New York representative on redistricting, National Guard deployment and crime in New York

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the Texas and California redistricting and why he opposes it.

"I think gerrymandering is fundamentally wrong, and it is at the heart of why Congress has been broken for so many years. If you look three decades ago, there were over 100 competitive districts. Last November, only 35 seats were decided by five points or less, and mine wasn't even one of them, despite the fact that Kamala Harris won my seat, I won by six and a half points. So when you look at the map across the country, the fact is roughly 400 members are not in competitive districts. They're focused primarily on primaries and not general elections, and therefore they're not focused on appealing to a much broader swath of the electorate. And I think that obviously reflects itself when you're actually trying to negotiate legislation and beyond. But when you look at the redistricting situation, obviously both parties do not have clean hands here. Democrats in New York did mid-decade redistricting last year in 2024 at the behest of Hakeem Jeffries, who wanted to pick up seats in New York to become Speaker. They gerrymandered the maps after stacking the court and getting a favorable ruling ordering a mid-decade redistricting, despite the fact that they gerrymandered maps in 2022 and those were thrown out because it violated the state constitution. So now New York is going for a third bite at the apple, according to Governor Hochul, who has made it clear since the moment she took office in 2021 that she would use redistricting to help Democrats win the house. So this is what you're dealing with, red states and blue states trying to get electoral advantage right now."

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY)

Congressman Lawler adds, "We need to reform. We need to ban gerrymandering nationwide. We need to ban mid decade redistricting...You need term limits. You need overall reform. So I'm going to fight tooth and nail to get this done."

During the interview, Brennan and Lawler talked about the deployment of the National Guard and crime in New York.

According to Brennan, President Donald Trump mentioned New York as "another city he wants to look at to deploy National Guard troops."

When asked if he thinks that's the best use of federal taxpayer dollars, and if he's comfortable with the National Guard being deployed in his state, Lawler said, "Crime has been a major problem in New York for years, and Kathy Hochul and Albany and New York City Democrats have failed miserably to tackle this crime."

He goes on to add that he wants not just the National Guard, but he also wants agents with the FBI, ATF and DEA deployed to New York.

"I've met with ATF just a few weeks ago in my office on this very issue of really cracking down on gun crimes and prosecuting criminals who use guns in the commission of a crime. I was proud last year to lead the passage of the Undetectable Firearms Act, a common sense, bipartisan piece of gun safety legislation enacted into law in the 1980s. We extended it seven years to make sure that no gun is manufactured or sold with less than 3.7 ounces of metal. I led that effort, and the reason I did is because we do not want guns on the street being used in the commission of a crime, and yet, as I pointed out, you look at Washington D.C., only 1.7% of gun crime convictions result in jail time. This is why you've seen the homicide rate double in less than a decade. It's outrageous, and it's exactly why the President is cracking down on crime in major cities, and as we saw in California, he is legally authorized to do so."

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY)

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Lawler, click here.