Cuomo: Trump Does Not Have ‘Total Authority’ Over States, Says He Would Resist Order To Reopen New York

Cuomo said that Trump does not have “total authority” for determining how and when states reopen their economies, as the president suggested during his press briefing yesterday.

With New York as the global epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, Cuomo has been the most vocal state governor, often clashing with Trump. These latest comments set up a further power struggle between the states and federal government over how best to respond to the pandemic.

He said that Trump’s statement “cannot go uncorrected” and that the power granted to state governments “ is not one of those things that is ambiguous [in the Constitution].”

The New York governor invoked the founding fathers and cited the Constitution, pointing out that the system of balanced power between the federal and state governments is “central to our democracy.”

“We don’t have a king in this country,” he said. “We didn’t want a king, so we have a Constitution.”

Responding to Trump’s tweet criticizing state governors—in which he implied that they were mutinying, Cuomo said that “the president is clearly spoiling for a fight on this issue,” but added that “if he wants a fight, he’s not going to get it from me, period.”

Cuomo did reiterate, however, that if Trump orders New York to reopen before he himself deems it safe, he would have “no choice” but defy the order, on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.