A Missouri state lawmaker is accusing U.S. Rep. Mark Alford of trying to intimidate his staff as the Republican congressman faces blowback over a string of firings in the federal workforce.

State Rep. David Tyson Smith, a Columbia Democrat, last week accused Alford, who represents a large swath of Missouri southeast of Kansas City, of sending three staffers to his Missouri Capitol office to intimidate his legislative assistant.

The staff members, Smith said, demanded that Smith’s office stop giving out Alford’s phone number to residents angry about President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who have slashed their way through the federal workforce.

“Congressman Alford, if you have a problem with angry constituents, have the courage to address it with President Trump,” Smith wrote on social media Thursday. “Do not try to intimidate my staff. Also, feel free to pick up the phone and call me man to man.”

Alford denied Smith’s framing of the visit in a social media post on Friday, saying that his staff also visited other “Republican and Democrat state-level counterparts.” He wrote that his phone number was not mentioned during the meeting and Smith’s legislative assistant “welcomed my team with open arms, smiles, and pleasant conversations.”

“It is extremely unfortunate that an elected official feels the need to make up politically motivated lies about our team, who works tirelessly for the constituents of the Fourth District,” Alford wrote in the post, which included a photo of Smith’s legislative assistant. “They do not deserve this.”

The social media scuffle comes less than two weeks after Alford hosted a heated town hall at a coffee shop in Belton where a furious crowd shouted at the second-term Republican at every turn. The focus of the crowd’s displeasure was centered on federal firings in the Kansas City region.

The town hall was one of several instances across the country in which Republican lawmakers have faced angry constituents. U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, abruptly ended an event in Kansas after the audience repeatedly pressed him on actions by Trump and Musk.

Alford spokesperson William Berry said in an email to The Star that Alford’s staff visited at least six offices that day and “no other member or their staffs had any issues.”

Smith, in an interview with The Star, said he was not aware of the Belton town hall until Alford’s staff mentioned it during the visit. He rejected Alford’s description of the visit and said Alford’s decision to post a photo of his legislative assistant was a form of further intimidation.

“We’re a welcoming office,” Smith said. “I mean, they didn’t show up with roses and chocolates. They came there to complain about the calls that were being directed to his office.”

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