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News 12 Staff

LIPP112B_2025-01-12-12-08-29

Welcome back to this special Capitol Hill edition of Power and Politics. I'm Richerrabi. Congressman Andrew Garburio just began his 3rd term in office, and I spoke with the Republican from Sayville right outside of his office in Washington. Well, number one priority right now and has always been when I've been here is, uh, the 9/11 healthcare fund, making sure that's fully funded so our heroes, uh, who were there on 9/11 and the and the weeks afterwards are properly taken care of. A lot of them are still sick on Long Island and across the country, uh, so making sure that that, uh, fund is properly funded and they all get the. I deserve, uh, is a top priority. Also, um, you know, this is the year, this is the last year the, uh, salt cap, uh, is in place. Uh, there's a talk about extending the Trump tax cut, uh, tax cuts, uh, but making sure that a, uh, uh, the $10,000 cap is no longer there is a huge priority of mine. When you consider how the salt talks played out last time around in Congress this time President-elect Trump has said he wants this to happen. Uh, he talked about it at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. Do you think that might boost it to help with some of those Republicans in other parts of the country who have always been kind of resistant to this? Absolutely. I think the president, he didn't just say it at the Nassau Coliseum, he said. on several different spots across the country that he was gonna fix salt, uh, that is something I also campaigned on as well as several of my other colleagues. Uh, we have a two seat, uh, majority here in the House of Representatives on the Republican side, uh, so making sure the salt fix is a part of, uh, any reconciliation bill, any extension of tax cuts is, uh, part of mine as well as the president's as well as several other members. So I, I think, uh. You know, we're, you know, we're gonna have people who go against it, but, uh, as we did 10 years ago when they put it into into place, uh, but I think we're gonna be able to get uh that $10,000 cap uh eliminated. Having President Trump at the top who may be able to kind of bring everyone together, uh, from those different factions that you mentioned could be a positive, but do you think there's also a concern that the president, uh, could be interfering with a totally different branch of government? Well, look, at the end of the day, you whatever we pass in the House has to be signed by the president, so he's gotta be on board for it, uh, so you know, whether it's partisan or bipartisan, you know, 8 years ago people forgot Trump, uh, worked with the Democrats to get things done. You need 60 votes in the Senate if it's not reconciliation. Uh, so I, I think he's got the experience working with the other side of the aisle, um, but having him as part of negotiations is a necessity because he still has to agree to sign whatever we decide to pass out of the House and the Senate. How about this Long Island delegation? 2 Republicans, 2 Democrats, do you think? There are issues you'll be able to work together on absolutely. I mean, you know, uh, 4 years ago when I first got here it was 2 Republicans, two Democrats. We worked together on a lot of, uh, a lot of things salt being one of them, 9/11, healthcare being one of them. I think that's important to Long Island, uh, is something that I think people can put again, uh, put aside partisan, uh, differences, and, uh, and work towards for the better of betterment of Long Island and New York State. Congressman Tom Suozzi won 2 elections last year, a special election victory to replace George Santos, and then a general election win in a district that voted for Trump. That puts the Glen Cove Democrat in a position to have an influential voice. 119 Congress, Republicans have a majority, but it's slipper than even last year. What might this look like? You know, it's really a great opportunity with a narrow majority between Democrats and Republicans. If we work together we can actually get stuff done. If the Republicans say my way or the highway, and if the Democrats say we're going to resist everything Trump says, that's a recipe for failure. If we work together we can get stuff done, we can make people's lives better. That's what you should be doing in government, fighting for the people, not for your party. You charted a pathway forward for Democrats in the New York Times. We've already seen some people come up to you and talk about it, but what's been the reaction to that? You know, some people say, yeah, let's go. That's great. Other people say, what are you doing? You know, so that's part of the game. I mean you have to figure out how to chart a course forward that the people want. And even when the people want it, the base of your party or the base of the other party doesn't want that, and that's what's killing our country is people just pandering to the extremes. So listen to what the people want. They want us to work together on the environment they want us to work together on the economy. They want us to work together on the border. They want us to work to try and make their lives better when. The first go around for the Trump presidency took place. Democrats seemingly resisted everything and anything. That's continued. It didn't work, to your point, to what you wrote. And yet still there are some who want to continue that same track. Why do you think that is in the Democratic Party? You know, I don't think it's most of the people. I actually think it's a small percentage of the people, but because politicians are afraid of alienating their base on both sides. Democrats are afraid of the far left, Republicans are afraid of the far left, right. They pander to those people, so I think that most people just want to say. Can't you get along? Can't you work it out? Can't you fight for me for the issues that my family cares about? I can't afford my house. I can't afford my mortgage, can't afford my taxes. I don't like that you cap the state and local tax deduction. I want help with my family. I want to be safe. I want the environment to be clean. I'm sick of that stuff at the border. Just that's what the people want. Give the people what they want. What are the issues on Long Island where you think that? Common ground can be found and you can actually get something done. Well, I really think there's a big opportunity for common ground on the state and local tax deduction. You know, the Republicans and President Trump capped the state and local tax deduction of $10,000. President Trump campaigned at National Coliseum and said, I want to restore the state and local tax deduction. So I'll take him at his word. Now let's hold him accountable and let's get the Republicans and the Democrats on Long Island to work together to restore the state and local tax deduction. You've heard from our representatives in Congress, and coming up next we'll get an outside take from the ultimate insider, longtime congressional senior staffer and political consultant Kevin Fogarty shares his thoughts on the Long Island Four and what they should be able to accomplish. This special Capitol Hill edition of Power and Politics continues right after this.

