WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is encouraging Republican lawmakers to skip town halls that have been filled with protesters decrying the Trump administration’s slashing of federal government, echoing the president’s claims that the demonstration’s are fueled by professional protesters.

Some of the meetings have turned into angry confrontations over Trump's moves to fire federal workers and defund government programs.

The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee told G.O.P. lawmakers that public confrontations with angry constituents could hurt them politically in the midterm elections.