Happy Birthday, Rep. Lawler!
As Another Government Funding Deadline Looms, Empire State Voices Celebrates Another Year of Lawler’s Terrible Votes and Policies…
NEW YORK — Today is Congressman Mike Lawler’s 39th birthday! In honor of the occasion, we thought it would be fitting to take a trip down memory lane and look back at the past year. Rep. Lawler has cast numerous votes and supported many policies, but almost all of them have left the people of his district worse off.
Let’s review…
Beginning in January, Rep. Lawler immediately stepped aside and did nothing as President Trump began to systematically defund critical programs and agencies that New York families rely on.
In March, Lawler’s constituents began to hold their own town hall meetings in the absence of any in-person appearances by their congressional representative. Rep. Lawler was invited but refused to attend.
From March to April, Rep Lawler worked with his Republican colleagues to advance a budget that would see trillions of dollars cut from Medicaid and SNAP in order to fund tax breaks for billionaires and corporations.
Since April, Rep. Lawler has done nothing but support President Trump’s reckless and chaotic tariffs, which have seen prices for New York consumers rise across the board.
April, May, and June saw Rep. Lawler hold his very first in-person town hall meetings of the year, though the reception was less than friendly. Rather than hear out his constituents’ concerns, Lawler had multiple people forcibly removed after pressing him to stop dodging their questions.
When pressed on his votes to cut Medicaid funding and make benefits harder to access, Rep. Lawler dismissed the inquiries as “stupid fucking questions” and suggested that New Yorkers should simply “find a job” or lose their healthcare.
In June, Lawler signed onto two letters begging the Senate to fix issues in the budget proposal that he had just voted for.
In July, when his pleas fell on deaf ears, Lawler voted for the final version of the budget bill anyway, ripping food and healthcare away from millions of New Yorkers.
Now, Lawler returns to Washington after a month-long August recess. With just over three weeks until a potential government shutdown, it is up to him and the Republican majority to pass a funding bill that supports working New Yorkers, not billionaires.
“That Congressman Lawler is even considering using this government shutdown as leverage to continue to slash healthcare funding is despicable,” said Maria Martinez, Executive Director of Empire State Voices. “As he blows out his candles today, we hope he wishes for something better than cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and higher costs for the people in his district. It might be Lawler’s birthday, but he’s the one giving out presents in the form of tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. If he really wants this to be an impactful year, he should oppose the Republican budget that continues to take away healthcare and food from New Yorkers and their kids.”
To learn more about Empire State Voices, please reach out to press@empirestatevoices.org
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
