Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) is taking aim at Zohran Mamdani, the winner of New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, as he pushes for government-owned grocery stores by introducing the MAMDANI Act to investigate how socialist-style food markets could devastate local businesses, farmers, and food supply chains nationwide.
The Measuring Adverse Market Disruption And National Impact (MAMDANI) Act tasks the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in coordination with the Department of Agriculture, with producing a comprehensive study on how taxpayer-funded grocery stores might distort food prices, undercut local grocers, disrupt supply chains, and damage competition across the retail grocery sector.
“Government-run grocery stores raise serious questions about market fairness and taxpayer accountability,” Lawler said in a statement. “The MAMDANI Act ensures we carefully assess the potential impacts of such proposals before public funds are committed, or they risk undermining local businesses and disrupting supply chains, ultimately leaving consumers worse off.”
Lawler denounced Mamdani’s proposal as “straight out of the Marxist playbook” and pointed to the failure of a taxpayer-funded grocery store in Kansas City — marked by empty shelves, spoiled food, and theft — calling it “a good reason to pass the MAMDANI Act and evaluate government-run grocery stores!”
The bill follows mounting criticism of Mamdani’s grocery plan, which is based on a misreading of city funding figures, according to the Washington Examiner. Mamdani claimed the plan would cost $60 million and would be funded by eliminating $140 million in subsidies to private grocers—when in fact that $140 million came from private investment, not the city.
Lawler’s bill directs the FTC to examine whether public grocery stores benefit from subsidies or regulatory advantages that tilt the playing field. The study will analyze downstream effects on food prices, producer profits, charitable food networks, and long-term market sustainability. The FTC must submit its findings to Congress in a public report and offer annual recommendations for administrative or legislative action.
The MAMDANI Act comes amid growing skepticism toward Mamdani’s platform, which includes defunding “corporate supermarkets,” operating at a loss, and relying on city-managed warehousing and distribution. Mamdani’s proposals, skeptics say, are ripe for corruption, mismanagement, and inefficiency. One Manhattan grocer told City Journal the plan could quickly devolve into “corruption and money laundering,” while others warned it fails to address the real causes behind store closures: crime and poverty.
“New Yorkers deserve solutions, not socialist fantasies that have failed spectacularly every time they’ve been tried,” Lawler stated.
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