While August recess gives members of Congress a chance to escape Washington, D.C., and spend time in their districts, it also means answering to their constituents.
As town halls replace committee meetings during this last stretch of summer, Republican congressmen find themselves facing increasingly critical and at times raucous crowds of voters.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa represents a California district that he won by 15 percent and voted overwhelming for President Donald J. Trump in 2016, but none of that was apparent Monday as the Republican congressman heard from his harshest critics.
Over the course of the hour-long town hall, LaMalfa was on the defensive as constituents booed and asked for his resignation. One man told the congressman, "May you die in pain."
Health care, immigration, and environmental protections all elicited strong responses from the crowd. At one point, as shouts and boos rang out, the congressman quipped back, "I have the mic folks. Yep, boo away."
While he is often met with negative responses, LaMalfa has continued to host town halls during breaks from Congress. He is the only California Republican House member scheduled to have town halls during August.
Rep. Mark Meadows, who played a critical role in the passage of the House's repeal and replace plan for the Affordable Care Act, was also shouted down at times during a town hall Monday in his North Carolina district.
The conservative chairman of the House Freedom Caucus looked out at a crowd of people waving "Disagree" signs as he said there would be another attempt at repealing the 2010 health care law in September. And a comment he made criticizing a tax on the wealthy was met with boos.
At one point, Henderson County Sheriff Charles McDonald took the microphone to ask the crowd to quiet down.
While a majority of the 416 seats in the auditorium were filled with detractors, there were some vocal supporters of Meadows in the crowd. Cheers rang out when Meadows spoke about gun rights, deregulation and veterans support.
At the end, Meadows thanked the crowd for "being respectful _ even vocal. But respectful."
