Lawler booed at raucous Rockland County town hall

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler faced a raucous and angry crowd at a Rockland County town hall on Sunday night, with members of the audience frequently heckling and interrupting the congressional representative as he tried to address concerns about potential federal budget cuts and the Trump administration's actions. The hostility was a sharp departure from the relatively charmed life the two-term Congress member has lived since taking office in 2023. While this isn’t an issue unique to him, his constituents are looking at him to answer for every headline they see coming out of Washington, D.C. Lawler often has answers, but on Sunday, they didn’t appear good enough for the crowd.

An estimated 700 Rockland County residents packed into Clarkstown High School South in West Nyack to see Lawler answer questions in person for the first time this year. The town hall was limited to Rockland County residents who needed to be able to provide identification or proof of residence. No bags or signs were allowed, nor were recordings or flash photography, aside from members of the press. Shouting, standing, yelling and screaming were not allowed, and questions were capped at 30 seconds in length; a sign stated that law enforcement had the right to remove those that didn't comply with the rules.

Boos and jeers

During the town hall, Lawler was asked about potential federal budget cuts to services like Social Security and Medicaid. About $91 billion of the state budget is derived from federal funding, and state officials have said that significant cuts in federal funding would lead to a reduction in services. But Lawler maintained his stance that Democrats and the media have exaggerated the concerns around cuts to Social Security and Medicaid. He reminded constituents that there have not yet been any service cuts to respond to or deal with.

“When it comes to Social Security and Medicaid, there have been no cuts,” Lawler said. “Nobody has received less benefits. There's not a single person in this room that is on Social Security or Medicare that can honestly stand here and say that they have received a cut.” The crowd jeered.

When asked at another point in the town hall how he would oppose the Trump White House and what that said about his self-styled image as a moderate, Lawler said that his “record speaks for itself.” The line drew laughter.

The town hall wasn’t all bad for Lawler, and the representative drew applause at times, like when he decried the Russian regime led by Vladimir Putin or called for ban on stock trading among members of Congress. 

What drew the most vitriol from the crowd, aside from the federal budget, was Lawler bringing up former President Joe Biden and his administration. Both Rockland County and the 17th Congressional District as a whole went for President Donald Trump last year, but Democrats still hold a registration advantage. 

Every mention of Biden or Democrats drew jeers – some coming from Republicans who disliked the former president but many more coming from Democrats frustrated that Lawler’s only apparent solution to their problems was to blame Biden. What Republicans like Lawler may be finding is that the strategy of blaming Democratic leadership or even Ivy League programming for issues ranging from antisemitism to the economy doesn’t land the same when they are the ones in power. 

“Folks, if you want me to answer the questions, let the question be asked, and listen to the answer,” Lawler told the crowd at one point. He made it a couple lines laying the current state of the country’s economy at the feet of the prior administration before some had had enough. One man simply shouted “tariffs.” Eventually, law enforcement began to remove attendees who interrupted the town hall.

The crowd at Mike Lawler’s town hall has um… mixed emotions. pic.twitter.com/BZlw4HCZ1W

— Austin Jefferson (@AJeffNY) April 27, 2025

Lawler 2026

Lawler is not the only Republican member of Congress to run into issues during town halls. Many of his peers in the House have either found themselves in the odd position of having to explain the actions of their party leaders and colleagues or swimming against the tide as lawmakers crunch numbers. Some GOP politicians, including Lawler, have opted for telephone and virtual town halls instead of in-person ones. The Rockland event was the first in-person town hall that Lawler has held since Trump returned to the White House, and it saw about 100 protesters gather outside the high school beforehand in protest of Lawler and Trump.

Lawler, like his six peers in the state’s Republican delegation to Congress, is catching flak in the state over the fear caused by the proposed cuts. And it comes at a time when he is preparing for a reelection campaign and considering a run for governor in 2026 – though Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Rep. Elise Stefanik are also considering challenges to Gov. Kathy Hochul next year, which could complicate Lawler’s decision. As chairwoman of House Republican Leadership, Stefanik is one of the most prominent conservative voices in the country, and her entry into the race would make things much more difficult for Lawler. 

Lawler has a reputation as a bipartisan lawmaker who puts his district first, though it’s taken a hit as he has supported Republicans’ planned budget cuts. He’s essentially fighting a war on two fronts, trying not to be too MAGA to alienate his swing district constituents or too moderate to upset Trump and the Republican leaders. 

Neither of Lawler’s two potential gubernatorial primary opponents have to walk the same tightrope. Stefanik, owing to a mixture of geography and branding, doesn’t have to worry about scenes like Sunday night’s town hall. Blakeman might publicly hold more conservative views than Lawler, but he’s not part of the federal government, which means he doesn’t have to answer for what’s going on in Congress, or in federal courtrooms, or even in Elon Musk’s head. 

The Rockland County town hall isn’t the most encouraging start for Lawler, who has three more town halls on the docket. He’ll be making stops in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, and he can only hope those will go better. It’s one thing when his constituents don’t like his answers. It’s another when they don’t want to bother even hearing them.