Vulnerable House GOP incumbents sure aren't hosting town halls this summer to sell President Trump's signature legislation like their political lives depend on it.

💥 Why it matters: Republicans insist Trump's "one big, beautiful bill" will become more popular as voters learn more about it. But they're avoiding the in-person town halls that are a mainstay of the August recess.

• Most of the GOP's at-risk members have shunned them altogether, although Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) have held tele-town halls, according to an Axios review.

Zoom in: Before lawmakers left town, the NRCC urged their incumbents to "use your time in the district as an opportunity to sell our wins, especially those in the One Big Beautiful Bill."

• "Now it's up to us to go on offense and show voters how every part of this bill is a big, beautiful win for working families," a NRCC memo said.
• The memo didn't suggest public town halls. Back in March, NRCC Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) advised his members to shift from in-person to virtual town halls to avoid getting baited by paid progressive activists.

💥 Driving the news: A rowdy July 31 town hall held by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.) put Republican lawmakers on notice that selling Trump's bill on stage can generate more negative headlines than positive ones.

• Steil faced boos at the event over Trump's tariff policy, and pointed questions about the Medicaid cuts in the bill that was signed into law earlier that month.

The other side: Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) has defied the GOP trend, facing multiple hostile crowds this year.

• "It's important to stand in the town square and explain your votes and what it means to dispel misinformation and take questions," Flood told NPR after his Lincoln town hall went viral last week.
• "I don't know if I get credit for it or not, but I know some people that will never vote for me come to these things. ... I want them to be able to say what they have to say," he said.

What they're saying: "House Republicans have been hiding from their constituents for so long that even one of their own is calling them out for their cowardice," said Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the DCCC, referring to Flood's comments.

• "The public deserve representatives that will listen to and fight for them, not disappear because they're too scared to admit they've sold out working families to please their billionaire bosses," he said.
• Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the NRCC, countered: "Across the country, Members are taking our message directly to the people, highlighting how these wins are lowering costs, keeping communities safe, and protecting vital programs for the most vulnerable."

Zoom out: Trump's bill still remains unpopular, with 58% of voters disapproving of it, according to a Fox News survey last month.

• Support for the legislation, which cuts taxes along with cutting spending on Medicaid, food stamps and renewable energy, has been underwater all year.
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) insisted in late June that lawmakers just need to sell it to their constituents.

The bottom line: Some Republicans vow that they will continue to engage with voters at town halls, but maybe not this August.

• "I have held four town halls already," said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), speaking of 2025. "We will continue to hold town hall meetings, as I have every year I've been in Congress."

— Hans Nichols and Andrew Solender

D.C.-area lawmakers are infuriated by President Trump's decision to temporarily take control of the district's police force.

• Trump "continues to search for distractions and provocations to divert attention from his outrageous refusal to release the Epstein files," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told us today.

Why it matters: Trump is the first president to use the D.C. Home Rule Act for a temporary law enforcement takeover.

• Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) called it a "historic assault on D.C. home rule."
• Rep. Glen Ivey (D-Md.) told us: "Suspicious minds might wonder if this is just kind of a first step towards a move on other parts of the government in D.C."
• Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said: "Decisions about our nation's capital should be made in close consultation with local leaders ... Instead, the president again chose to bypass those conversations."

Zoom in: Trump said he'll federalize the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and send the National Guard into the city in a major escalation of his campaign to tackle crime.

• Trump has spent days threatening such a takeover after a DOGE staffer was allegedly beaten during an early-morning carjacking.
• At a White House press conference, he called the move a "historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor, and worse."

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— Andrew Solender