Republicans Pivot to Virtual Town Halls To Avoid Opposition

After being told to stop hosting in-person town hall events to avoid Democratic activists, some Republicans in Wisconsin’s congressional delegation have gotten the message. Instead, they’ve been hosting much less confrontational virtual town halls, with Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden saying it’s because of “George Soros-funded agitators.”

Online or telephone town halls are nothing new, but they’ve gotten more attention since the head of Republicans’ national congressional campaign arm told GOP members of Congress to stop holding in-person town halls amid a backlash to federal cuts launched by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Some of that backlash was visible in Wisconsin at in-person events last month. During a town hall near Oshkosh, U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, faced boos, shouts and angry questions on topics ranging from fears of cuts to Social Security and Medicaid to concerns over Musk’s power in Trump’s administration. U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-West Bend, faced similar backlash during another in-person town hall in late February.

Trump and Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana have claimed the raucous gatherings are the result of paid protesters.During a virtual event Wednesday, Van Orden, a Republican from Prairie du Chien, said he’s gotten requests to hold in-person town halls, but that’s not happening. Instead, he said he’ll hold a series of online Zoom meetings to address constituents’ concerns.

“And this is why: There’s been a group of George Soros-funded agitators going around the country disrupting town halls being held by Republicans,” Van Orden said. “And I find that completely disrespectful to the people that are attending the town hall who want to be able to speak directly to their representative, and I’m not going to allow them to do that.”

In late February, an Eau Claire-based group opposed to Trump’s actions said Van Orden’s office canceled a meeting with them to share concerns about the president’s executive orders, cuts to federal government programs and staff.

Democrats have been sharply critical of Van Orden, whose 3rd Congressional District is Wisconsin’s most competitive congressional seat, and a top priority for the national party as it looks to regain control of the U.S. House next year. On Wednesday, they attacked Van Orden for avoiding an in-person event.

“Pre-screened questions asked by a staffer,” wrote Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Joe Oslund in a post on X. “Warm and safe.”

Van Orden questions cover topics from from Medicaid to DOGE

During Van Orden’s 39-minute online meeting from his Washington office, he said he wants to be the most accessible member of Congress, but “to have somebody screeching in the background, that is not having a productive discussion with either myself or their fellow constituents.”

Van Orden also said his office would not tolerate people calling his office and speaking with staff “in a disrespectful manner.”

“And that’s few and far between, but one is too many,” Van Orden said. “We’re just not going to do that.”

Van Orden responded to submitted questions read by a staff member. The first asked what he is doing to protect Social Security and Medicaid. He mentioned a budget resolution narrowly passed by the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives that laid out budget cut targets. Of those, a House committee overseeing programs like Medicaid and Medicare has been tasked with finding $880 billion in reductions.

Van Orden said claims from Democrats that Republicans are cutting the social safety net programs are lies, and his office has been inundated with calls repeating them.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the $880 billion target can’t be met without cuts to the social safety net programs because the committee only oversees a total of $581 billion in spending if Medicare and Medicaid are excluded.

Other questions focused on tariffs, whether there should be more or less U.S. aid going to Ukraine, rural health care and whether Congress is working with DOGE or if Musk is “doing his own thing.”

Van Orden said he doesn’t want a trade war with Canada or Mexico, but said Canada hasn’t been abiding by a trade deal signed with Trump during his first term. He said he supports peace in Ukraine while also labeling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.”

On DOGE, Van Orden said he’s talked with Musk and his staff of “tech dudes” to explain “rural America” to them. He said they share a common goal of making America prosperous and secure.

“Is it going to be tumultuous right now?” Van Orden said. “You bet it is. But I would rather shake the tree than water the tree with the blood of liberty.”

Different mood during virtual town halls

In addition to Van Orden’s event, U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, held a combined virtual town hall Monday where they fielded a mix of submitted and live questions. There was no shouting, jeers or boos.

Wied and Tiffany said neither they nor Trump are interested in cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits. Instead, they said reckless spending in Washington needs to be reigned in to keep the programs solvent.

“You know, 73 percent of our budget is in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,” Wied said. “The rest of it is discretionary. But right now, we’re working hard to find waste, fraud and abuse in those. But within the entire budget, no cuts to Medicaid have been identified.”

Other questions during the virtual, joint town hall focused on what the congressmen were going to do to secure the border and whether any government employees will be “held accountable” for sending taxpayer dollars toward “foolish outcomes.” One caller urged her fellow constituents to give Trump and his cabinet a chance after inheriting “a total disaster” from former President Joe Biden.

Mental health professional Amy Trader of Green Bay was on the call, but told WPR her question didn’t make the cut. She said it was about a survey showing a large percentage of youth in Wisconsin identifying as LGBTQ+ have considered suicide within the last year. She didn’t get a chance to pose it to Wied and Tiffany.

In an interview, Trader said the entire event felt curated.

“There was just so many questions that were allowed to come through that were clearly supporting him (Wied), almost leading questions that felt like trying to get them to respond on something they already knew the answer to,” Trader said.

Trader said she’s a Democrat, but she wasn’t paid by anyone to call into the town hall.

Listen to the WPR report

After earlier meetings turned contentious, Wisconsin Republicans switch to virtual town halls was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.