Cuomogeddon? NY Republicans press for impeachment commission as allies flee

They might get one too, thanks to Andrew Cuomo’s stunning ability to make a bad situation even worse. Ever since Melissa DeRosa admitted that the Cuomo administration covered up the actual numbers of nursing-home deaths to prevent the Department of Justice from investigating, Republicans in New York’s legislature have demanded impeachment. Late today, they took the first steps to start the impeachment process, proposing an investigative commission to determine whether Cuomo should be removed:

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State Assembly Republicans are moving to form an impeachment commission “to gather facts and evidence” surrounding Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “handling and subsequent cover-up of the COVID-19 crisis in nursing homes” across New York, they announced Thursday.

The Assembly Republican Conference next week will introduce a bill to create a bipartisan panel 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.”

Under the resolution, the committee would have a 60-day deadline to conduct its work and submit its findings and recommendations to the legislature on whether to impeach.

The resolution to form the committee would need to be passed by both houses of the Democrat-controlled legislature.

Normally, that would present an insurmountable obstacle. These days, though, New York Democrats keep finding more reason to distance themselves from the Love Gov, especially after DeRosa’s admission went public. In a desperate attempt to force his party back in line, Cuomo went after Democratic critic Assemblyman Ron Kim, first by threatening to “destroy” Kim and then attempting to follow through with a clumsy smear attempt.

Guess what impact that’s had on Kim’s colleagues?

Assemblyman Ron Kim said Wednesday he’s received overwhelming support from his colleagues amid his clash with Gov. Andrew Cuomo over the nursing home death toll from COVID-19.

During an appearance on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show,” the Queens Democrat said he “had a personal conversation” with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx).

“He is 150 percent on my side,” Kim said.

“I know that he stands with me.”

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If that’s true, then Cuomo could be in serious trouble. Heastie released a statement yesterday telling everyone to “lower the temperature and work together,” so he’s not going to just thunder into an impeachment process. However, the more Cuomo attempts to bully his own side, the more of them Heastie will lose, and it might end up not being his call in the end.

And do not doubt that Cuomo will continue his bullying. Bill de Blasio, who has to be loving this after Cuomo’s attacks on him in the pandemic, told Morning Joe that bullying is Cuomo’s natural state:

“The threats, the belittling, the demand that someone change their statement right that moment,” de Blasio says, “many, many times I’ve heard that, and I know a lot of other people in this state have heard that.” If that’s true, then Cuomo is living on borrowed time. Bullying only works while you have the leverage to pull it off. This nursing-home scandal has stripped Cuomo of that leverage, making him vulnerable to charges and likely will start showing up in polling from here on out. If it does, then all of the people that Cuomo has threatened and harangued will be happy to turn the tables and kick him while he’s down. And down he most certainly is at the moment.

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What would Democrats lose by kicking out a bully, after all? The office would pass to Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat who is keeping a mighty low profile at the moment. New York has become a fairly safe state for Democrats statewide, so it’s unlikely that the GOP would win the office even if Cuomo got the boot — unless Democrats went all in to protect him. That’s their big risk, and why would they take that risk for a jerk like Cuomo? Especially after his attack on Kim, Democrats in New York are almost certainly recalculating their loyalties on a minute-to-minute basis.

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Jazz Shaw 7:20 PM | March 18, 2024
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