(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, has announced that former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will testify publicly before Congress for the first time about his COVID-19 policies next Tuesday.
“Andrew Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York’s nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Wenstrup said in his Tuesday announcement.
Cuomo’s appearance follows closed-door testimony Cuomo gave earlier this year, which Wensrup called “shockingly callous.”
“When pressed to explain discrepancies in nursing home death counts, [Cuomo] repeatedly deflected responsibility for the nursing home directive, and most egregiously, showed little remorse for the thousands of lives lost,” Wensrtup said.
🚨BREAKING🚨
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will testify publicly before Congress for the FIRST TIME regarding his COVID-19 nursing home policies at a @COVIDSelect hearing on September 10, 2024. pic.twitter.com/oRVMvBgukN
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) September 3, 2024
“A true leader owns up to his mistakes and takes responsibility for wrongdoing. That is not what we saw from Mr. Cuomo during his term as governor nor during his transcribed interview. We hope that during his public hearing next week, Mr. Cuomo will stop dodging accountability and honestly answer the American people,” the congressman added.
The Cuomo administration came under significant scrutiny for a policy that at first required nursing homes to readmit recovering COVID-19 patients in an effort to avoid hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. That was on top of state fatality figures that significantly undercounted the deaths.
In June, an investigation into New York’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic found former Gov. Cuomo’s “top down” approach of dictating public health policy through his office—rather than coordinating with state and local agencies—sewed confusion during the crisis.
In the state’s nursing homes, where some 15,000 people died, the administration’s lack of communication with agencies and facilities resulted in wasted resources and mistrust — not to mention anxiety for residents’ loved ones, according to the independent probe commissioned by current Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022.
Cuomo resigned from office in August 2021, amid sexual harassment allegations, which he denies. Hochul, a fellow Democrat who had been Cuomo’s lieutenant, inherited the job and was reelected the follow year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
