Cuomo: “I cannot in good conscience support legislation that would authorize such actions by federal judges who are appointed by this federal administration”

New York’s TDS-addled governor Andrew Cuomo (D) vetoed a bill that would have permitted federal judges to officiate at weddings because Trump.

The bill was innocuous and passed both NY state’s senate and assembly with overwhelming and bipartisan support. Cuomo’s veto memo specified that Trump-appointed federal judges should not be allowed to perform weddings in the state . . . because Trump appointed them.

I saw this story this weekend, and I admit that I was skeptical. It just seemed so completely childish and ridiculous that I couldn’t imagine a grown man behaving like this in an official memo from the governor’s office.

Besides the “evidence” at the time consisted of a tweet with a sloppy memo attached (the last sentence in the second paragraph is repeated twice). It just seemed too bizarre—and pathetic—to be real.

Cuomo’s justification for vetoing a bill that would let more federal judges officiate weddings: Some of them were appointed by Trump pic.twitter.com/RjchipPADE — Bill Mahoney (@mahoneyw) December 21, 2019

Here’s a close-up of Cuomo’s stompy foot memo:

Bizarre, pathetic, and as it turns out, true. According to WLNY, Republicans are “seething” over it. I suspect that they are mistaking shock and genuine pity for the man-child governor for “seething.”

NBC News reports:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vetoed a noncontroversial bipartisan bill that would have allowed all federal judges to officiate weddings in the state because some might have been nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump. “I cannot in good conscience support legislation that would authorize such actions by federal judges who are appointed by this federal administration,” Cuomo’s veto message stated. “President Trump does not embody who we are as New Yorkers,” the Democratic governor added Friday. “The cornerstones that built our great state are diversity, tolerance and inclusion. Based on these reasons, I must veto this bill.”

The move is particularly bizarre and utterly pointless given that “any New Yorker can become a minister online for $25 and legally perform weddings.”

NBC News continues:

The legislation, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Liz Krueger, passed the state Senate by a 61-to-1 vote. It passed the state Assembly by a 144-to-2 tally. Both the state Senate and the Assembly are under Democratic control. Currently, New York law permits all state judges in their official capacity to preside over wedding ceremonies, although only certain federal judges — like those in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and those at each of the state’s federal district courts — are eligible to preside over weddings. This bill would have expanded the wedding authority to all federal judges, largely those from outside New York. “Four years ago, we gave the governor the ability to perform marriages,” Krueger said in a statement. “Two years ago, we gave legislators that ability. Marriage in New York is inclusive, equal, and open to all who want it. So when it was suggested to me that we expand it to federal judges, I thought, ‘Why not? The more the merrier!’ I’m certainly no fan of the judges this president is choosing to appoint — but since any New Yorker can become a minister online for $25 and legally perform weddings, I didn’t consider this to be a major issue.”

According to the New York Post, “Albany Law School Professor Vincent Bonventre said that while he generally supports Cuomo and considers ‘many of President Trump’s nominees to the federal bench … far too ideological and rigidly partisan,’ the governor’s stated reason for his veto ‘is utterly unpersuasive’.”



