D'Esposito looking to Trump for a top law enforcement job
Republican Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, who lost narrowly to Democrat Laura Gillen in the 4th Congressional District. Credit: AP/Alex Brandon
Daily Point
From Congress to the DEA?
Soon to be out of work, Anthony D’Esposito has been "in touch with people in Trump’s orbit" to head the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, The Point has learned.
The lobbying began after Trump’s previous pick, Florida sheriff Chad Chronister withdrew from consideration on Tuesday. The head of DEA supervises an agency of 10,000 employees charged with enforcing U.S. drug laws and has 334 offices around the world. The job requires Senate confirmation and pays a salary of about $195,000.
D’Esposito, a retired NYPD detective who lost his reelection bid to Democrat Laura Gillen last month, is working with several local law enforcement unions, who’ve already thrown their support behind him.
"The Suffolk County PBA is in strong support of @anthonydespo as our next Drug Enforcement Administrator and encourages President-elect @realdonaldtrump to nominate him," the Suffolk PBA posted to Instagram Wednesday. "Anthony is a proven leader who has always made safety a priority. Let’s Make America Safe Again by making Anthony D’Esposito our next Administrator of the DEA."
The Nassau County Detectives Association took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to similarly encourage Trump to nominate D’Esposito, whom the association called "a highly decorated @NYPDDetectives & proven crime fighter."
"As a respected member of Congress, D’Esposito has demonstrated leadership & commitment needed to help DJT in his goal of Making America Safe Again," the association wrote.
The Nassau County PBA, New York City PBA, Sergeants Benevolent Association, Lieutenants Benevolent Association and the Detectives' Endowment Association, along with Reps. Nick LaLota, Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro got behind the cause as well in a flurry of social media posts Wednesday.
Even former Rep. Pete King lent his support.
“@RepDesposito would be an outstanding crimefighter at the DEA!" King wrote on X.
D’Esposito was unavailable for comment Wednesday, according to a spokesman, but issued a statement echoing Trump’s "Make America Safe Again" mantra, and said he "would be honored to lend my experience as a decorated NYPD Detective and member of the House Homeland Security Committee to assist President Trump in that mission."
Trump, meanwhile, will head to Nassau County Thursday for the Fox Nation Patriot Awards. It’s unclear, however, whether D’Esposito, who has been in Washington, D.C. this week as he wraps up his congressional term, will be there.
— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com
Pencil Point
'DEI'-fied
Credit: CagleCartoons.com/John Cole
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Final Point
Propelling a $3.2B project to bring more energy to LI
Members of the Propel NY Energy team, representatives from the New York Power Authority and New York Transco met Wednesday with the editorial board to talk about a multibillion-dollar electrical infrastructure project. Credit: Newsday/Christine Wallen
In the land of no, how does a $3.2 billion infrastructure project that would allow more electrical power to flow to and from Long Island get built? It starts with a lot of planning, strategy, meetings and colorful, detailed handouts.
That’s what the Propel NY Energy team, representatives from the New York Power Authority and New York Transco, talked about with Newsday’s editorial board on Wednesday. Propel hopes to start building six bidirectional underground transmission lines starting in 2026 primarily in Nassau County with one branching off to Melville in Suffolk. Propel was selected by the operator of New York’s electrical grid to build the new transmission system.
These half-dozen 345kV cables will connect to a pair of new transmission lines to be built under Long Island Sound with one from the Bronx landing in Queens and one from Westchester coming into Hempstead Harbor. The completion date is estimated to be 2030.
Propel already has held 17 open houses and meetings with municipal officials in its first year of outreach and next year will hold four public hearings on Long Island as part of the state’s permitting process. "We want to hear what the concerns are and modify the project to meet those needs," said Shannon Baxevanis, Transco’s director of public affairs. The New York Public Service Commission will make the final decision on whether Propel NY moves forward.
The approach seems designed to avoid the disastrous rollout of Equinor's failed Empire Wind effort to secure an offshore wind project in Long Beach. Essential to its success in combating the misinformation that engulfs all new initiatives is an emphasis on how Propel is agnostic about the source of power that will flow through the new cables. And that the underground cables, which have been in use for more than a half-century, are safe and that the electromagnetic fields contained in the cables will have no negative health effects. "We’re sharing the facts and allowing people to make up their own minds," said Steve Cole-Hatchard, project director for Transco.
While the fact sheets are crammed with details and well designed — it’s easier than reading the 6,000-page application to the PSC — the effort to make Long Islanders more accepting of several years of construction will be lacking one usual carrot. There is no community benefits package of goodies to grease the skids of support, in order to keep costs low, the reps said. Ratepayers will be paying about six cents a day more to ensure that they have a reliable energy supply.
— Rita Ciolli rita.ciolli@newsday.com
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