Govs. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) and Phil Murphy (D-NJ) have both refused a request from House GOP members asking them to explain their policies for nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican lawmakers of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis sent letters last week to the governors of New York, New Jersey, Michigan California and Pennsylvania seeking answers regarding policies that forced nursing homes to take in COVID-19 residents.
Lawmakers want information on their state-issued guidance regarding hospital discharges to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as well as the total number of COVID-19 related nursing home deaths, positive cases and confirmed or suspected cases.
In a response letter, Murphy noted that individuals members of Congress, including ranking minority members, do not have the authority to conduct oversight in the absence of a specific delegation.
“Further, a comprehensive response to your letter, which contains gross mischaracterizations as well as broad requests for privileged material, would necessarily require essential staff to divert their attention away from addressing the present public health emergency,” Murphy wrote.
Cuomo called the Republican’s request “pure politics.”
“The Republicans in Congress, they think there’s a vulnerability. The Republicans in Congress just sent letters just to Democratic states about the nursing homes,” Cuomo said during a radio interview last week.
