At tele-town hall, Rep. Nick LaLota lists shutdown's impact on Long Island

"Republican Rep. Nick LaLota hosted a virtual town hall Wednesday evening where he placed blame for the federal government shutdown firmly on Democrats, saying it will take "more time and embarrassment" from the opposing party until there's a resolution. During the one-hour event, LaLota, of Amityville, fielded 11 questions from constituents on the uncertainty of air travel, health care subsidies, Medicaid and Social Security and what can be done to merge the gap between the two parties."

"He also spoke about the shutdown's impact on Long Island, from air traffic controllers at MacArthur Airport facing "overwhelming stress" to Brookhaven National Lab where "federal research funding is drying up" and employees are being furloughed. Wednesday brought a sixth failed Senate vote for new funding that could have reopened agencies. And the impact continued to expand as the IRS on Wednesday furloughed nearly half its workforce and most of its operations are closed, The Associated Press reported."

"LaLota blamed Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) for the stalled negotiations, saying they are "threatened by" the progressive wing of the party and members like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens) and New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. LaLota fielded criticism from some callers, including a Port Jefferson woman who said "Republicans own this shutdown." The congressman said he disagreed with her characterization. "You'd have to have some sort of Jedi mind trick power to c"

Rep. Nick LaLota hosted a virtual town hall on the eighth day of the federal government shutdown and placed blame for the impasse on Democratic leadership. He fielded 11 constituent questions about air travel uncertainty, health care subsidies, Medicaid, Social Security, and partisan divides. LaLota urged Democratic leaders to allow more senators to cross the aisle to reach 60 votes to fund a temporary "status quo" government and buy time for larger negotiations. He highlighted Long Island impacts, including overwhelmed air traffic controllers at MacArthur Airport, drying federal research funding and furloughs at Brookhaven National Lab, and near-halting IRS operations after mass furloughs. He blamed Senate and House Democratic leaders for stalled negotiations while rejecting accusations that Republicans alone own the shutdown.

Read at Newsday