Congressman Lawler Has Abandoned Hudson Valley Families

Every day the shutdown continues, Hudson Valley families find themselves on edge — worried about keeping food on the table and health insurance for their loved ones. Instead of demonstrating leadership and bipartisanship, Congressman Mike Lawler has chosen to stand with President Trump, Senator Thune, and Speaker Johnson, blocking potential solutions and telling Democrats there’s “nothing to negotiate here” as the pain deepens in Rockland, Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester.

As I’ve written before, Lawler ‘goes along to get along’. He doesn’t care whom he hurts, as long as he avoids Trump’s retribution list.

Democrats, lacking enough legislative votes and sensing a window of opportunity to protect millions of Americans, forced the issue when federal funding ran out on October 1. We must extend ACA health care subsidies, a lifeline to over 140,000 New Yorkers, 37,000 of them in Lawler’s district alone. The expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits is estimated to more than double what subsidized enrollees currently pay annually for premiums. There is likely to be a 114% increase from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026 according to a recent KFF analysis (KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation).

It shouldn’t have to be this way. But Lawler — instead of embracing negotiation — skips town, blames the other side, and talks about scrapping the ACA altogether, putting his own neighbors at risk. According to ABC News, Americans like retired nurse Nancy Murphy, a diabetic who depends on ACA coverage for her insulin pump, are left wondering how they’ll survive if premiums skyrocket overnight. But Lawler prefers to see $1 billion spent on the Qatari Air Force One than provide health insurance to millions of Americans.
The man whose sales pitch states that he’s the most bipartisan member of Congress is lying. Instead of working across the aisle to extend these subsidies and reopen the government, Congressman Lawler has joined Republican leaders whose goal is to cancel affordable health care hostage because Trump wants to erase Obama’s accomplishments.

In the Hudson Valley, we value all of our neighbors and expect our representatives to fight for us — not to gamble with our health care or our livelihoods. Congressman Lawler must stop hiding behind partisan talking points and stop failing the people whom he was elected to serve, before it’s too late.

Our health and our humanity are on the line. Enough is enough.

Mark A. Lieberman

Yorktown, NY