Republicans Face Angry, Rowdy Crowds At Town Halls

The New York Times: Critics At Town Halls Confront Republicans Over Health Care
United States representatives often hold town halls with constituents in their home districts during a congressional recess. But this week, with the House on a break, few of the 217 Republicans who approved legislation to repeal and replace critical parts of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, chose to defend their votes at public meetings. Those who did were, in several cases, greeted by shouts and criticism. (Fortin and Victor, 5/9)

NPR: NPR Fact-Checks Republican Defense Of GOP Health Bill
Town hall meetings got loud for some Republican members of Congress this week, as they defended the passage of the American Health Care Act by the House of Representatives. Constituents have been asking a lot of questions, and we've been fact-checking the answers given by some leading GOP lawmakers. (Kodjak, 5/9)

The Associated Press: Raucous, Angry Crowd Grills Virginia Rep. Brat At Town Hall
Critics of Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Brat and the House health care bill he voted for packed a raucous town hall meeting in his Virginia district Tuesday night, booing and shouting down the congressman from start to finish. (5/9)

Roll Call: Dave Brat Town Hall Gets Heated
Rep. Dave Brat faced a rancorous crowd at a town here Tuesday night that took issue with his positions on health care, Russia investigations and, frankly, most other topics. Brat, meanwhile, took issue with many of the attendees’ frequent shouting over him, saying it was counterproductive to civil discourse. ... Contention defined the hour-and-a-half town hall, which was co-hosted by Brat and Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase. Health care was the hot topic, but questions touched on a wide array of issues from the federal budget process to President Donald Trump’s tax returns to environmental and internet policies. (McPherson, 5/9)

The Washington Post: At Raucous Town Hall, Rep. Dave Brat Struggles To Speak Above The Jeers
“Everybody asks for town halls so we can have civil discourse,” a frustrated Brat told more than 700 people at a suburban Richmond church. “That’s what I’m trying to do. If we go this route, it’s going to be very hard to have rational civil discourse. I’m trying.” Trouble began even before Pastor Stan Grant of Clover Hill Assembly of God finished his invocation. As he prayed to God that the discussion would go forth “in a way that will honor you,” a handful of Brat’s critics stood holding small signs aloft. “Nope,” “Shame” and “Stop using the Bible as a weapon,” they read. (Vozzella, 5/10)

Politico: Rep. Peter King: Obamacare Repeal Not ‘Something To Celebrate’
House Republicans should not have celebrated the chamber’s passage of its health care bill last week, one of their own said Tuesday. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said the narrow vote to pass legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare was too serious an issue to commemorate the way President Donald Trump, administration aides and House Republicans did Thursday — with a public celebration at the White House. (McCaskill, 5/9)

Politico: Frelinghuysen Hammered Over Obamacare Repeal Vote During Teletown Hall
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen may have escaped a rowdy crowd by holding a town hall via telephone, but that didn’t stop constituents from repeatedly hammering the New Jersey Republican Tuesday evening over his recent support of the House Obamacare repeal bill. Frelinghuysen, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, was repeatedly forced during the one-hour event to justify why he voted in favor of the American Health Care Act last week after having opposed an earlier version of the bill. (Jennings, 5/9)

Los Angeles Times: Demonstrators Protest Rep. Rohrabacher’s Support Of American Health Care Act
About 30 demonstrators, some holding signs that read “Putin’s favorite congressman,” “Dump Dana 2018” and “Just say no to Trumpcare,” gathered outside Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s office in downtown Huntington Beach on Tuesday afternoon to protest the Republican congressman’s support for President Trump’s policies. The gathering was organized by Indivisible OC 48, a left-leaning group of constituents in Rohrabacher’s 48th Congressional District who have planned protests outside his office at 101 Main St. since Trump’s inauguration. They started at the office and marched down the street to the pier. (Fry, 5/9)

Roll Call: Some Democrats ‘Adopt A District’ To Talk Health Care
One House Democrat was in enemy territory Monday night, and he was on a mission. “I’m Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney,” the New York lawmaker told a crowd gathered at an industrial event space in Kingston in a neighboring Empire State district. “Where the heck is your congressman?” Maloney was participating in his “Adopt a District” event, an idea he had after he found out that the 19th District’s Republican congressman, Rep. John J. Faso, was not holding town hall meetings during the weeklong House recess. So far, at least three other House Democrats are planning to do the same, though Maloney said the effort is not centrally organized. (Bowman, 5/10)

Roll Call: Mark Pocan To Talk Health Care In Paul Ryan’s District
Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan has accepted an invitation to attend a town hall in Kenosha on Friday despite it being in a neighboring congressional district represented by Speaker Paul D. Ryan. Pocan became the latest Democratic member of Congress to show up in a Republican district in recent days — mostly to hear from constituents about the health care bill the House passed last week. Many Republicans, meanwhile, have largely stayed out of public view during the current recess. (Rema Rahman, 5/9)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Kamala D. Harris’s Claim That 129 Million People With Preexisting Conditions ‘Could Be Denied Coverage’
As part of a tweet storm condemning the House Republican bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) used a talking point that a number of Democrats have used when attacking the changes that proposed legislation would make concerning the handling of preexisting medical conditions in the individual market. We have examined those changes in depth in a report and exposed the false talking point that rape or sexual assault would be considered a preexisting condition. So how does this figure of 129 million fare? (Kessler, 5/10)