Andrew Cuomo faces reported COVID probe as Senate moves to curtail his power (2024)

ALBANY – Senate Democratsintendto vote on a measure that would curtail the COVID-era powers of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose administration is reportedly facing afederal investigationfocused in part on its handling of the virus in nursing homes.

The new Senate plan would create a panel that would have to approve any new pandemic-related directives by Cuomo, a Democrat who has used his broad emergency powers to unilaterally impose an array of closures, rules and restrictions meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The proposal, the language of which has not yet been made public, would mark an intraparty rebuke of Cuomo, who has faced increasing scrutiny for his administration's COVID-19 policies and its decision to withhold the release of the true nursing home death toll for months.

It also comes as U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn is involvedin the early stages of an investigation of Cuomo's coronavirus task force, as first reported Wednesday nightby the Times Union of Albany.

In a statement late Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, confirmed her conference will put forward a proposal that would "create a system with increased input while at the same time ensuring New Yorkers continue to be protected."

"I think everyone understands where we were back in March and where we are now," Stewart-Cousins said."We certainly seethe need for a quick response but also want to move toward a system ofincreased oversight, and review. The public deserves to have checks and balances."

Cuomo has used expanded powers extensively

The state Legislature first granted Cuomo expanded power in early March, not long after the first case of COVID-19 was discovered in New York. They're due to expire in April.

The powers permit Cuomo to issue unilateral directives that effectively have the force of law,while the state is under its pandemic-era state of emergency. They have allowed the governor to quickly enact and rescind measures like the current 11 p.m. restaurant curfew and last year's New York on PAUSE orderthat temporarily shut down all nonessential businesses.

But Cuomo has faced increased criticism in recent weeks after a Jan. 28 report from state Attorney General Letitia James faulted his administration for failing to release the number of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19 in hospitals or hospice care despite numerous requests from lawmakers and the press.

To that point, Cuomo's administration had only released the number of nursing home residents who died in the homes themselves. After James' report, his administration revealed about 4,000residents had died in hospitals, which pushed the total nursing home death toll past 13,000.

Things got worse for Cuomo last week, when his top aide, Melissa DeRosa, told state lawmakersthe administration "froze" after receiving a request for information from the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump last August.

DeRosa told the lawmakers the administration chose to "pause" the collection and release of data they requested — including the nursing home death toll — after receiving the DOJ letter, in part because they were concerned it could be "used against us."

Cuomo defends need for emergency powers

For months, Senate and Assembly Republicans repeatedly called for the removal of Cuomo's emergency powers. Those calls intensified after the recent nursing home revelations, with at least a few dozen legislative Democrats joining the call to at least curtail them.

On Monday, Cuomo said the emergency powers "have nothing to do with nursing homes." Under state law, the Legislature can rescind any of his hundreds of pandemic-era directives with a majority vote; So far, lawmakers have not done so.

Any bill passed by the Senate would also have to be approved by the Assembly, whose Democratic majority has not committed to taking action. Cuomo could also rejectthe measure, though Democrats have supermajorities in both houses that could theoretically overturn a veto.

"I understand these decisions are difficult politically. I get that," Cuomo said. "It’s difficult to close schools. It’s difficult to close restaurants. It’s difficult to impose curfews. But otherwise, people die. These decisions should not be politicized. If you made these decisions by a poll, none of them would happen and more people would die."

The Times Union, meanwhile, reported Wednesday the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn are in the midst of an investigation that is at least partially eyeing the actions of Cuomo's coronavirus task force and its handling of the virus in long-term care facilities.

The probe is in its "early stages," according to the newspaper.

John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined comment Thursday.

In a statement Thursday, Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi noted DOJ has been inquiring about the nursing home situation since last year. The involvement of the Brooklyn office appears to be new; As of last week, DeRosa told lawmakers she believed DOJ had dropped the potential probe.

"We have been cooperating with them and we will continue to," Azzopardi said.

Senate Republicans cheered the news of the investigation, which they had been seeking for months.

"I am grateful to see our repeated calls for a federal investigation have been answered," said Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, Niagara County."And although I welcome my colleagues in the Majority who are at long last mulling revocation of the Governor’s emergency powers, their action is long overdue."

Assembly Republicans introduced a resolution that would form an impeachment commission to investigate the Cuomo administration's conduct related to COVID-19 in nursing homes, but it would need extensive Democratic support in order to pass.

The committee would be tasked with“examining the state’s method of administration and conduct in all matters relating to nursing homes and long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic," according to the resolution.

Cuomo has pushed back against the idea of an investigation, claiming it is unnecessary.

He notedMonday he believes his administration should have done a better job of prioritizing the release of the COVID-19 data sought by lawmakers.

"We told them we were not going to address the request at that time, that we were going to honor the DOJ request first," Cuomo said Monday."We said that. That’s a fact. There’s nothing to investigate there. And then we provided information to DOJ. There is nothing to investigate."

More: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused of angrily threatening a vocal critic. He denies it.

More: Cuomo aide admits holding back COVID nursing home data amid DOJ inquiry

Jon Campbell is a New York state government reporter for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JCAMPBELL1@Gannett.com or on Twitter at@JonCampbellGAN.

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