Republicans Hide, Plan 'Sham Town Halls' to Duck Angry Constituents

While some Republican lawmakers have faced angry crowds at town halls this week, many are going out of their way to avoid meeting constituents face-to-face during April’s congressional recess.

A USA Today analysis published Monday showed that “Reps. Leonard Lance of New Jersey and Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania appear to be the only swing-district Republicans who voted for their party’s bill to replace Obamacare who will directly face constituents over the April recess.” 

But Costello caught flak from his hometown newspaper, which criticized the lengths to which the congressman was going to seemingly sanitize the event.

Sure, wrote Unionville Times editor Mike McGann, it was “good news” that Costello scheduled a forum for Saturday. However, he continued:

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Still, that’s better than Costello’s colleagues, Republican Reps. Pat Meehan and Lloyd Smucker, who McGann noted “can only be found on the back of milk cartons.”

That puts them in similar league with lawmakers around the country, whose constituents are resorting to billboards, protests, and petitions to highlight absentee officials.