The chair of the House GOP’s campaign arm told Republican lawmakers Tuesday to stop holding in-person town halls amid a wave of angry backlash over the cuts undertaken by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the NRCC chair, delivered the message inside a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private remarks.

Trump on Monday dismissed the town hall uproar — much of it trained on the sweeping cutbacks made by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency — as being the work of “paid ‘troublemakers.’” Many other GOP leaders have adopted a similar tack, asserting that the protests Republican lawmakers have encountered have been concocted by Democrats and do not reflect genuine voter anger over the Trump cuts.

Liberal advocacy groups have played a role in publicizing the GOP town halls, but there is no evidence to suggest they have paid people to attend.