Curb sought on Cuomo’s powers
N.Y. nursing-home deaths weigh heavy on N.Y. governor
New York lawmakers will seek to curb the sweeping emergency powers afforded to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the covid-19 pandemic after backlash widened over how his administration handled nursing-home deaths.
Democratic leaders in the state Senate said late Wednesday that they plan to put forth a proposal to curtail some of Cuomo’s powers ahead of the planned April 30 expiration of the law, which was passed in March and gives Cuomo a blank check to issue by executive order any directive necessary to respond to the health emergency.
The proposal could be voted on as early as next week and could include setting up an advisory panel to approve Cuomo’s directives, according to the office of the Senate Majority. It’s unclear whether the Democrats in the state Assembly will back the measure. Without support in that chamber, the Senate’s bill would effectively serve as a slap on the wrist.
“I think everyone understands where we were back in March and where we are now. We certainly see the need for quick response, but also want to move toward a system of increased oversight and review,” said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. “The public deserves to have checks and balances.”
Cuomo is facing growing scrutiny over his administrations handling of nursing-home deaths. The FBI and U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York have launched an investigation into his handling of long-term care facilities like nursing homes, according to The New York Times and the Times Union of Albany, citing unidentified sources. “As we publicly said, DOJ [Department of Justice] has been looking into this for months. We have been cooperating with them and we will continue to,” a Cuomo spokesperson told Bloomberg News. John Marzulli, a spokesman for acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme, declined to comment.
A group of nine Republican U.S. senators, including Ted Cruz of Texas and Charles Grassley of Iowa, asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate Cuomo’s administration over what the lawmakers called a “cover-up” of the covid-19 death toll in state nursing homes.
The governor has also been fighting accusations that he called New York Assemblyman Ron Kim, yelled at him and threatened to “destroy him” after Kim criticized his administration’s handling of nursing-home deaths.
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio weighed in. Cuomo’s longtime political foe said he believed “100%” that Cuomo threatened Kim for criticizing his administration. De Blasio, speaking on MSNBC, said such “bullying” behavior is typical of the governor and he has seen it for himself, without citing specifics. “It’s a sad thing to say, but that’s classic Andrew Cuomo,” de Blasio said. “A lot of people in New York State have received those phone calls. The bullying is nothing new.”
Taking away Cuomo’s additional executive powers before they expire would be largely symbolic, viewed as a check on the outsize power he has wielded that critics say allowed him to conceal data around how many covid deaths were tied to nursing homes. The law also gave Cuomo the power to suspend local laws during the emergency if they were found to hinder or delay necessary action.
“It would be a symbolic statement like a vote of no confidence,” said Gerald Benjamin, a political science professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He said Cuomo’s additional powers were always meant to end at some point, otherwise “you tend to normalize them.”