Long Island's 4 House members brace for voting on War Powers Act as Iran conflict rages

WASHINGTON — Long Island’s four members of the U.S. House head into high-profile votes Thursday on blocking President Donald Trump from further strikes on Iran without congressional consent and to finally fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Democrat Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) says he is prepared to support the proposed War Powers Act that would require congressional authorization for continued military action in Iran, while fellow Democrat Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) did not say as of Wednesday afternoon. GOP Reps. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) are set to oppose it.

"I am voting ‘yes’ because I cannot support unchecked authority for this Administration, especially considering [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth’s suggestion that he is willing to commit to troops on the ground,” Suozzi said in a statement. 

The war powers vote is largely symbolic at this point since an initial attempt Wednesday to advance a similar bill in the Senate is expected to fail. But House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) is urging Democrats to back the measure. He and others cast the vote as an opportunity for lawmakers to go on the record regarding reassertion of Congress’ control over war declarations.

Meanwhile, Republicans led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) are trying to conflate national and international events by also bringing the Department of Homeland Security funding bill to another vote on Thursday. Their aim is to amp up the pressure on more Democrats to relent and approve the stalled funding bill, arguing that the military action against Iran has increased the threat levels within the U.S. against Americans.

Garbarino, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is among those making that very case.

“As we face a heightened threat landscape, it is more important now than ever that we fully fund the Department of Homeland Security,” Garbarino said. “We cannot afford delays. We must ensure DHS is operating at maximum readiness to prevent and respond to threats against our homeland."

Jeffries and most House Democrats are rejecting that push, though, making clear they will continue to insist on revising the bill's language to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Customs and Border Protection, after federal agents killed two Americans in Minneapolis.

But with funding at stake for operations of the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure, the fight over the bill has represented a challenge for Suozzi and Gillen.

Both were part of a group of seven House Democrats who crossed party lines to vote with Republicans to pass the funding bill in January, only to face backlash from the left and others within their own party.

Suozzi has since openly said he “failed” in that vote, while Gillen sought to mitigate the criticism of her by calling for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“I’ll be voting ’no,’ but I am trying to build bipartisan support to fund everything except ICE," Suozzi said in a statement to Newsday Wednesday about the funding bill.

Gillen as of Wednesday provided no immediate comment on how she’ll vote on the Homeland Security funding bill this time around. She did publicly release a letter reiterating her call for Noem’s impeachment.

Like Garbarino, LaLota offered no uncertainty on how he will vote on the Homeland Security funding bill.

“Only Trump Derangement Syndrome explains why House Democrats have shut down the entire Department of Homeland Security when doing so doesn’t even stop ICE operations,” said LaLota, noting those continue to be paid for under the huge domestic One Big Beautiful Bill spending measure approved by Congress last year.

LaLota added, “I voted to fund President Biden’s government despite my strong objections to many of his policies; House Democrats should do the same for the country’s sake.”

As for the House vote on a war powers vote, Garbarino and LaLota — a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy — told Newsday in a statement they both support the president’s actions in Iran. 

“Given Iran’s role in the deaths of nearly 2,000 Americans, the Trump Administration correctly concluded the cost of American airstrikes now are far less than the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran later," LaLota said. 

“Accordingly, I will oppose efforts to limit the President’s authority to conduct this air campaign, which is consistent with actions taken by Presidents Clinton in Kosovo and Obama in Libya and Syria, among others,” he said.