FIRST ON FOX: Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation are up in arms over reports that state Democrat leaders are considering legislative routes to delay the special election to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
The six GOP lawmakers signaled they would seek intervention from the Department of Justice (DOJ) if the alleged legislative maneuver runs afoul of federal law.
“Your clear attempt at playing political games to limit Republican numbers in the House of Representatives is overreaching, corrupt, and undemocratic,” reads a letter led by Reps. Mike Lawler and Nick Langworthy.
“We demand you cease any and all such attempts to change this law, and in preparation of this conspiratory, corrupt act that clearly threatens the constitutional rights of American citizens, we will also be alerting the Department of Justice.”
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The letter was also signed by New York Republican Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino and Claudia Tenney.
Their pressure on New York’s Democrat leaders is backed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who told “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning, “This is open political corruption by state officials in New York.”
“They’re going to try to disenfranchise over 750,000 New Yorkers who live in that 21st District. It’s unconscionable,” he said.
New York lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly met last week to discuss a rules change that could keep Stefanik’s seat empty until at least June, according to the New York Post.
Stefanik was tapped to be President Donald Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and is expected to easily pass a Senate confirmation vote. She and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s departure from Congress leave the House with a razor-thin GOP majority, leaving no room for Republican dissent to pass any legislation without Democrat support.
The letter noted that Stefanik could be confirmed “as early as this week,” which would leave residents of New York’s 21st Congressional District without representation in the House until the seat is filled.
The deep-red district is almost certainly going to stay in Republican control, as is the case with Waltz’s former Florida seat.
While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis acted quickly to set special elections for April, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been silent.
Under current state law, Hochul has 10 days after Stefanik’s resignation to call a special election within a further 70 to 80 days.
But the rule change would reportedly consolidate the special elections date with the June primary race, allegedly in the name of saving resources and time.
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“Your claims that you’re doing this to be cost-effective or to promote equity are laughable and will do nothing more than leave every New Yorker in the 21st district with no representation in the House for additional months,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.
“Your scheme to alter the schedule for the special election is a serious abuse of power that is more alike to election processes in authoritarian countries than anything we see in the United States.”
They argued that any delay would run afoul of the Constitution’s clauses on filling House vacancies as well as Supreme Court precedent.
“Any delay or postponement in calling a special election to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives is not just undemocratic, but it is unconstitutional as well,” they wrote. “It would be reminiscent of other failed efforts regarding New York’s elections in recent years, such as the unconstitutional attempts to gerrymander New York’s congressional districts.”
The letter also cited a 2009 New York State Court of Appeals ruling that special elections to fill a vacancy should occur in the “shortest space of time reasonably possible.”
“The citizens of New York’s 21st Congressional District are constitutionally entitled to representation in the House and it is our hope that these reports have little basis in reality. If not, we strongly urge you to abandon this absurd, shameful scheme to deny representation for more than 750,000 New Yorkers and maintain current state election laws,” the lawmakers wrote.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul’s office as well as the offices of New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
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