Lawler office DOGGED by protestors

Protestors gathered outside of Mike Lawler’s (R, NY17) Pearl River office on Wednesday demanding that the Congressman take a stance against cuts to federal spending enacted by the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Elon Musk. 

Lawler faces pressure from both the federal Republican establishment pushing to enact large scale cuts to the national budget and his more bipartisan constituency, whose most vocal members have expressed dismay at the speed and severity with which DOGE has affected Federal programs. 

“We are here today because [Lawler] needs to stand up against Musk and Trump and stop these massive cuts to USAID, the Department of Education, everything that you can think of that supports people who need extra help,” said one protestor who declined to share their name with the RCT. 

Organized by the Working Families Party, Wednesday’s demonstration was particularly concerned with cuts to the Department of Education. President Trump had suggested completely eliminating the department while on the campaign trail in 2024, and as demonstrated by his efforts to dismantle USAID, he is not averse to entirely scraping long-standing federal programs. 

On Monday, DOGE slashed $370 million in funding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the Department of Education. In a post on Twitter, Musk announced that his operation terminated 70 DEI training grants within the department. 

All told, DOGE has slashed nearly $1 billion in funding to the Department of Education, the majority of the money being stripped from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which focuses on research aimed at improving education. 

Musk has defended DOGE’s efforts claiming that the funds were wasted on fruitless DEI spending, labeling efforts to combat racism and promote social justice as a “wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers,” in a statement provided to The Hill. 

Some Rockland residents, including longtime activist George Potanovic, have taken umbrage with Musk’s efforts and have urged Lawler, who represents all of Rockland County, to take a stand against “an all-out assault on working Americans.”

As detailed in a statement shared with the RCT, Wednesday’s demonstrators expressed concern that “As Trump’s unelected copresident, Musk has made it clear that he plans to destroy the Department of Education and slash spending for critical programs like Head Start, all so he can cut taxes for himself and his billionaire friends.”

Lawler has faced increased pressure from his constituency to take a stand against DOGE. On Monday, a separate protest was organized in White Plains outside of the Federal Courthouse at 300 Quarropas Street making similar requests to the Congressman. 

Jennifer Cabrera, chair of the Westchester Putnam Chapter of the Working Families Party told the RCT on Wednesday that “[Mike Lawler] is on TV all the time, he’s very very public and he has not said a word about what is happening with Elon Musk.

“We’re here to tell [Lawler] that he may be afraid of Donald Trump or of Elon Musk, but the people he should be afraid of is us, his constituents, because we are not going to allow all of this to happen and re-elect him.”

While perhaps not the most vocal or enthusiastic supporter of DOGE or Trump, Congressman Lawler has applauded some of their most recent efforts. In a statement shared with the RCT, Lawler gave tacit approval to auditing USAID, criticizing the organization for supporting “Tomorrow’s Youth,” an outreach group he has characterized as blatantly antisemitic.

“USAID giving $3.3 million to an organization headed by a vicious anti-Israel rapper is beyond the pale and emblematic of the problems that can exist when transparency is lacking in our government,” said Congressman Lawler. “We cannot allow the antisemitism and anti-Israel bias that has run rampant throughout the UN and other international organizations to infect our institutions here in the United States.”

Lawler has also shared statements staunchly in favor of ending New York City’s status as a Sanctuary City and eliminating congestion pricing for those driving into NYC: both high ticket items on President Trump’s wish list, the latter no doubt a sentiment shared with the majority of Rockland residents. 

As rumors swirl that Congressman Lawler will run for New York Governor in 2026, Rockland’s voice in the House of Representatives faces a tight rope walk between enacting his party’s agenda and avoiding the ire of a more divided constituency.