get really contentious, can turn into, like, yelling matches. I think we've all seen some of the videos. And Alfred is going in another direction. He didn't just hold one this week. He held 15. Whoa. Yeah, 15 over the course of four days, like spread across all sorts of counties. His last event ended probably like a few hours before this podcast is going to post.

So he's had quite the marathon week. Interesting. So, okay, so when we talk about bucking the trend, I mean, Ashley, what have these past town halls typically looked like for GOP members? Well, right now they're not having many. I mean, the trend is that a lot of Republicans are not holding town halls. I mean, typically in recess, like this is a thing that members of Congress would do is they'll go to their constituents and, you know, talk about the things they did when they were there. And one of those things would be, you know, passing the tax and spending bill. We could get into why a lot of them are choosing not to do that. But I will say this is not a typical for the Republican Party under Trump. I think in 2017, it was sort of the similar thing. Congress went into recess. And it was noticeable how few town halls were being held to the point that, you know, Democratic activists in like the group indivisible in particular, which is an activist group that is not directly linked to the Democratic Party. It was just sort of like, you know, a good government type pushback. People were holding town halls for their congressmen, even without them.

So this isn't totally atypical. But yeah, right now, members of Congress are not holding a lot of town halls. And the ones that are happening are actually pretty contentious. I mean, I think we all saw a lot of footage of Mike Flood, the Nebraska Republican. His town hall was a little spicy. Yeah. And spicy, meaning like heckling and protests and like the person who's holding the town hall, maybe not being able to answer the questions. And not a good spice. Not like a little. Like too many habaneros. Yeah. And I actually asked Congressman Alfred about this, like, why have so many, especially, like, in this time and, like, given everything that his colleagues have gone through. And he actually said, like, yeah, I was a little apprehensive. He's a former broadcast journalist. He likes being in front of people. But he said, yeah, gave him pause. I had seen the video of Mike Flood. And I had had a bad experience in March where 12 people were supposed to show up for Mondays with Mark Coffey. And there was 200 people that showed up. And basically shouted over me as I was trying to get the answers out. I don't want to talk. over people. Are we going to help heal America by shouting each other? His concerns aside,

it didn't turn into that. It did not turn into screaming matches. He went to places like a university, diners. What stood out to me was, yes, there were like heated moments. Like, there's always going to be someone who has something really spicy to say. And it usually does get a lot of the attention. But overall, it was a really civil experience. And it surprised me because this is a really tense time and we're sort of used to everything's sort of like you're anticipating all of the stress that's coming your way. He said, this is your time. I'm not going to scream over you. And it created an environment where people felt like they could say their peace. He responded to them by name and was like, thank you so much, Tim, for, you know, coming here even though we

disagree. So what specific concerns did people bring up? Yeah, you know, there are a couple that stand out to me. A man named Jeff Droves. He owns a solar energy company in the area. And he described a situation where he had applied for grant funding from the USDA, which had gotten some, you know, funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. And basically, he got approval for this project. He spent $100,000 on solar equipment. And then there was a halt. You know, people can argue the merits of the funding, but it's the fact that when they say it's available and then they take it away after the projects have been done and leave everyone holding the bag, it's painful. I mean, it's life-changing in a very, very damaging way to people.

Like, I'm going to have a heart attack or a stroke. This is the reason town halls exist. So many times lawmakers will pass a bill and pretty much exclusively here are from lobbyists and sort of special interest groups. And everyday Americans don't have the time to go to Washington and tell you this is how this bill is going to affect me. Town halls are how politicians and lawmakers here

how something is received on the ground. And it's not an election year. So the folks who are going are people who have been directly affected by, a piece of legislation. So I think it is interesting that Republicans are deciding not to partake in these because I don't think they're getting a real sense of how this is affecting their constituencies. And this is a way in which Alford is. Another person who spoke up at a town hall was Jeff Carneal. He's a veteran. He's a independent voter. And he talked about how there was a hiring freeze at the VA hospital. And it affected his care in the brain injury and spinal care unit. And how he wanted to make sure that more funding wouldn't get. cut under HHS Secretary Bobby Kennedy. So I asked him about how this has influenced his political views with the midterms more than a year away. I don't think Mr. Alford is, I think he's just toe in the line.

Whatever Donald Trump says, yes, sir, master, I'm going to go do it. And I wish he wouldn't be that way. I voted for him, you know, I've met the man. He seems very nice. I've got to talk to him once or twice. If things change, yes, I will vote for him. if he stands up to Donald Trump. This theme of like standing up to Trump is something that came up repeatedly at all of these stops.

