Republicans Say Hochul Is Obstructing Investigation Into New York’s Deadly COVID-19 Nursing Home Policy

New York Governor Kathy Hochul joins other politicians and Jewish leaders for a conference addressing the rise in antisemitic incidents across the United States at the Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan, New York, on Dec. 12, 2022. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are escalating their investigation into New York’s COVID-19 nursing home policies and are now accusing Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul of obstructing their efforts to determine how the policy contributed to numerous deaths early on in the pandemic.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), who chairs the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, has been scrutinizing New York and other states over policies that placed COVID-19-positive patients in nursing homes in the early months of the pandemic. States with these policies saw thousands of COVID-19 deaths, including New York, which recorded more than 15,000 deaths among nursing home patients.