Peekskill, NY — On Tuesday morning, more than 100 Hudson Valley residents, joined by major grassroots advocacy groups such as Food & Water Watch, Working Families Party, Citizen Action, Community Voices Heard and Make the Road gathered to express outrage against Rep. Mike Lawler’s recent vote to cut hundreds of billions from the federal budget. Ralliers lambasted Lawler for prioritizing the billionaire class over everyday New Yorkers and demanded that he do more to stand up for his constituents’ interests.

The far-right federal budget, being pushed by the Trump administration, proposes drastic cuts to food assistance, environmental and healthcare programs that serve millions of New Yorkers annually, all to fund $4.5 trillion in tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-wealthy. Last week’s resolution passed with a vote of 217-215, meaning Lawler’s vote could have single-handedly killed the bill.

“Mike Lawler’s budget vote is nothing short of a disgrace. By gutting critical programs that New Yorkers rely on every day, he’s decided to put the billionaire agenda over his own constituents’ lives,” said Melissa Hoffmann, Westchester and Hudson Valley Organizer at Food & Water Watch. “I’m outraged that someone can call themself a ‘public servant’ after taking a vote like this.”