lawler, mike Rep

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THIN MARGIN HOUSE B/C NY FUCKERY? BIDEN WON DISTR SO SEEN A PRESSURE ON BIG BEUT BILL

DOES TOWN HALLS?

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an 6 25

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has called out her fellow Republican Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) over his opposition to President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill."

According to Lawler, the issue of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap has not been duly addressed during negotiations regarding the bill. He told CNN Wednesday he would vote no if the bill is not amended.

Several Republicans from New York have opposed a provision in the bill related to state and local taxes.

In a post on the social platform X Wednesday rejecting these concerns, Greene said: "Mike Lawler usually isn’t the guy in the conference with the best ideas, after all we lost a Republican held seat to a Democrat the last time Republicans voted for one of his 'great' strategy."

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"Now Mike Lawler is a NO on Trump’s big beautiful bill because he won’t accept a SALT cap increase from $10K to $30K per year. And the deduction applies to those who make under $400,000 per year," she wrote in the post.

"What’s the point in Republicans fighting to protect and keep re-electing 'Republicans' if they constantly undermine the agenda America voted for???" she continued.

Lawler responded to her post, saying:“Shockingly the ‘Jewish Space Laser’ lady once again doesn’t have a clue what she is talking about."

“By the way, the reason you enjoy a gavel is because Republicans like me have won our seats. Good luck being in the Majority if we don’t," he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, after a lengthy markup on Wednesday, a House committee approved the tax component of the measure, which includes a $30,000 cap on the SALT deduction.

The Hill reportedthat Lawler, along with several fellow House GOP members from wealthier suburban districts, argue that this cap does not sufficiently reflect the high local taxes their constituents encounter.

Lawler and four other Republicans from the SALT Caucus are demanding a higher cap during negotiations. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) remains hopeful about reaching an agreement, per the report.

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AN RAW 5 245

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'A bumpy ride': Republican extremists and moderates unite to defy Trump

Matt Lasloand Raw StoryMay 15, 2025

A long-simmering Republican Party feud is threatening to derail President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Representatives from either ideological end of the GOP U.S. House conference, hard right and moderate center, told Raw Story on Wednesday work on the GOP’s contentious spending bill, covering tax and spending cuts and enshrining Trump's hardline immigration policy, remains a long way from done.

“This one isn't real close,” said Andy Harris (R-MD), chair of the hard-right Freedom Caucus. “It’s not ready for prime time.”

“This as it stands, I’ve been very clear, does not have my support,” said Mike Lawler (R-NY), a prominent moderate demanding a raise in the cap on SALT, the state and local tax deduction key to Republicans from prosperous, Democratic-led states.

“I know the speaker is trying,” Lawler added. “I know he's going to continue to negotiate in good faith. But as this stands right now, I am a no, and so they're going to need to come up with a solution quickly if they want to stay on the schedule they have.”

Speaker Mike Johnson first wanted to get the budget — containing all Trump's spending priorities in “one big beautiful bill” – done by Memorial Day, towards the end of May. Amid marathon mark-up sessions and seemingly endless negotiations, that target has slipped to the next big holiday: July 4.

Republicans control the House 220-213, with two Democratic seats vacant. Johnson cannot afford many nos.

A main aim of the Republican measure, which when passed will have to be reconciled with a Senate version, is to extend tax cuts passed under the first Trump administration in 2017. It’s also needed to fund the deportation force Trump is bent on unleashing nationwide.

Right-wingers want to secure such tax cuts while slashing federal spending and reducing the federal deficit. More moderate members see the need to raise the SALT cap and threats to impose major cuts to Medicaid as threatening serious damage back home.

Other members of the Freedom Caucus voiced their skepticism to Raw Story.

“I'm not flexing this because I'm trying to get something to South Carolina,” said Ralph Norman (R-SC). “I'm trying to get the math in order to get this country back on track financially. And it just hadn't happened.”

Eric Burlison, of Missouri, predicted ongoing “negotiations and discussions” and voiced support for Ron Johnson, the rightwing Wisconsin senator who on Tuesday said the bill could go down “like the Titanic.”

“Ron Johnson, he has doubts on this, and he's right to have doubts,” Burlison said, adding that he “expect[s] the Senate to be more squishy than us.”

Republicans control that chamber 53-47.

Burlison said the budget talks presented “an opportunity to fix Medicaid … an opportunity to do a lot of reform that we're leaving on the table.

“This Medicaid situation is unsustainable,” he said, before raising a familiar Republican boogeyman: “California has figured it out. California gets more money from the federal government and Medicaid than Florida spends on their entire state budget.

“It's crazy … they're gaming the system, they're gaming the federal government, and then this bill is going to lock in that gamesmanship that blue states like California and New York have been playing and that's what's frustrating to me.

“We have the opportunity to fix this stuff or get the United States government on a financially balanced footing, and we're not taking advantage of this opportunity.”

Jason Smith (R-MO) is chair of the House Ways and Means Committee — one of the most stressful jobs on Capitol Hill right now.

He insisted that “we’re gonna get it done” and if it’s “a bumpy ride, the whole ride, everyone should expect that.”

“I’m OK for whatever passes the bill,” Smith said, adding: “I will do whatever is necessary. I've said it all along … I'll do whatever this takes.”

Lawler and his fellow New Yorker Nick LaLota would like Smith and other leaders to give ground on SALT.

“People are passionate to support their constituency,” said LaLota, who held his Long Island seat last year by beating the CNN host John Avlon.