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LIPP112C_2025-01-12-12-08-53

Welcome back to this special Capitol Hill edition of Power and Politics. I'm Rich Barabbe. When I'm in Washington, there's one man I always want to talk to about what's happening on the ground in our nation's capital. His name is Kevin Fogarty. He was the longtime chief of staff for former Seaford congressman Peter King. Now he works as a Washington-based consultant and lobbyist. I asked Fogerty to give his take on the Long Island delegation and how they fit in the much larger and complicated congressional puzzle. Let's start with the two Republicans in Suffolk County. Um, what role will they play in this Congress? Well, they're gonna have, especially in this Congress, with the tighter the margin, the more influence and the more impact they're gonna have. So certainly issues like we're gonna see 9/11 health, salt tax, uh, even things like on Long Island Sound, they're gonna have a voice at the table and given the narrow majority in the House, I think they have a chance to. Really have a bigger influence than they had previous Congress. Gino was on the steering committee. Um, he's very active in fundraising. It seems like he is a bit of a power broker behind the scenes. He's not the one who usually runs to the camera, but is that the sense you have? Yeah, he, he's done a phenomenal job. He's on relevant committees, financial services, homeland security, all those things that are important to Long Island. And I think he's done a really great job of navigating that and he seems to make friendships with the right people so hopefully like I said with this may sort of tight majority, um, he could have an outsized influence. And then Nick Lalota now will be on the appropriations Committee. There hasn't been a New Yorker on there for a while. What does that mean? And that's huge for Long Islands because certainly. Uh, for any sort of group advocating for funding, bringing that money home, uh, it is a big deal. And so the fact that he is now on the Appropriations Committee is fantastic for Long Island. Let's talk about the Democrats. um, Democrats are trying to figure out who they are, uh, in a post-Biden, here we go again Trump era. Tom Suozzi is trying to be a leader on that front saying we gotta work together with everybody. Uh, what role will he play and will it fall on deaf ear? Well, the same thing is gonna be true for the Democrats as well because you can have, you know, again with this tight majority you can have an impact. So you know, certainly Congressman Swazi is trying to, uh, advocate for the blueprint he thinks will help Democrats like himself win office. So I think in some cases where especially for you have a centrist or a swing district, you know those votes are gonna matter so, um, you know, making sure he's on the page for Democrats is gonna be important. Um, and I think certainly for Congresswoman-elect Gillan, you know, those are gonna be important, um, you know, people that she can follow and learn from. That is all the time we have this week. Thanks for watching this special edition of Power and Politics. I'm Rich Barrabi. Have a great rest of your day.

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News 12 spoke with Rep. Laura Gillen, Rep. Tom Suozzi, Rep. Andrew Garbarino and Rep. Nick LaLota after they were sworn into Congress this week. 

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Power & Politics: News 12 speaks with Long Island’s congressional delegation

News 12 spoke with Rep. Laura Gillen, Rep. Tom Suozzi, Rep. Andrew Garbarino and Rep. Nick LaLota after they were sworn into Congress this week.

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