And Alfred had praised Trump at times, like for his leadership. He pushed back at the idea that he has a lot of personal influence over the president. He had to tell people like, hey, like, ma'am, I don't have his cell phone number. We don't have a close personal relationship. But I think it's interesting that that's like sort of the appetite from folks. Well, one thing you kind of touched on Barbara that I want to ask you, Ashley, about is this idea that selling this big domestic bill that Trump, you know, pushed through Congress, it's kind of hard sell for Republicans in a lot of ways. What are some of those challenges when they're talking about

this tax and spending bill that lawmakers are trying to maybe navigate? Well, I mean, the biggest one is that it's unpopular. The polling is not good on, you know, the quote unquote big, beautiful bill to the point that President Trump said in a cabinet meeting earlier this week that he wants to rebrand it because it's got stink on it. It's just like not polling well with people. And yeah, part of it is it doesn't describe. describe like what the bill does. And if Republicans, if the pitch they're making to voters, is that this is a tax cut in some way, then how would you know that from, you know, the title big beautiful bill? So it is kind of like a bind. And then also this is a bill that prevented something from possibly happening. But, you know, with taxes. With taxes. Right. And so that's also hard to sell to voters. I mean, and and also the overlaying message on this was from the Democrats has been like, actually middle class people aren't. getting the most benefit out of this. It is wealthier Americans, which is a very unpopular thing. And then, you know, there's baked into this tax cut bill is a lot of spending cuts on

things that are popular, like SNAP, like food assistance and Medicaid. Those don't kick in until, you know, after the midterms, but still the messaging on this is kind of tough for Republicans. All right, we're going to take a quick break and we'll be back in a moment. Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a national philanthropy, working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right. Learn more at our WJF.org. And we're back. So Barbara, you also spent some time with Democratic Congresswoman Amelia Sykes in Ohio. I'm curious, did she talk about this tax and spending bill? And how did she talk about it? Yeah, she did. It wasn't, I would say, like, the whole focus of

her talk. And I think part of that is the nature of her district. It's a toss-up district. It's one of the like top targeted races for Republicans to try to flip next cycle. And, you know, that demographic of her district is something that, like, she really openly acknowledged right off the bat. She basically came out and said, so half of you voted for Trump and half of you voted for Kamala Harris. She has a particular kind of like balance beam to walk when it comes to her district. She said she would talk about like what she would do for her constituents and that her theme is not going to be just being against Trump. And I think that that's important because in some blue districts, a campaign, you know, that is fully about just pushing back against the administration can work. But I just, I don't think that's the case in a district like hers. She has to navigate this reality that a good number of her constituents probably are happy with this one big, beautiful bill. So most of her town hall was about ways to help constituents navigate things like the earned income tax credit, increasing opportunity, transportation, railways got like a lot of chatter. So it was an interesting place to go to, especially compared to Alfred.

district, but just very different beasts there. Ashley, are other Democrats talking about this tax and spending bill? How is it translating on the other side of the aisle? Yeah, I mean, the problem for Democrats is that they are, you know, speaking out against the big, beautiful bill. There are members of Congress who are talking to their constituencies. The problem is is that Democrats are really fractured right now. There's not, you know, a cohesive message.

It's not really breaking through it. This is very different from 2017 where there was a very mobilized activist class as well as Democrats working together. to oppose what what Trump was up to at the time. I mean, things are just very different right now. And I mean, that is, it's a tough position for Democrats because they have so little power. It is a sort of tough spot to be in. You know, we talked about how these town halls have traditionally been a way for voters to interact with their government, right? This is how they get to have a piece of Washington and their hometowns.

That's the way this system is supposed to work. But with all of these states that are trying to talk about or moving forward with plans to redraw congressional districts before the midterm elections, are those efforts changing the ways that these members of Congress would interact with their own constituents? I mean, I don't think that it's necessarily changing the way that they're going to interact or that they've been interacting. But I do think it's like it's an interesting dynamic to have kind of like holding over your head not just as a member, but also the people going to these town halls who are like, it's very possible that their district will look completely different

in a year. And to back up, this is a conversation, you know, because It all kind of like started when President Trump asked Texas Republicans to redraw their maps, to give five more seats before the midterms next year. At least seven states in response to that have said that they're open to, you know, adjusting their maps as well. If Missouri's governor and legislature do decide to do this mid-decade redistricting, which I should say they don't have to do, like that would be a choice to do. Ohio, on the other hand, they have to do it. But if Missouri does go ahead and do that, there's an interesting kind of thing that would happen in Alford. district, it would probably become a little less strongly Republican. Right now, it's a very safe Republican seat. He's comfortable. If they're trying to dilute a nearby blue seat and make

that more competitive for Republicans, like the flip side of that is that it's going to make Alford's seat a little more competitive as well. And that's the part of this that I think is really interesting, which is like a lot of members of Congress don't really need to be doing a lot of things like town halls and events, you know, to court voters because they're in safe seats. You know, arguably, this is an easy re-election for them. But as states continue to look at, you know, creating more safe seats for their party, it makes other seats around them less safe. So I don't know. There could be some members of Congress that could be forced to be doing a little bit more work in things like town halls in order to keep their seats. Yeah, a lot more work on the ground. That is really interesting. All right. We're going to leave it there for today. I'm Deepa Chivaram. I cover the White House. I'm Barbara Sprint. I cover Congress. And I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.

Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. RWJF is a national philanthropy working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right. Learn more at RWJF.org.