Rep. Laura Gillen to host in-person town hall in Hempstead on Wednesday

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) is hosting a public town hall on Wednesday evening in Hempstead for constituents, her first since taking office in January.

The town hall is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and its location will be sent to those who RSVP online.

“[Wednesday’s] town hall is an important opportunity to hear from my constituents about the issues that matter most to them and share how I’m advocating for Nassau County in Congress," Gillen wrote in a statement to Newsday.

The chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee reportedly ordered Republican congressional representatives to halt in-person town halls and instead host them virtually after a wave of protests over federal budget cuts.

The rest of Long Island’s congressional delegation, including Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), Andrew Garbarino (R-East Patchogue) and Nick LaLota (R-Riverhead) opted to host virtual town halls. Gillen’s district includes Hempstead, Long Beach and Freeport.

Gillen beat out then-incumbent Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park) in a competitive race last November after losing to him two years before. She won by a narrow margin of about 8,600 votes, flipping New York’s 4th Congressional District back to blue when the majority of Nassau County voted for President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Newsday last year, Gillen vowed to forge bipartisan ties and secure federal money to protect Long Island’s shoreline and clean drinking water.

The former Hempstead town supervisor spoke to business leaders earlier this month, criticizing federal funding cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk.

"There’s tons of waste in government," Gillen said. "But it’s a wrecking ball approach. [Trump] says he’s going to use a scalpel, but so far I haven’t seen the scalpel."