Trump doesn’t have 'total authority' to reopen states, New York governor says as he threatens constitutional challenge

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New York governor Andrew Cuomo has rejected the president’s statement he has “total authority” over reopening the states and threatened a constitutional challenge if the federal government’s decisions impacted the safety of his state.

President Donald Trump geared up for a fight between himself and state governors over claims of who would be responsible for reopening the US economy in the coming weeks.

During the president’s press briefing on Monday, he said he had “total authority” over all the states. But Mr Cuomo was quick to reject that statement.

“The president said last night he has total authority. That is not an accurate statement, in my opinion,” the governor said on Tuesday during his own press briefing. ”The balance between the state and federal that is articulated in the constitution is the essence of our democracy. We do not have a king in this country … we didn’t want a king.”

“The colonies, the states, formed the federal government. The federal government did not form the states. There are laws and there are facts, even in this wild political environment,” he added.

Mr Cuomo, as well as the rest of the country, has watched as Mr Trump grow more angry at the governors for making their own individual plans for how to open their respective states amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier on Tuesday, the president tweeted claiming “Democrat Governors” were attempting to pull a mutiny against him. “A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain,” he wrote, mentioning the movie Mutiny on the Bounty.

The president also released a tweet directly geared at the New York governor.

“Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won’t happen,” Mr Trump wrote.

“The president is clearly spoiling for a fight,” Mr Cuomo said about the president’s threats. “This is too important for anyone to play politics.”

Although the governor has offered up his own harsh criticisms against the president, he said on Tuesday Mr Trump “will have no fight with me.”

“I will not engage it,” he said. “This is not about me this is about we.”

Engaging in a fight would occur, Mr Cuomo confessed, if he felt the federal government was making decisions that would harm New Yorkers and the state’s recovery following Covid-19.

“Unless he suggests we do something reckless and endanger the state .. then I would have no choice,’ Mr Cuomo said. ”I will fight with all my might to protect New Yorkers.

Challenging the president if necessary was mentioned when Mr Cuomo appeared on CNN on Tuesday morning. The governor said worst case he would have to use the constitution to defend his power over New York.

“If he ordered me to reopen in a way that would endanger the public health of the people of my state, I wouldn’t do it,” Mr Cuomo said. “And we would have a constitutional challenge between the state and the federal government, and that would go into the courts. And that would be the worst possible thing he could do at this moment, would be to act dictatorial and to act in a partisan, divisive way.”

New York announced on it was partnering with six Northeastern states – New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts – in collaborating how each are will reopen in the coming weeks and months. This sparked the West Coast and midwest states to also form their own coalitions focused on reopening plans.

Previously, Mr Cuomo said he would welcome the federal government to take charge of reopening the economy if they had a proper plan in place to address every states’ differing needs. But thus far, the Trump administration has yet to reveal a plan for how the US should reopen.