Representative Nick LaLota of New York’s First Congressional District supports the impeachment inquiry targeting President Biden and blames both Democrats and extremists in his own party for congressional dysfunction in 2023, as he prepares to seek re-election next November.
In an interview last Thursday, Mr. LaLota, a former Republican commissioner at the Suffolk County Board of Elections, emphasized a willingness to compromise and seek bipartisan solutions to the nation’s problems, among which he included border security and the national debt. He said the United States should “play a role” in countering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but not before America’s borders are secured.
He refused to discuss former President Trump or address a question about his two impeachments, nor would he endorse a candidate for president. “I have not waded into presidential politics, and I don’t intend to do so anytime soon,” he said. “I’m very focused on the district, making sure I bring home adequate resources from the federal government.”
Regarding the impeachment inquiry, which even some Republicans have called baseless and was reportedly instigated by the former president, Mr. LaLota supports it “because there are two big facts the world knows. The president’s family members made a heck of a lot of money from questionable sources, and two family members sent the president money,” he said, referring to Hunter Biden, the president’s son, and James Biden, the president’s brother. The inquiry, he said, aims to determine if there is a connection between the two.
Twenty-five years ago this month, a Republican-controlled House impeached President Clinton for lying about an extramarital affair, a long and determined effort that backfired in the 1998 midterm elections and left Mr. Clinton in office, as the Senate went on to vote for his acquittal. “Former President Clinton’s sexual relationship with an intern is of much lesser national security concern than what the Biden family might have engaged in,” Mr. LaLota said, asserting that the impeachment inquiry would not have been necessary had Hunter Biden responded to subpoenas issued by the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees. Americans must know “the true nature of those family members giving money to the president,” he said.
He was critical of former Representative Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as speaker of the House, initiated by Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, a fellow Republican. Mr. LaLota and two fellow Republicans from the New York delegation voted for the previous First District representative, Lee Zeldin, for speaker over Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Ultimately, he and his Republican colleagues from New York voted for Representative Mike Johnson, whom The New York Times called “the most important architect” of Republican efforts to dispute the Electoral College count certifying the former president’s defeat in the 2020 election, as the new speaker.
“The eight Republicans and 200-plus Democrats who caused that issue and put the House in paralysis for three weeks are to blame and ought to be held accountable,” Mr. LaLota said. “I came to Washington to govern. Compromise is an okay word. I don’t expect to get everything I want, but don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
With Mr. McCarthy’s resignation this month, Republicans lost a top fund-raiser, the former speaker having raised, this year, more than 100 times the sum Mr. Johnson had as of his ouster. “In a purple district especially, campaign resources matter,” Mr. LaLota said, but added that “we have had four very successful fund-raising quarters in a row, and I’m likely to report somewhere around $1.3 million on hand to start 2024. I would hope that this next election is not one based on campaign money but on a candidate who is better on the issues: crime, public safety, affordability, individual freedoms. I am confident I will have the minimum resources necessary to make my case for re-election.”
One year into his first term and gearing up his re-election bid, Mr. LaLota criticized the New York State Court of Appeals decision last week allowing a redistricting commission to draw a new congressional map, over which the state’s Democratic-majority Legislature will have final say. A redrawn district would be expected to favor Democrats, who hope to retake seats lost to Republicans in 2022 and capture others, such as Mr. LaLota’s.
“I disagree with the decision,” Mr. LaLota said of the determination, which is detailed elsewhere in this issue. “I don’t think it’s good government. The 2022 maps resulted in compact districts which were competitive, which lent itself to candidates campaigning on the issues. I disagree with and am disappointed by it, but, in the spirit of looking forward, hope the new maps are also compact and competitive so the 2024 elections can be about issues, not predetermined partisan outcomes.”
Shortly before Mr. LaLota spoke to The Star, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, which he called “a bipartisan compromise between House Republicans and Senate Democrats to ensure our military gets funded and the nation is on a good path,” and “a huge accomplishment.”
He also pointed to his and his Long Island colleagues’ effort to realize “meaningful relief” on the state and local tax deduction, or SALT, which was capped at $10,000 per year in the Republican-led tax overhaul of 2017; the Long Island Sound Stewardship and Restoration Act to reauthorize that program (he and Representative Joe Courtney of Connecticut are the co-chairmen of the Long Island Sound Caucus); the Plum Island National Monument Act, which he introduced, and the Secure Border Act of 2023. As a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, he “spent a lot of time ensuring our southwestern border is secure,” he said.
“We need to fix our own border first,” he said to a question about funding Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion of 2022. “America has always been a source and power for good that has countered evil, and [President Vladimir] Putin is evil. His invasion is illegal and immoral. The United States ought to play a role in defeating Putin. However, this administration needs to get a bunch more serious on our own border before asking for tens of billions more to secure another nation’s border.”
As he prepares to defend his seat, the congressman, a veteran of the Navy, highlighted bipartisanship. Mr. Courtney, a Democrat, “has become a friend and a partner,” he said. “We come to our different roles with different perspectives. The one that most guides me daily is my experience in the Naval Academy and being a military officer. The country ought to come first, people as well.”
On Feb. 7, early in his tenure, he literally reached out to introduce himself to and shake hands with the president following the State of the Union address. “I knew what I was doing,” he said of that gesture. “I knew folks would recognize the shaking of his hand and talk about that. In my own 1/435th way, my actions can help others to be inspired to engage in more thoughtful dialogue.”
