Indivisible, the left-wing group behind the viral anti-DOGE town hall protests in deep-red House districts, emailed Democratic congressional offices to inform them of similar protests the group plans to spearhead when Congress breaks for recess in roughly two weeks.
The message takes credit for the viral February protests that drove headlines in the New York Times, Washington Post, and CBS News, all of which suggested that the demonstrations were proof of broad "backlash" over Elon Musk's efforts to slash government spending. The pieces did not mention that Indivisible and another left-wing group, MoveOn, led the demonstrations.
Now, Indivisible is gearing up to generate similar scenes when both the House and Senate adjourn in mid-March, with the group teasing "even bigger" protests.
"During the February recess, Indivisibles put Republicans on notice by organizing nearly 200 events across the country and directly challenging them for supporting unelected billionaires like Elon Musk over their own constituents," Indivisible's email states. "For the March recess, we need to go even bigger to get the word out about Republicans moving full speed on the Trump Tax Scam."
For any member of Congress who declines to hold town hall meetings, Indivisible says it will encourage its members "to organize an empty chair town hall to provide a forum for discussing the impact of Republicans' reckless agenda and how Democrats and everyday Americans must fight back." It asked congressional Democrats to reply with information regarding their own town halls "to hopefully minimize the amount of calls and confusion over town hall scheduling."
"Thank you in advance and for everything your boss is doing to leverage their power in this moment," the email concludes.
After the NRCC chair reportedly discourages in-person town halls, Indivisible tells Dem congressional offices that they plan organize an "empty chair town hall" for any member who refuses to schedule one. pic.twitter.com/Wi508dasJP
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) March 4, 2025
The message comes as House Republican leaders encourage their members to skip in-person town halls in favor of online events. Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) endorsed that approach on Tuesday, saying the party should not give a "forum" to "professional protesters."
It's unclear how aggressively Indivisible will target Democratic members. The group's updated "Musk or Us March Recess Toolkit" urges activists to "call out any missing-in-action Democrats who refuse to host a town hall." That language is more aggressive than the February version of the toolkit, which included a more general call to "push wavering Democrats to hold the line."
So far, though, Indivisible's work targeting congressional Democrats has largely come through phone banks rather than in-person demonstrations. During a February closed-door meeting for House Democrats, minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) complained that both Indivisible and MoveOn had facilitated thousands of phone calls to Democratic offices. One senior member of the caucus told Axios that Jeffries was "very frustrated" with the groups.
That could explain why Indivisible urged congressional Democrats to disclose their own town hall information in hopes of avoiding "the amount of calls and confusion over town hall scheduling." Indivisible did not respond to a request for comment on how it intends to protest House and Senate Democrats who do not host town halls during the upcoming recess, which runs March 13-21 in the House and March 17-21 in the Senate.
Indivisible has a long history of protesting Republican town halls when President Donald Trump is in office. It did so in 2017, prompting a similar call from GOP leaders to hold tele-town halls instead of physical events. The Times referenced those protests in a Tuesday piece, titled "Republican House Members Told To Stop Holding In-Person Town Halls," but again failed to mention Indivisible's role in organizing them.