NY Gov. Cuomo Fires Back at Trump's Claim Of 'Total' Authority: 'We Don’t Have A King'

“We don’t have a king,” that was how New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's responded to President Trump's brash claim Monday (April 13) that he had "total" authority over states.

But Trump, who is facing criticism over his administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak, seemed willing to take the fight further. Soon after Cuomo responded to the President on Tuesday morning, Trump took to his favorite social media platform, tweeting: "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!"

With the economy -- which before the pandemic struck was the President's best selling point for reelection -- headed for a deep recession, the attacks seem part of a strategy of offensive-defense: to head off criticism over his handling of the coronavirus response.

Trump has been impatient to reopen the economy as quickly as possible -- he initially said by Easter -- but reports say the administration is now looking at the beginning of May. State governors -- especially from those like New York, which been particulary badly hit by the pandemic -- are not in favor of such a timeline.

In his daily press briefing Monday evening where he clashed with assembled reporters and even played a video that looked more like a re-election pitch than one to explain his talking points, Trump had made a litany of false statements, highlighted by a claim that lacks constitutional support: “When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total.” Trump was speaking about his belief that he can overrule governors and reopen states during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the fact that centuries of multiple Supreme Court decisions centered around the Tenth Amendment have consistently ruled that presidents do not have the power Trump claims he has.

When asked CNN's morning show, New Day, what he would do if the President ordered that New York reopen for business, the Cuomo did not mince words: “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." The governor then added, "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.”

Trump's wild assertion drew responses from other governors as well. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also took aim at Trump, saying “It’s up to the governors to make decisions about the executive orders that we've put in place.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom was more diplomatic than Pritzker and Cuomo, saying “I have all the confidence in the world moving forward that we will maintain that collaborative spirit in terms of the decision-making that we make here within the state of California as it relates to a road map for recovery.”

Many conservatives like AEI Fellow Jonah Goldberg and former writer for the National Review, David French, blasted Trump for his “totally false” claim that the President’s authority is “total.”

The Constitution delegates a lot of power to the states, and this federalist principle has been one of the few constants throughout all of American history -- and it has driven conservative thinking for centuries. The Tenth Amendment is but one example of how the Constitution explicitly states that no president’s authority is “total,” and states have plenty of power to operate autonomously.

If Trump overrules not only Democratic governors Cuomo, but also Republican governors who have also shut down their sates like Ohio’s Mike DeWine, then it is very likely that this issue will escalate to the courts. If the ensuing decision follows existing precedent on the subject, it could follow very well lead to a rebuke of Trump’s claim.