Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is set to face a congressional hearing on September 10th, where he will be questioned about his administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing, conducted by a subcommittee tasked with probing the pandemic, will specifically focus on Cuomo’s controversial policies regarding nursing homes.
During the height of the pandemic, Cuomo implemented strict social and economic restrictions across New York state. His administration was also criticized for its handling of nursing homes, facing accusations that its policies resulted in a significant number of COVID-related deaths. A 2023 report from the NYS Department of Health calculated that 826 deaths occurred in Suffolk County, 813 in Erie County, and 623 in Queens County due to the pandemic’s impact on nursing homes.
The hearing will center on a directive issued by Cuomo’s administration that mandated nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients. The subcommittee will investigate whether this directive, deemed unscientific by some, contributed to the higher death toll in these facilities.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from New York who sits on the subcommittee, has been a vocal critic of Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic. She claims that Cuomo has refused to take responsibility for his orders and their consequences. She also pointed out that the administration has yet to identify who authorized the controversial directive, raising concerns about accountability and transparency.
Malliotakis emphasizes the widespread frustration among her constituents, many of whom lost loved ones during the pandemic due to what they believe were preventable deaths. She insists that Cuomo needs to be held accountable for his actions.
In response to the impending hearing, Cuomo’s spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, defended the former governor’s actions, stating that New York had a lower nursing home death rate than all but 11 states. He dismissed the subcommittee as a “farce” and accused its members of hypocrisy for criticizing Cuomo while ignoring their own policies that, he claims, led to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths.
Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic was a subject of intense scrutiny during his time in office. In a July 2020 press conference, he was questioned about a state report on nursing homes and why an independent investigator was not appointed. Cuomo dismissed the inquiry as a political issue and blamed the New York Post, Fox News, and political motivations for bringing the issue to light.
Cuomo’s appearance before the congressional subcommittee promises to be a contentious event, with Republicans eager to hold him accountable and Democrats likely to defend his record. The hearing will undoubtedly shed further light on the controversial policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing debate about how best to navigate such crises in the future.
