Jeffries hammers Lawler after Dem endorsement: ‘Partisan hack’

GOP Rep. Mike Lawler (N.Y.) scored a coup this week in winning an unusual endorsement from a Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine), who is touting Lawler’s bipartisan credentials amid a tough reelection contest.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) isn’t buying it.

In a blistering statement in response to Golden’s endorsement, Jeffries bashed Lawler late Monday as a lackey for President Trump, vowing that Lawler’s Democratic challenger , Army veteran Cait Conley, will defeat him in November’s midterms.

“Mike Lawler is a partisan hack and Trump sycophant who Cait Conley will defeat in November,” Jeffries said. “In desperation, he is peddling an 11th hour endorsement from a retiring Congressmember who represents an out of town district more than 400 miles away. This smoke and mirrors ploy will do nothing to change the outcome of the race.”

Golden made waves earlier Monday when he crossed the aisle to throw his support behind Lawler, who is among the most vulnerable Republicans this cycle. Democratic leaders view his seat as one of their best pick-up opportunities as they race to flip House control .

The Maine Democrat, who has a long record of bucking his own party , praised Lawler for a similar willingness to defy GOP leaders on several key issues in the current Congress. The New York Republican, for instance, joined Democrats in the effort to restore union rights for federal workers, after Trump gutted them .

He signed onto a discharge petition forcing a vote to extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act that expired at the start of the year. And most recently, Lawler teamed up with Golden on legislation designed to protect the livelihoods of lobstermen .

“[H]e would rather pass a bill with the other party than score a point against it,” Golden wrote in an op-ed in The Journal News of Rockland County, N.Y.

The duo also shares a unique perspective: Both are among the small group of House lawmakers representing districts won by the opposing party’s presidential candidate in 2024 — a dynamic highlighted by Golden.

“Representing districts like ours forces you to work for people who disagree with you, and it teaches you that those people are not your enemies,” the Democrat wrote. “They are your neighbors.”

Democratic leaders see Lawler as much more partisan than Golden contends. And Jeffries on Monday pointed to three major issues on which his Republican colleague has sided with Trump this Congress, all of them playing a role in the current campaign.

Last year, Lawler supported the GOP’s “ One Big, Beautiful Bill Act ,” which extended tax cuts while slashing funding for Medicaid and other low-income benefits. He has also backed the president’s war with Iran , even as voters have soured on the conflict amid rising gas prices. And the GOP lawmaker has voted in support of the administration’s global tariffs, which have increased domestic costs on a host of consumer goods.

“Mike Lawler is an unadulterated phony who has never shown bipartisan courage when it matters,” Jeffries said.

If the attack sounds personal, it’s because it is. There’s no love lost between Jeffries and Lawler, two New York brawlers who have clashed on several occasions over the years.

In one extraordinary episode during last year’s marathon government shutdown , Lawler confronted Jeffries in a hallway of the Capitol and pressed the Democratic leader to reopen the government by supporting a short-term extension of the expiring ObamaCare subsidies, an idea Democrats opposed.

“You’re embarrassing yourself right now,” Jeffries said at the time.

Lawler replied, “The only embarrassment here is you.”