Two New York members of Congress had a heated spat on the House floor that began when Democratic Rep. John Mannion angrily confronted Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.
The clash took place at a supercharged moment on Thursday, June 12, after Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, was forcibly removed from a press conference and handcuffed by federal agents, stoking Democrats’ fury. According to an Axios account, Lawler was talking with a colleague on the Democrats’ side of the room when Mannion shouted at him to “do something” and “grow a pair of balls.”
He laced that message with expletives, according to what was picked up in a C-Span broadcast and quoted by Syracuse.com: “F—ing get over there and get some f—ing balls.”
Mannion, a freshman representing the Syracuse area, later gave Axios a more sanitized description, saying “I asked him to compel his colleagues to save the country and stop what the people of this country do not want … the defiance of law.”
One reporter who witnessed the dustup posted on X: “Wow. Massive shouting fight on the floor. A house democrat is screaming at Mike lawler to get Off the democratic side of the floor.”
Lawler soon posted in response: “John Mannion was entirely unhinged and unprofessional. That was a shameful display that exposed his complete lack of temperament.”
Lawler, a second-term member from Rockland County, didn’t detail what the two said to one another, but closed with some profane advice: “He should go seek help for anger management — and f–k off.”
In an interview on Friday, Lawler told the USA Today Network the run-in came out of the blue as House members were casting votes and he was chatting with Rep. Jimmy Pannetta, a California Democrat and fellow member of the Problem Solvers Caucus. All of sudden, he said, Mannion began screaming at him from about four rows away.
“It was one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen happen on the House floor,” he said.
Lawler said he was so surprised he asked if Mannion was talking to him. He was. They exchanged profanities. What Mannion was demanding of him was unclear when the encounter ended, Lawler said.
“It was unhinged, it was certainly unprofessional,” Lawler said of Mannion’s outburst.
Mannion said in a statement that he’s fighting for his hometown and country to “stop the rise of authoritarian government and the destruction of American democracy.”
“If making some noise on the house floor and calling out Trump enablers draws attention to what’s happening to our country right before our eyes — good,” he said. “Today it’s roughing up and handcuffing a United States Senator and a politicized military patrolling the streets of American cities. It’s the willing abandonment of the rule of law and a gross fealty to a want-to-be dictator who is tearing the country apart. None of this is normal or okay.”
The backdrop was a political storm over President Donald Trump sending National Guard troops and Marines into Los Angeles to quell protests over his mass-deportation push. Democrats have condemned Trump’s orders as inflammatory and authoritarian.
Padilla, the senator from California, planned to question Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem at a press conference on Thursday when he was pushed from the room and handcuffed on the ground by federal agents.
Partisan tensions were also evident Thursday at a day-long House hearing at which Republicans berated Gov. Kathy Hochul and two other Democratic governors for “sanctuary” policies toward undocumented immigrants. As Democrats were ripping the Trump administration for rounding up law-abiding parents and children, Republicans were deploring what they see as overly lax policies.
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: NY’s Mannion, Lawler trade barbs in heated House spat. What was said?
Reporting by Chris McKenna, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
