Cuomo and de Blasio Team Up to Oppose GOP’s Health-Care Efforts
New York rally includes vow by state Attorney General Schneiderman to sue if Republicans replace Obamacare
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, and Mayor Bill de Blasio embraced at a health-care rally opposing Republican efforts to overturn Obamacare. In the foreground is state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. PHOTO: MARY ALTAFFER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Republican push to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Monday momentarily united two New York Democrats who are often at odds.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have long sparred with one another, most recently blaming the other for troubles at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and they rarely appear together.
But they held a joint rally criticizing Republican-backed federal health-insurance bills and supporting New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s vow to sue if the GOP gets a new law through Congress.
“This health plan put forward by this Congress will hurt the people of the state of New York, and I’m going to do everything I can to fight against it,” said Mr. Cuomo, calling the mayor “a colleague in this battle.”
The Republican-led House earlier this year passed a bill that would repeal parts of former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature health-insurance law. The Republican-led Senate is currently considering its own version of that bill.
Mr. Schneiderman, another Democrat, said Monday he would sue the federal government if either the House or Senate bills becomes law on “the basis of several constitutional defects.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, has defended its bill, saying insurance markets created by Mr. Obama’s law are collapsing and a repeal will help people end their struggles with their health-care plans.
Mr. Schneiderman has already sued President Donald Trump’s administration over its energy policies and its moratorium on visitors from some Muslim-majority nations because of terrorism concerns. Republican attorneys general did sue the Obama administration, with mixed results.
The event on Monday, held at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, included remarks from Messrs. Cuomo, de Blasio, and Schneiderman and Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. The labor unions SEIU 1199 and New York State Nurses Association cheered from the bleachers.
Mr. Cuomo, who has been floated as a 2020 presidential candidate, gave a speech touching on national themes. “Disregarding the poor, disregarding the weak, that is not what made this country this country,” he said.
He largely trained his fire on Congress and avoided naming Mr. Trump, which is his custom.
Mr. Schneiderman, who is considered a possible contender to succeed Mr. Cuomo as governor, gave lower-decibel remarks focused on the rule of law.
And Mr. de Blasio, who is aligned with the left wing of his party, adopted the rhetoric of Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, saying “people will die” if the Republican proposals lead to a new law.
The last time Messrs. Cuomo and de Blasio held a joint event was after a bomb exploded in a Manhattan neighborhood in September 2016.
Associates of theirs said they have recently engaged in something of a detente after a yearslong public feud. The two had a private lunch in New York City in May, these people said, and discussed the MTA by phone recently.
Politics has united them before. When U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas assailed Mr. Trump, then a candidate, for holding “New York values” during the 2016 presidential campaign, Messrs. Cuomo and de Blasio released a joint essay extolling such values.
Spokespersons for the House speaker and for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to comment Monday.
Write to Mike Vilensky at mike.vilensky@dowjones.com
Appeared in the July 18, 2017, print edition as 'Cuomo and de Blasio Make Nice With Each Other.'
