Indiana Republican lawmaker's town hall a crowd-fest of boos and jeers as she defends Trump spending cuts

By Rich McKay

(Reuters) -Boos, jeers and choruses of "do your job" greeted U.S. Representative Victoria Spartz astatine a municipality hallway connected Friday successful her Indiana legislature territory arsenic she defended sweeping cuts crossed the national government, the latest specified lawsuit by a Republican lawmakers to make large elector backlash.

Spartz went up with the municipality hallway adjacent aft House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson urged Republican lawmakers to debar specified meetings aft immoderate turned into aggravated confrontations with voters implicit President Donald Trump's firing of national workers and defunding of authorities programs. Johnson has claimed that Democrats and activists were liable for the tumult astatine assorted meetings.

Spartz defended the jobs and programme cuts led by billionaire Elon Musk, Trump's hand-picked advisor who is spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency, and she repeated the Republican mantra that the actions are designed to "stop waste, fraud and abuse."

"This is your money, this is your money," Spartz said, arsenic radical shouted astir cuts successful authorities services. "If they tin bash a amended occupation with little money, they should bash that," she said. "That is authorities efficiency."

Spartz, a Ukrainian-born American politician, astatine times had small accidental to afloat reply questions.

Much of the meeting, held successful a suburb of Indianapolis, was taken up by Spartz trying to calm the unruly audience, saying, "I volition beryllium honorable with you, I privation to person the conversation."

Shortly earlier 7:30 p.m., astir fractional the once-packed hall's assemblage walked out, but chants of "do your job" could beryllium heard from extracurricular the gathering hall.

The gathering ended with radical inactive talking implicit the lawmaker.

Spartz told the crowd, "President Trump was elected to beryllium president by the bulk of Americans, but I cognize you are frustrated with Elon Musk, I cognize you are precise frustrated, I privation to enactment engaged."

Spartz lasted for the afloat 2 hours planned.

(Reporting by Rich McKay successful Atlanta; editing by Donna Bryson and Leslie Adler)