Mike Lawler's third 2025 town hall is in Putnam County this month. What to know
Rep. Mike Lawler is holding a third town hall meeting after two rowdy gatherings at which constituents grilled him about Trump administration actions and Republican plans to cut spending on Medicaid and other programs.
Lawler, a Rockland County Republican serving his second House term, will be at Mahopac High School in Putnam County at 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 8. It's part of a series of four town halls he planned, one in each of the four counties in New York's 17th Congressional District.
The first two gatherings were in Rockland County on April 27 and in Westchester County on May 4. Both were raucous events where audience members booed and jeered Lawler's responses and some were removed from the auditorium by police. The fourth forum is supposed to take place in Dutchess County this month; the date and location haven't been disclosed yet.
Residents must sign up in advance for the forums, and only those who live in the district are allowed in. The Putnam County event is currently listed as "sold out." But with the previous forums, additional spots have opened up after initially reaching capacity as registrations were cancelled for people from outside the 17th District and those who claimed multiple seats, according to Lawler's office.
The town hall comes after House Republicans narrowly passed a party-line bill on May 22 that extends the 2017 tax cuts and shrinks federal spending. That legislation, now pending in the Senate, gave detail to what were previously rough budget plans and offers fresh grist for discussion at Lawler's latest forum.
Lawler has been weighing whether to run for governor instead of re-election in 2026 and has said he will announce his decision this month. Six Democrats already have lined up to run for his seat in a critical Hudson Valley swing district that will help determine which party controls the House after the next election.
Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Mike Lawler's Putnam County town hall is Sunday, June 8: What to know
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