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A majority of the New York congressional delegation is calling for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) to resign over mounting allegations of sexual misconduct, including high-profile Democrats such as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Nadler said in a statement that the accusations and the governor’s response to them have “made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point.”
“Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York,” Nadler said. “Governor Cuomo must resign.”
In a separate statement, Maloney said she supports the women who came forward and that Cuomo resigning is “in the best interest of all New Yorkers.”
Ocasio-Cortez, in a joint statement with freshman Rep. Jamaal Bowman, said they believe the women’s accounts and agree with those who say Cuomo “can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges.”
Then, Sean Patrick Maloney, a member of the House Democratic leadership in his role as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Cuomo needed to step aside so New York could go back to focusing on getting through the pandemic.
New York Democratic Reps. Mondaire Jones, Antonio Delgado, Grace Meng, Yvette D. Clarke, Nydia M. Velázquez, Adriano Espaillat, Brian Higgins also said in tweets and statements put out within minutes of each other that he should resign.
Since the allegations first came to light, most Democrats in Washington have resisted asking Cuomo to step down and have instead encouraged the independent investigation by the New York attorney general into Cuomo’s conduct.
But with more women coming forward with allegations of harassment, intimidation and assault by the governor, a number of New York Democrats in Congress came out simultaneously Friday morning urging Cuomo to resign.
Before now, Rep. Kathleen Rice was the lone New York Democrat in Congress to call for Cuomo’s resignation. Almost two weeks ago she tweeted after a third accuser came forward: “The time has come. The Governor must resign.”
There are now six women who allege Cuomo harassed or touched them inappropriately.
New York’s two U.S. senators, Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, did not immediately respond to the news of their colleagues’ en masse calls for Cuomo’s resignation.
