Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the crucial swing vote allowing President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending bill to squeak through the Senate Tuesday. In return, the Republican senator walked away with a big bucket of wins including a better deal on health care and nutrition programs along with tax breaks for fishing villages and whaling interests. But did the Republican senator’s hardball tactics also include taking hostage the coveted job for a Long Island politician from her own party?

Murkowski just may be the answer to why a puzzling hold was suddenly put on former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito’s confirmation as inspector general for the Department of Labor, according to Washington insiders. Despite Trump’s big win in 2024, his coattails locally were not enough to help D’Esposito win a second term in Congress, but it did put him on the priority list for a top post in the administration.

D’Esposito's White House nomination was sent to the Senate on March 31 along with those of several other senior Cabinet candidates. The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a June 18 hearing for that batch of nominations and scheduled a June 26 vote to advance them to the Senate floor for confirmation before passage of the Big Beautiful Bill would take the spotlight.

The Point, tracking the proceedings on June 26, noticed that just before the 4 p.m. vote, HELP posted a new agenda without D’Esposito’s name. Committee staff had no explanation for the sudden change but word around town was that an unidentified senator had put a last-minute hold on D’Esposito. Who and why?

The initial speculation was that it was done to send a message to CD1 Rep. Nick LaLota, a friend of D’Esposito, who was in the headlines at the time for his demands that the Senate not weaken the SALT deal he and other blue state Republicans had secured in the House negotiations over the BBB. But those clues didn’t provide an answer.

Now it seems D’Esposito’s deep connections to the White House caught the attention of Murkowski’s staff, who were looking for ways to get attention for the changes she wanted to benefit her state, sources said. D’Esposito’s nomination is likely to be on the HELP committee’s agenda soon but the megabill and the upcoming summer recess could delay his confirmation by the full Senate by a few months.

D’Esposito, a former New York City police officer and Hempstead Town council member, was elected to Congress in 2022. The reelection of the favorite son of Nassau County Republicans was a priority in 2024  -- Donald Trump gave him a campaign shoutout -- but he was narrowly defeated by former Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen.

While D’Esposito is expected to get back on the federal payroll as a Department of Labor official, he may really want his House seat back.

The national campaign committees of both parties have rated CD4 a top target in 2026 with Democrats already boosting Gillen and attacking D’Esposito. And Gillen has been the target of ads run by a pro-Trump PAC. A Gillen spokeswoman said of next year’s contest: “It doesn’t make a difference what job he [D’Esposito] has, we are focused on getting over the finish line.”

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Long Island politics doesn’t get much more granular than a write-in candidate for trustee in a village of 126 people, particularly when the hot-button issue is … sand.

West Hampton Dunes Village’s June 20 election featured former Mayor Gary Vegliante mounting an unsuccessful write-in campaign for trustee. Ryan Osborne and Gary Trimarchi were elected with 131 and 113 votes, respectively. Luke McGinty received 70 votes and Vegliante received 26 votes in defeat.

That’s a humbling turnout for Vegliante, the village’s founding father and its only mayor for 31 years until he was unseated in 2024 by current Mayor Irwin Krasnow, who beat Vegliante 159-104.

Vegliante’s political demise might be partly attributed to sand. The village, incorporated in 1993 by homeowners seeking more control over its coast, has a yearly need for beach renourishment from the Army Corps of Engineers. For a municipality of 237 acres on a barrier island cut off from Fire Island by Moriches and Shinnecock inlets, sand is a big deal.

The election last month got heated when Krasnow, 64, said Vegliante, 75, sent a campaign email blaming him for the least amount of beach sand ever secured for the village. “What he was saying was not true,” Krasnow told The Point. “I inherited what was left over. Saying it was my failure was very perplexing.”

Vegliante, however, said the village only secured 60,000-70,000 yards of sand last year. “For 30 years I got a million yards of sand, at least,” Vegliante told The Point. “But they’re blaming it on me.”

Making the dispute coarser than 40-grit sandpaper is the allegation that Vegliante isn’t a resident, and that Krasnow barred Vegliante and his wife from voting in June.

Krasnow said because of residency concerns, Vegliante was asked to answer questions from poll workers in order to vote. Vegliante said he and his wife were told they couldn’t vote unless they signed an affidavit, which he refused to do.

“They stole my and my wife’s vote,” Vegliante said. “It’s very upsetting, especially from a guy who never missed a local, state or federal election for 38 years. … I am very willing to defend my residency.”

For his part, Krasnow accused Vegliante of withholding information when he first took over as the new mayor. “There was no real transition, no continuity of government,” Krasnow said. “The first thing I did was ask Gary for his contacts at the Army Corps and DEC for replenishment of beach sand. His response was, ‘These are my personal contacts and I’m not sharing them.’ ”

Vegliante’s write-in campaign was spurred, he said, by residents concerned about the village’s direction. “Many of my residents said they were disgusted,” Vegliante said. “I wasn’t running. I did send out an email the day before the election saying I was upset because the current mayor missed the deadline on renourishment. Sand is the most important issue to our village.”

Krasnow retorted Vegliante is still bitter from losing the 2024 election. “It was his identity for most of his life,” Krasnow said. “He should have taken a bow or curtain call and just become mayor emeritus.”

That would have been a day at the beach compared to the political infighting that ensued.

Manorhaven Village’s board of trustees approved the site plan for a mixed-use development project known as 30 Sagamore Hill last week after protestations from residents that included a write-in campaign in the village’s June election.

Residents in opposition to 30 Sagamore Hill mounted an online petition urging residents to write “HALT” on their ballots for village trustee last month. One trustee told The Point “about 40” votes for "HALT" were recorded.

The most recent vote moves the project closer to breaking ground. The vote was 4-0-1 with trustee Monica Ildefonso abstaining.

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