At Lawler Town Hall, he vows to stop Rockland from enacting law on ICE cooperation
Lawler advocates for more nuclear power in New York
Rep. Mike Lawler’s Town Hall at Rockland Community College had it all. You passed protestors singing “We Shall Overcome” on the frigid night as you entered the hall. There were pointed questions from constituents asking Lawler for his positions on ICE, Greenland and high energy costs. There was vocal pushback when Lawler’s answers weren’t what the audience wanted to hear.
And then there was Lawler, the two-term Rockland Republican who is fighting for a third term in one of the nation’s most closely watched Congressional races. He used the forum as an opportunity to embrace the resurgence of nuclear power, call for more natural gas pipelines, and the development of wind and solar projects to increase supply and bring down soaring utility rates.
He vowed to break up the health care monopolies of companies such as United Health Care, which provide health insurance, serve as pharmacy benefits managers, and run health-care practices, such as Optum in the Hudson Valley.
On immigration, he called for a pathway to legal status for undocumented residents who had lived in the US for many years, have worked here, and have not been convicted of crimes. That status, however, would fall short of citizenship.
Lawler, who serves as Rockland County Republican Committee chairman, also took a stand on legislation under consideration at the Rockland County Legislature regarding limitations on county cooperation with agents of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
He pledged that such local legislation would never be adopted while he served in the US Congress.
Lawler serves in the 17th Congressional District, which includes Rockland and Putnam counties, Westchester County north of White Plains, and three towns in southern Dutchess County.
.As has occurred in the last three Lawler Town Halls I’ve attended since 2024, there was also the ejection of an audience member. This time it was a Navy veteran who was escorted out by Rockland County deputy sheriffs after he had become vocal during Lawler’s long and winding response to a question.
Restrictions were eased on those who attended the Lawler Town Hall. This time attendees could use their phones to take photos and record the event. Pens and pencils were allowed for those who wanted to take notes. The press, meanwhile, could take photos of Lawler’s staff, a Lawler rule that got me ejected from his Town Hall in Mahopac in June.
Lawler outlined his pitch to the restive crowd. He championed his victory on tax policy, which quadrupled the deductibility of state and local taxes to $40,000. He praised Trump for securing the southern border. He lauded his office operation for working on cases to obtain federal benefits for his constituents. And Lawler said he opposed the Trump administration’s proposal to transform a warehouse in the town of Chester in Orange County into a detention center for hundreds of undocumented immigrants swept up its crackdown.
He noted that Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, the former Chester town supervisor, opposed the ICE proposal.
“Steve Neuhaus has come out against it, so I respect the views of the locals, though I don’t represent Orange County,” Lawler said.
Rockland and ICE
There was considerable tension in the room over the discussion on the federal government’s mass deportation program. Lawler said he opposed the use of masks by officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He chastised critics for calling ICE agents “the Gestapo.” He insisted he would do all he could to stop Rockland County from enacting rules of engagement limiting county cooperation with federal immigration activities, absent a judicial warrant or a criminal investigation.
It will be a test of Lawler’s sway in Rockland County. The legislature is now controlled by Democrats, who have a super majority, with a 12-5 edge, with Legislator Beth Davidson, D-Nyack, one of the measure’s and among the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination to face Lawler.
While Lawler had respect for the opinions of elected officials in Orange County, there was less consideration for how Rockland County officials might vote on a local issue.
“I’m opposed to any effort to make Rockland County a sanctuary county.”said Lawler. “That is foolish. It is idiotic. As long as I’m a member of Congress, this will never happen in Rockland County.”
Lawler and Trump
Lawler provided a glimpse into his views on the issues of election integrity. He characterized as “stupid” the US Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into the 2020 election results in Georgia. He wants new voters to bring proof that they are citizens when they register. And he wants to ban ranked-choice voting, the system now used to elect the mayor of New York.
Lawler bristled at a question about Donald Trump’s conviction of 34 felony counts in New York related to the falsification of business records at the Trump Organization, which included the $130,000 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels that was classified as a legal expense.
“That case was patently absurd,” said Lawler. “You are talking about 34 counts, based on basically accounting. From my perspective, our elections should be decided by the American people, not by some attorney who wants to make a name for themselves or to use the legal system for the purpose of taking away that right.”
Lawler said the felony convictions ended up not hurting Trump in his bid to return to Washington.
Said Lawler: “The fact is with that conviction, he was still elected president of the United States.”
On health care, Lawler noted that he had joined House Democrats to sign the discharge petition on the bill what passed the House, extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years. That measure has yet to be passed by the US Senate. He also mentioned his role in helping convince the Trump administration to extend for nine months a tax imposed on insurance companies that was to sunset on March 31.
Delaying elimination of the tax to 2027 will bring $1.2 billion to the state of New York, Lawler said.
Lawler lashed out at New York for its energy policies, with special concern for its All Electrification Act, which was scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1. That law would require all new construction of less than 7 stories to be heated with electricity, not fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas.
A federal lawsuit, however, has paused that law from going into effect as a challenge to the statute is pending before a federal appeals court.
“A heat pump just ain’t going to do it,” said Lawler. “We need gas.”
While Lawler he is a frequent critic of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, he lauded her proposal in her State of the State address to more than double the state’s reliance on nuclear power. Hochul in January called for the development of 5 gigawatts of nuclear power. New York currently produces 3.4 gigawatts of power at four upstate nuclear plants.
“There’s a number of folks talking about small, modular nuclear reactors to actually start generating more nuclear power, which is the cleanest form of energy,” said Lawler.
The Town Hall was held as six Democrats vie for the right to face Lawler in November. Two of the candidates – Briarcliff Manor Deputy Mayor Peter Chatzky and Suffern Air Force veteran John Cappello – were spotted at the Town Hall.
Chatzky, who sat up front in the fourth row, acknowledged that Lawler had a knack for handling some of the tough questions asked by his constituents.
“Mike Lawler is the master of not answering a question he didn’t want to answer,” said Chatzky.
To correct one thing: regular audience members were still supposedly barred from recording the meeting. It was in the rules emailed with our confirmation: “No flash photography, audio, or video recording except for accredited members of the press.“
I recorded anyway because that rule is illegal.
We can't afford to keep Congressman Lawler in office. He is making sure our utility bills explode by pushing nuclear power. Nuclear is the most expensive energy on earth.