“There’s momentum moving in the direction of removing his powers,” a source told CNN.
The source said there was support for the removal of Cuomo’s expanded powers before the aide’s comments were made public, but now, “it’s definitely going to happen.”
A bill is likely to be introduced this week in the state Legislature and voted on early next week. Democratic leaders in the Legislature have broad support from lawmakers to pass a bill when it is put to a vote.
Cuomo on Monday said there was no connection between the nursing home questions and his emergency powers, and he said his Covid-19 legal actions are only to protect the public.
“These are public health decisions,” he said. “They’re not local political decisions, and they have to be made on a public health basis.”
Cuomo says inquiry is politically motivated
Cuomo on Monday defended his administration’s actions, explaining that they “paused” the state lawmakers’ request for nursing home data because they prioritized the Department of Justice inquiry. He said the state Assembly and House were both told about this at the time.
“I was explaining that when we received the DOJ inquiry, we needed to temporarily set aside the Legislature’s request to deal with the federal request first. We informed the houses of this at the time,” she said. “We were comprehensive and transparent in our responses to the DOJ, and then had to immediately focus our resources on the second wave and vaccine rollout.”
“What I would say is everyone did the best they could. When I say the State Department of Health — as the report said — the State Department of Health followed federal guidance. So, if you think there was a mistake, then go talk to the federal government,” he said on January 29.
“It’s not about pointing fingers or blame. It’s that this became a political football right. Look, whether a person died in a hospital or died in a nursing home. It’s — people died. People died.”
