By Peter A. LaVenia, Jr.
Rep. Elise Stefanik is the living embodiment of corporatism, “where big business controls and turns government against its people.” Her entire career has been bankrolled by corporate donors and special interest groups, and she has worked for them tirelessly for the last decade in Congress. These include vulture capitalist and billionaire Paul Singer, chair of the reactionary Manhattan Institute that supplies Trumpism with its policy agenda, along with his firm Elliot Management; Apollo Global Management, founded by the disgraced billionaire and Jeffrey Epstein-investor Leon Black and now led by Marc Rowan; and Silicon Valley oligarch Marc Andreesen. Stefanik raised massive amounts of corporate cash in the 2024 election cycle, much of it after her McCarthyite theatrics in Congress grilling elite-college presidents about anti-genocide, pro-Palestinian protesters on their campuses. AIPAC, another major Stefanik donor, made her its fifth highest House recipient of campaign cash and third in New York after Democrats Hakeem Jeffries and Ritchie Torres.
Citizens in her district know her as an opportunist: mutating from a self-proclaimed centrist in 2014, and Trump skeptic in 2016 to a pro-Trump MAGA Republican after her committee clashes with Rep. Adam Schiff that went viral in 2019. She rose to the number-three position in the House in 2021 after backing Trump’s anti-democratic “Stop the Steal” effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Stefanik has served as an effective mouthpiece for Trump and her donors, spewing out “great replacement” white nationalist propaganda and pro-Israel statements, eventually earning her a place – since rescinded – as Trump’s nominee to be US Ambassador to the U.N. Since her rapid rise in Trump’s circles and corresponding national fame, her interest in district issues and meeting with constituents has disappeared. As Trump’s agenda batters the economy of New York’s 21st Congressional District, next to the Canadian border and dependent on trade and tourism that have collapsed in the early months of 2025, its small businesses and working -class citizens are disproportionately impacted. Unfortunately, Stefanik has parroted the Trump regime’s ever-changing rationales for its anti-immigrant, anti-worker, authoritarian policies rather than meet her responsibility as member of Congress and represent her district by challenging policies that have hurt her constituents and millions of other hard-working Americans.
The antidote to corporatism is public citizenship. Big business warping of government and civic ideals will continue until it is challenged by organized groups of civic-minded citizens determined to build a democratic and equitable world. Nearly a year ago, a number of intrepid residents of NY-21 decided to do just that, forming a Congress Watchdog group to monitor the actions of Rep. Stefanik (and whoever succeeds her), educate her constituents about her legislation, policies, and statements, and challenge her to respond. Taking inspiration from Ralph Nader’s call for Americans to form a Congress Watchdog group in every district in the country, they have steadily constructed the organization, conscious of its importance and hopeful that it can serve as a model for Congress Watchdog groups across the US, and perhaps as importantly, for civic groups everywhere to build a cohort of public citizens challenging corporatist power.
The steps the NY-21 group has taken to build the organization have been steady and carefully considered. First, it has held regular twice-monthly online public meetings, important in a district that spans all or part of 15 counties. Issuing press releases on both Stefanik’s actions as representative and general district issues has helped build the identity of the group as nonpartisan and welcoming of all that demand democracy and good government. Town halls, a crucial method for interaction and dialogue between constituents and representatives, are being planned. The group has also held a training on how to do research into Congressional legislation and plans to continue this along with other vital informational sessions.
NY-21 Congress Watchdogs have held regular meetings since the summer of 2024. The group established itself as proudly nonpartisan, believing its role is to build public citizen power against corporatist government regardless of which party is in power. To that end, it has invited Democrats, Greens, Independents, Republicans, and others to join, reaching out to various other civic groups in the district. The group received an enthusiastic response, with an ideologically diverse core of members joining, and many more interested supporters helping when they can; the division of labor between full-time civically minded members that pull in a broader membership that does what it can, when it can, is key to constructing a lasting organizational foundation.
Another vitally important task that NY-21 Congress Watch has performed is beginning a detailed examination of Rep. Stefanik’s legislative record. This includes bills she has sponsored and cosponsored, regardless of their passage; what representatives choose to endorse is indicative of their political agenda. Researching Stefanik on her labor policies, the group issued a press release on Stefanik’s sponsorship of H.R. 5513, H.R. 5053, and H.R. 572. H.R. 5513 would make it easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors, denying them rights to overtime pay, health insurance, worker’s comp, or pensions. This is especially significant as NY-21 has seen a significant shift towards gig work in the last decade. H.R. 5053 would water down the Equal Pay Act of 1963, limiting what qualifies as employment discrimination. H.R. 572 would allow businesses to self-report minimum wage and overtime-compensation violations and would further protect employers against legal action by affected employees. All of these are anti-worker bills that would harm the vast majority of her district members! NY-21 Congress Watchdogs put out a press release questioning why Rep. Stefanik would propose legislation that was directly harmful to her constituents.
When it seemed as if Rep. Stefanik would be appointed U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., the NY-21 Watchdogs displayed another important function: to demand good government practices and reforms from all district political actors regardless of partisan affiliation. New York’s special elections law allows chairs of county parties to select candidates and place them on the ballot without a caucus or primary. NY-21 Congress Watchdogs endorsed a proposal calling for an open candidate-selection process for all parties and its members mobilized around the issue. Party leaders need to be reminded that they serve at the behest of their members, and that they can move quickly and easily to engage their rank-and-file base – and energize them – with a democratic process.
Understanding how to research and then analyze bills and legislation is another important part of a Congress Watchdog group and its role in building public citizenship. NY-21 Congress Watchdogs held a well-attended online training session over the winter where district residents learned how to research the Congressional record, focusing on Rep. Stefanik. By democratizing the research process and building citizen skills, the group can have an outsized influence on political education. Holding more training sessions at regular intervals remains a major goal of the NY-21 group, and the instructional materials from the first session are available for members to train themselves in their free time.
The next project for the NY-21 Watchdogs is to invite Rep. Stefanik to a series of town halls around the district. Stefanik is infamous for ducking town halls and open meetings with residents, but there are rumors swirling that she may be considering a run for Governor. These town halls will be led by local residents and citizen groups, where the citizens talk and Rep. Stefanik listens. If this is true, she will have to meet with residents anxious to understand why she blindly supports Trump’s autocratic, McCarthyite policies that have hurt the district and the country. Representatives should listen while citizens express their concerns and grievances – and it is time for Rep. Stefanik to do so.
If you would like to learn how to form your own Congressional Watchdog Group, email us at ny21congresswatchdogs@gmail.com.
This originally appeared in Capital Hill Citizen.