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.

The speaker’s advice Tuesday comes as GOP lawmakers often find themselves at a loss to explain the cuts, led by billionaire Elon Musk’sDepartment of Government Efficiency, that are leaving federal workers suddenly out of jobs in communities from coast to coast. Democrats are jumping in to shine a bright light on what is happening.

“We’ve seen this movie before,” Johnson said at a news conference.

“They’re professional protesters,” Johnson added. “So why would we give them a forum to do that right now?”

Johnson was repeating President Donald Trump’s claim posted on social media on Monday that “Paid ‘troublemakers’” are filling the GOP town halls to which the House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded: “We don’t need paid protestors. The American people are with us.”

The Republicans are finding themselves in an unusual spot — defending the deep budget cuts they have campaigned on for years, but have rarely been able to accomplish because the reductions cut into federal programs and services Americans in their districts rely on.

Trump and Musk’s DOGE have fired tens of thousands of federal workers as they tear through the federal government in search of what they call waste, fraud and abuse. It’s spiraling at a pace the Republicans in Congress could only imagine when the party swept control of the White House, House and Senate.

Republicans are feeling the heat back home.

Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas was confronted over the week by spirited residents questioning him about the firings of veterans from the federal workforce.