Lawmakers grilled former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his handling of controversial COVID-era nursing home policies and demanded that he apologize to families who lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic.
Governor Cuomo testified Tuesday before a House select committee investigating the coronavirus about the deaths of elderly people after they were admitted to nursing homes without patients being tested for COVID-19.
On March 25, 2020, the New York State Department of Health, under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, issued an advisory stating that nursing homes “are prohibited from requiring COVID-19 testing prior to admission or re-admission of hospitalized residents who are determined to be medically stable.”
At the hearing, Governor Cuomo argued that nursing homes ultimately have the power to decide whether to care for patients, but lawmakers countered that his recommendation meant nursing homes could no longer refuse to admit patients who test positive for the coronavirus.
Taxpayers lost more than $100 billion to coronavirus unemployment insurance fraud, committee says
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 10: Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo arrives to testify before the Select Subcommittee on COVID-19 at the Rayburn House Office Building in the U.S. Capitol on September 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura)
“After months of investigation and review, we now know irrefutably what New Yorkers have known for years: Governor Cuomo and his most senior advisers issued, directed and implemented this deadly executive order in defiance of CMS and CDC guidance,” said New York Assemblywoman Elise Stefanik.
“You’re responsible for this,” Stefanik told the former governor. “There are families sitting here. I want you to turn around, look them in the eye and apologize. You’ve failed to do that. How are you going to apologize?”
The former New York governor also testified at the hearing that he did not speak to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) before or after the recommendations were sent.
Andrew Cuomo will finally be questioned about COVID deaths. Will my family and others ever know the truth?
“And then they never called me. If they had a problem with the directive, if it was so bad that they didn’t even call, they would have called,” Cuomo told the committee, adding that the recommendation was “fully compliant with federal guidelines.”
New York Republican Assemblywoman Elise Stefanik grilled Cuomo during the hearing. (Jiang Haiyun/Bloomberg)
Governor Cuomo has been held responsible for thousands of COVID-related deaths that have occurred in nursing homes, which the New York State Department of Health’s 2023 report calculated at 826 in Suffolk County, 813 in Erie County, which includes Buffalo, and 623 in Queens County.
The former governor blamed former President Donald Trump during his confirmation hearing and said the investigation was part of “a shift in an old agenda to blame New York and other states for wrongdoing in the federal government’s response.”
Republicans on the committee slammed Governor Cuomo for shifting the blame on the issue.
“I was hoping to see Governor Cuomo be less defensive and express contriteness about what happened in New York, and we didn’t see that today,” said Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican from Iowa.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 10: Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is sworn in to testify before the Select Subcommittee on COVID-19 at the Rayburn House Office Building in the U.S. Capitol on September 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura)
“I am deeply suspicious of the abdication of responsibility towards others that we have witnessed not only here but in the public domain,” Wenstrup added.
Click here to get the FOX News app
“Governor, you show no remorse, which is disappointing. There’s no self-criticism about what you could have done better or improved upon. You just blame others and take an even more hardline stance,” Wenstrup said.
Fox News’ Charles Kreitz contributed to this report.
