A packed crowd erupted in applause Tuesday evening as Maryland lawmakers took the stage at Howard Community College for a town hall addressing their fight against President Donald Trump’s administration.

Hundreds, both in-person and online, wanted to hear from U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, U.S. Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth, and Howard County Executive Calvin Ball.

Cheers and a standing ovation greeted the elected officials as they walked in, though the room turned tense when Ball mentioned the Department of Government Efficiency, drawing some boos.

“Together, we will fight for you,” he told the audience.

The town hall, which at times resembled something closer to a pep rally, was the latest event elected leaders have organized for Marylanders to air their exasperation with the Trump administration’s early actions.

The state is home to nearly 327,000 federal workers, many of whom are facing serious economic uncertainty as Trump and his allies say they are prepared to make major cuts.

Events for federal workers are proving to be particularly popular in Howard County, which is home to an estimated 50,000 civil servants.

Just days before the town hall, county organizers realized they would need more space to accommodate the 1,200 people who had already registered to attend. Another 1,000 people indicated that they were planning to attend virtually.

Even after the town hall was relocated to a gymnasium in the community college’s athletic complex, some people were furious to learn they would need to watch the speakers from an overflow room elsewhere on campus.

Lawmakers took questions from residents and outlined their efforts in Congress and the courts to protect Marylanders’ rights and support federal employees.

Van Hollen fired up the crowd, declaring that Maryland’s federal representatives have been “the tip of the spear” in Congress pushing back against Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s “illegal attacks on merit-based civil servants.”

The audience responded with stomping feet and thunderous approval.

“Impeach them all,” one person shouted. “Lock them up!”

Others shouted, “What are you gonna do about it?”

Alsobrooks said she thinks that question is justified. Democrats in Congress must convince three Republicans in the House and four in the Senate to swing a vote, she said.

In the meantime, apathy is not an option, Elfreth said.

The freshman congresswoman said she’s spent much of her time attempting to reach across the aisle to Republican colleagues. She said she has an obligation to communicate what the thousands of federal workers in her district contribute to the country.

“We cannot get Social Security checks out on time if we’re slashing that workforce in half,” she said. “We cannot ensure that air travel is safe when we’re cutting the FAA. We cannot make sure we don’t pay $10 a dozen for eggs if we’re firing the scientists studying and preventing avian flu across this country.”

Outside the event, protesters lined up with signs, some denouncing Trump and Musk, others calling for political resistance.

Ellicott City resident Kris Singleton waved a large American flag with a sign that read, “We the people rise up,” while retired federal contractor Bill Wood carried a handmade sign reading “Flush the Felon” with Musk’s image taped inside a makeshift toilet bowl.

“I didn’t vote for Elon Musk, and he has some bad ideas,” Wood said, adding that he hoped lawmakers inside were ready to take a hard stance.

The 72-year-old is retired, but used to work as a federal contractor for a cybersecurity company that worked with the IRS. Wood said he planned to tell lawmakers at the town hall that they should be introducing bills in support of immigrants as often as possible, daring Republicans to oppose them.

Trump and Musk are “young boys in adult bodies tripping off their egos and whims, and I’ve got no use for them,” he said. “Everything they’re choosing to do is wrong.”

This story has been updated.