Dem
47
GOP
53
Last week, when the House was in recess, many members of Congress held town halls with their constituents. Some got an earful about what Donald Trump and, especially, Elon Musk are doing. In a number of cases, Republicans approve of the layoffs and cuts in the abstract, but are wildly against them when they or people in their town are being laid off. Anna Foy, a woman in the R+11 district of Rep. Richard McCormick (R-GA) complained that she spent 6 years preparing for her new job at the Bureau of Land Management and just like that, she was fired. Bang. Gone. McCoy said that work previously done by people can now be done more efficiently by AI. Her job was wrangling feral horses on federal land. The basic idea many people expressed is: "I love it that Elon Musk is reducing the size of the government but I don't like it one bit when it is my job being eliminated. Why can't he eliminate other people's jobs instead?"
In rural La Grande, OR, Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR) spoke to people in his R+15 district and was booed. Some of them yelled "Tax Elon." This scenario was repeated all over the country, from coast to coast, with representatives trying to defend Musk and Trump to hostile audiences who didn't mind oxen being gored as long as it wasn't their ox being gored.
In OK-05 (R+12), an Army veteran who served five tours asked Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK): "How can you tell me that DOGE... has determined that it's Ok to cut veterans benefits?" In another encounter, a constituent said that it is all right that the government is downsizing, but it should be done humanely and it is Congress' job to see that if it has to be done, the people doing it had better be following the laws.
Democrats were encouraging people to show up at town halls to let their representatives know what they thought of a person no one voted for destroying agencies and killing jobs left and right on his own whim. Lawmakers who didn't hold town halls discovered protests around their district offices. Democrats were surprised at the energy they saw and are starting to realize that holding Republicans in Congress responsible for Musk is making the Republicans squirm. Expect much more of this going forward, as it gives Democrats a villain that rank-and-file Republican voters don't instinctively support.
On the other hand, the Republican activist class likes what they are seeing. At CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference), the speakers and attendees showed their love for Musk. CPAC host Mercedes Schlapp (and wife of Matt Schlapp, a conservative activist who has been credibly accused of sexually assaulting men), said: "Elon Musk is delivering on behalf of President Trump and his mandate to remove waste and corruption and fraud out of the federal government. For too long, the American taxpayers did not know how our money was being spent. And we're finding out that there's a chunk of this money that's been going to this leftist propaganda, not only here in America, but across the globe." AG Pam Bondi hailed "my buddy's great work." Mark McCloskey, who became a conservative celebrity when he and his wife pointed guns at protesters marching past their house after the killing of George Floyd, said: "I love what he is doing. He's a smarter guy than I am." Musk himself showed up and declared: "I am become meme." Note that these folks are all well-to-do and are not at risk of being fired from their government jobs. They can afford to get up on stage for a round of huzzahs. But they are not enough to win elections by themselves. (V)