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He’s Rep van Winkle.
Long Island Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino had a rude awakening Thursday morning after snoozing through final passage of President Trump’s “big beautiful” bill — with threats of a potential primary challenge from politicos enraged at his buffoonery.
“Andrew Garbarino did not make it in time. He fell asleep in the back, no kidding,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) revealed after the bill passed the House by a narrow 215-214 vote after a marathon all-nighter session.
GOP leaders gaveled the chamber back into session just after 11 p.m. Wednesday night, with the bill finally passing just before 7 a.m. Thursday morning.
“I’m going to just strangle him,” Johnson ribbed, noting that the vote should have been at least two votes higher.
“But he’s my dear friend,” the speaker added.
A Long Island Republican source said that state and local party leaders were apoplectic about Garbarino “coming across like a buffoon” for conking out with Trump’s agenda on the line, noting it could prompt serious primary challenges.
“He’s losing his juice as the most senior congressman,” the source said. “I’m getting calls from party leaders that this guy is disloyal to Trump. He was known in the past to be very independent from the party.”
A meme of the “sleepy” pol still in bed with a nightcap and a steaming cup of coffee was also circulated Thursday among party operatives — and the embarrassing episode was seized upon by some Democrats.
“We have 7 Republican Members of Congress. Just like the Seven Dwarfs,” added New York Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, who serves as neighboring Nassau County’s leader.
“We have Lawler who’s `Grumpy,’ LaLota, who’s `Dopey’ and now Garbarino who’s `Sleepy.’ Quite the cast of characters.”
A rep for the Long Island pol said in a statement that claimed Garbarino “stepped out and inadvertently missed the vote.”
“He was present throughout the lead-up to the legislation’s consideration and fully intended to support it,” his office said in a statement.
Garbarino had been a key figure in weeks of negotiations with the White House, Johnson’s team, deficit hawks and moderates in the Republican conference working toward last-minute inclusions of higher state and local tax (SALT) deductions and reduced green-energy tax credits.
“I am proud to have been the leading voice on Long Island during negotiations on this key reconciliation bill,” Garbarino said in a statement. “I fought to lift the cap on SALT and ensure hardworking Long Island families see the benefits of this important legislation.”
“I was moments away from the House floor, to vote ‘yes,’ when the vote was closed. While I am frustrated that the vote was closed before I was able to cast my vote, I am proud of the work we accomplished to deliver huge results for Long Island,” he added.
“I congratulate President Trump on getting this bill passed and look forward to voting ‘yes’ when it comes back to the House floor from the Senate.”
The reconciliation bill, which now heads to the Senate, raised the SALT deduction cap to $40,000 for individuals and $20,000 for married couples earning less than $500,000 per year, while gutting billions of dollars in tax credits crammed into former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act for wind and solar power.
Fellow Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi gave Garbarino a mulligan for the missed vote, saying: “I feel bad for him, We were all tired.”
But former Democratic Suffolk County Executive Pat Halpin, who is mulling a run against Garbarino next year, called missing the vote an “extraordinary dereliction of duty.”
“It’s just incredible. It’s beyond belief,” Halpin said. “It’s clearly one of the most important votes — whether you’re for it or against it. While Garbarino slept, health care took a huge hit.”
Previous estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office found as many as 8.6 million people could lose health care coverage due to the bill’s changes to Medicaid work requirements and other health care plan rejiggering for plans under the Affordable Care Act.
Former state Sen. Al D’Amato, who still wields influence in the Long Island GOP, circled the wagons for Gabarbarino.
“Thank God the bill passed. If it didn’t pass he’d be in trouble,” D’Amato said. “The Republicans would have postponed the vote and Garbarino if they needed it.”
“Garbarino worked his tail off to raise the cap on the SALT deduction,” he added. “Where the hell was his staff to make sure he was in the chambers for the vote?”
Garbarino’s rep added: “This is one of many reasons why governing should happen in the light of day — not in the dead of night.”
State GOP chairman Ed Cox declined to comment.
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