WASHINGTON — Members of a left-leaning group tried to get Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House, to hold a town hall to talk about President Donald Trump’s sweeping changes to Washington.

Receiving no response, Wright County Indivisible and Indivisible North Metro chose to hold one without him. At least 300 people packed into the Monticello Community Center last week.

In Moorhead and Willmar, hundreds have been protesting outside Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s district offices and in the street, calling on her to talk to them about what’s happening to the federal government under Trump.

Similar protests have drawn dozens in New Ulm and Rochester in front of Rep. Brad Finstad’s district offices and more outside of Rep. Pete Stauber’s office in Hermantown.

“They’re not elected just to represent Republicans. They’re elected to represent everybody,” said Brian Vroman, of Grand Rapids, who sits on the leadership team of Itasca Area Indivisible, which organized a Hermantown protest that drew about 400 people.

Sparked by Trump’s return to the White House and his dramatic reshaping of the federal government, the protests have largely been organized by members of Indivisible, which formed as a resistance movement during Trump’s first presidency.

The group organized similar demonstrations shortly after Trump took office in 2016 and helped propel Democrats’ 2018 blue wave in which they retook the U.S. House in the midterm elections.

Organizers say their efforts will only grow if Republicans don’t heed their calls, warning there could be consequences for those facing reelection in 2026.

“It might not be comfortable for them,” Vroman continued. “But ... it’s a duty of their position that they have open meetings with their constituents.”

Calls for Minnesota’s four Republicans to hold town halls come as GOP leadership has been advising lawmakers against holding them in person amid recent hostile receptions for some party members.

“They’re doing this for the cameras. We all know it,” Speaker Mike Johnson said of recent heated town halls during a news conference this week. Johnson instead, encouraged members to hold virtual town halls or smaller forums. “I think it’s wise not to play into it right now.”

Republicans believe the protests are meant to sow chaos rather than create a dialogue between voters and their representatives. They suspect many of the protesters do not live in the districts where they’ve gathered.

“They’re not actually even advocating the positions that they care about effectively,” said Jennifer DeJournett, executive director of the Minnesota Republican Party. “It’s sort of manufactured outrage in an area where they don’t even live.”

Stauber has held one virtual town hall this year, a venue which his spokesperson, Kelsey Emmer, said is “preferred by the vast majority of the congressman’s constituents and remain popular because of their ease and accessibility.”

Fischbach declined to comment about the protests in her district when approached on Capitol Hill. But she, too, questioned whether the protesters were from her district during a radio interview. “I’m betting money they’re not from the 7th District,” Fischbach said.

Rita Buntje said that’s not true.

“We are not paid activists. We are not from outside her district. We want to talk to her, and we want to have a town hall,” said Buntje, a Spicer resident and organizer at Indivisible Kandiyohi County, which was behind the recent Willmar protest.

Holding a sign at the Willmar protest critical of Trump, Fischbach and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who’s been leading the efforts to dramatically cut the federal government, Jane Emberland of Willmar said: “Trump is controlling Fischbach, who is not serving us.”

State Sen. Robert J. Kupec, a Democrat from Moorhead, said he recognized almost every person he saw in the photo of the protest at Fischbach’s district office in Moorhead.

Kupec held two town halls of his own this year, which he said were widely attended and dominated by questions about Trump and Washington’s impact on Minnesota.

“It’s a little disappointing to see our congressional delegation not wanting to go out and talk to people who maybe have a differing opinion than they do,” Kupec said.

As Emmer’s first term in office was ending in 2017, he touted the 24 town halls he held in the two years he was in office. “When I first took office two years ago, I made a promise to the people that I would be serving. I promised that I would remain accountable, accessible and transparent,” Emmer wrote in a Medium post at the time.

But in recent years, Rose Thelen of Clearwater, a Wright County Indivisible member who helped organize the protest in Emmer’s district, said she can’t remember the last time he’s held one, which is why the groups tried to force one on him.

“We wanted to let him know that whether he wants to see or hear us, we are watching him, and we want to be heard because we’re very concerned about the havoc that’s occurring in D.C.” Thelen said.

Emmer’s office said the House majority whip’s “proven record of engaging with constituents speaks for itself.” A spokesperson also said Emmer would not be “distracted by liberal activist clown shows.”

Emmer told NBC News in an interview this week that he’s yet to hold a town hall this year but plans to hold them in the near future.

Asked about the calls in his district to hold town halls, Finstad said during a brief interview on Capitol Hill that he recently held a virtual town hall in which more than 3,000 people participated. He referred further questions to his office, which did not respond.

Cimarron Burt of Mankato, a member of the Indivisible offshoot in her city, who helped organize the protest outside of Finstad’s New Ulm office, thinks virtual town halls are not enough.

“To us, it seems to point to a lack of accountability, that he won’t face his constituents earnestly or publicly,” Burt said. “A big part of the protests on Thursday was to demonstrate our dissatisfaction with his lack of availability.”

Republicans are not the only ones Indivisible has pressured to hold town halls.

When Indivisible West Metro was initially rebuffed by Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar’s offices about a town hall, Greg Laden of Plymouth, a co-leader of Indivisible West Metro, said the group told them they would protest.

Both senators eventually got on a Zoom call that was attended by as many as 2,000 people.

“It looks to me like my Republican colleagues don’t want to hear from constituents who are unhappy with what the president and Elon Musk are doing. But that’s the way democracy is supposed to work,” Smith said.

Gov. Tim Walz wrote on X that he may host town halls in Republican districts with the goal of helping Democrats win there.

Reps. Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum have so far been the only ones of the 10-member state congressional delegation to hold in-person town halls this year. The four other Democrats have held virtual town halls, with Klobuchar and Smith having in-person listening events.

Omar said pushback should not deter lawmakers from town halls.

“I’ve been shouted at, I’ve been threatened and I have never canceled or shied away from from holding them,” Omar said. “I think these members obviously are unwilling to present their views on what they think the administration is doing.”

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(Jp Lawrence of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.)

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