“Their passion [is] to put this great country back on the right track. That that passion has led to some frustrations is totally fine. I think we'll get there.

“I think we all want to come to a deal ultimately, but it's got to be a deal that's both good for my constituents and the country.

“My constituents helped pay for the 2017 tax cuts when [Republican leaders] capped SALT unfairly at $10,000. The bill was placed on districts like mine to pay for the rest of the nation's prosperity. We can't make that mistake” again."

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an 9 24

Tucker Carlson has a history of doing very friendly interviews with controversial figures on the far right, from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Russian President Vladimir Putin (who he interviewed during a visit to Moscow).

Now, according to Jewish Insider's Matthew Kassel, the former Fox News host is drawing criticism for a "friendly interview" with Holocaust denier Darryl Cooper.

Kassel explains, "Carlson, who helms an independent streaming service, has continued to invite a range of controversial figures onto his show, including some guests who have promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories as well as anti-Israel sentiments that he has abstained from challenging. But his decision to host a self-proclaimed podcast historian, Darryl Cooper — who has praised Adolf Hitler and believes Winston Churchill was the 'chief villain' of World War II — has drawn unusually fierce criticism from top [Republican Party] members."

Kassel adds, "In the interview, Cooper diminished the Holocaust by claiming that 'millions of prisoners of war' had 'ended up dead' in concentration camps, suggesting the Nazis did not have genocidal aims against Jews but were simply 'unprepared' for the war, among other false assertions."

Some of the criticism has come from Dani Dayan, who heads Yad Vashem and slammed the interview as "repugnant Holocaust denial."

Because Carlson is such a prominent figure in right-wing media, Kassel notes, many Republicans serving in Congress "have been reluctant to publicly criticize" him.

But Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York) told Jewish Insider, "Platforming known Holocaust revisionists is deeply disturbing — during my time in the State Assembly, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to help pass legislation aimed at ensuring all students in New York received proper education on the Holocaust — something Mr. Cooper clearly never had."

READ MORE:[Deep-red states meet 'wall of hostility' in forcing Christian nationalism on public schools

GOP fundraiser Eric Levine described Carlson as a "very troubling person" whose views are not helpful to 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Levine told Jewish Insider, "I continue to believe that Donald Trump is best served by appealing to the center of the party. We can hit the Ronald Reagan wing of the party to appeal to Reagan Republicans, moderates, independents, women. I just think that's a more fertile area for votes, and I would encourage him to focus there and distinguish himself from Kamala Harris on policy."

READ MORE: [Walz’s pro-Trump brother drops public criticism — thanks to family invention]

*Read Jewish Insider's full report at this link.

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'Rumor and innuendo': Vulnerable House Republicans threaten McCarthy’s path to Biden impeachment

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 23: Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) listens as Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) and Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) speak during a press conference on immigration outside the U.S. Capitol Building on May 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. During the bipartisan news conference lawmakers introduced the “Dignity Act,” which lawmakers expect will improve the application process for U.S. citizenship as well as increase security on both the northern and southern borders. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Elizabeth PrezaAugust 09, 2023

Several vulnerable House Republicans are expressing doubt about a possible impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last month floated the possibility in an interview with Fox News.

On July 24, McCarthy told host Sean Hannity that investigations into the Biden family by the House Oversight Committee “are rising to the level of impeachment inquiry, which provides Congress the strongest power to get the rest of the knowledge and information needed.”

But, as NBC News reports, “ McCarthy can lose no more than four GOP votes” if he pursues an impeachment inquiry — and “the make-or-break votes will come from 18 politically vulnerable Republicans who represent districts Biden won in 2020 and other self-styled GOP pragmatists.”

READ MORE: Kevin McCarthy tells Hannity Biden family’s business is 'rising to the level of impeachment inquiry'

“Impeachment should not be political by any stretch,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said. “We’ve seen what happens when Congress acts in a political matter — it does not serve the interests of the American people in any way.”

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) echoed a similar sentiment.

“We’ve got to get back to a point where impeachment is what it was intended to be,” Fitzpatrick told NBC News. “I feel like, you know, both in the last cycle and in this cycle, we’re converting into essentially a vote of no confidence in the British Parliament. And I don’t want to see our country go down that path.”

READ MORE: 'Unbelievably irresponsible': CNN slammed over 'bizarre' and 'reckless' report on GOP impeachment plans

While he concedes “it’s too early for a formal impeachment inquiry,” Rep. Don Bacon, (R-NE) is keeping the door open.

NBC reports the freshman representative “said he believes the president was ‘more involved’ with his son's business dealings than he admitted and that the GOP investigations should continue.”

But, Bacon warned, “We should have more confidence that actual high crimes and misdemeanors occurred before starting a formal impeachment inquiry.”

READ MORE: House Republicans’ Biden 'bombshell' keeps failing to materialize: analysis

To that effect, Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), a former county prosecutor, noted he’s heard “a lot of rumor and innuendo” about the Biden family, “but that’s not fact to me.”

“I think there has to be due process that we follow, and I’ve not seen any of that today,” Joyce said.

For Lawler, the representative from New York, “the question to me right now is do the investigations — are they producing enough facts and evidence that warrant taking it to the next step?”

“I don’t think it’s there at the moment,” Lawler said. “But these committees are doing their job.”

“Some of the stuff obviously deserves further review,” Joyce, the former prosecutor, noted. “but there is nothing hard in front of us at this moment to say that any of that is true.”

READ MORE: Fox News host: President Biden’s move to protect Grand Canyon land a ploy to fund Russian government

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