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NY Assemblyman Accuses Dems of Trying to Keep Rep. Stefanik’s Seat Vacant

NY Assemblyman Accuses Dems of Trying to Keep Rep. Stefanik’s Seat Vacant

“That’s their entire mission and goal, the Albany Democrats, is to make sure that they’re combating President Trump each step of the way. And this is their latest way of doing it.”

Republican New York Assemblyman Matt Slater accused New York Democrats of scheming to keep Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik’s seat for months. It might last until summer.

The Senate is expected to confirm Stefanik as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Slater made the accusations to Fox News Digital:

“We still haven’t seen the final proposal from the Democrats in Albany, but there’s no doubt that Tammany Hall corruption is alive and well in the state capital,” Republican New York Assemblyman Matt Slater, who represents the state’s 94th district in areas of Putnam and Westchester counties, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive Zoom interview on Sunday morning.

“It is just blatantly corrupt for the New York State Democrats to keep changing the rules of engagement simply out of self-interest. Meanwhile, New Yorkers are struggling in so many different ways. U-Haul just gave us our worst migration rating ever because there’s so many New Yorkers who are fleeing this state. So they can get things done, but they only do it when it benefits them,” Slater continued.

Slater, who serves as the ranking Republican on the state’s Election Law Committee, was reacting to state Democrats working to introduce legislation that could keep Stefanik’s House seat vacant until June, when the state holds its scheduled primary elections. Stefanik is in the midst of her confirmation process to serve in the Trump administration and is expected to resign her House seat if the Senate confirms her as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Under current law, New York’s governor has 10 days to declare a special election for a vacant seat and an additional 80 to 90 days to hold the election. Stefanik’s seat is key for the Republican Party and Trump’s second administration, as Republicans hold a slim majority at 218 members to the Democrats’ 215 members.

Slater claimed the Democrats have been stalling as a way to fight against President Donald Trump: “This obviously would make that margin of Republican control that much more thin and that much more challenging for the speaker and, again, jeopardizing President Trump’s agenda to get through Congress. That’s their entire mission and goal, the Albany Democrats, is to make sure that they’re combating President Trump each step of the way. And this is their latest way of doing it.”

Stefanik has not resigned from her seat yet.

Stefanik has represented the 21st Congressional District since 2015; her latest victory came in November. Her term ends on January 3, 2027.

The representative won her elections within pretty comfortable margins. The only close one came in 2018 when she won 56.1% to 42.4%.

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Comments


 
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Crawford | February 3, 2025 at 7:31 am

So she doesn’t resign until there’s a replacement. It’s not like “ambassador to the UN” requires more than an occasional veto.


     
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    TargaGTS in reply to Crawford. | February 3, 2025 at 7:35 am

    That almost certainly can’t work. The governor would be under no legal obligation to schedule a special election until there’s a vacancy. There won’t be a vacancy until Stefaniks resigns.


     
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    Milhouse in reply to Crawford. | February 3, 2025 at 7:55 am

    Crawford, that’s almost correct. If the state legislature changes the law so the special election won’t be until June, then once confirmed she should ask Trump not to appoint her until May, or late April, or whenever the last date is to get the special election called. In the meantime Trump will have to make do with an acting ambassador in Turtle Bay.

    Remember that senate confirmation doesn’t automatically make her the ambassador, and thus ineligible to sit in Congress. Confirmation merely allows the president to make the appointment, but he has to actually do so, and nothing says he has to do it immediately.


       
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      AbrahamFroman in reply to Milhouse. | February 3, 2025 at 10:28 am

      During a farewell tour of her district this week, she announced she’s going to resign as soon as she’s confirmed. The other commenter is correct. If she waits to resign, Hochul simply won’t begin the scheduling process until then. Nothing happens until that resignation is officially tendered to the House. If she waits until April or May, the election probably wouldn’t be until 100-days after that, at the earliest, presuming the Democrats don’t change that law. What complicates matters is the NY legislature meets every month unlike some state legislatures which will only be in session part of the year. If that were the case, Stafanik could just wait to resign until they were out of session. But, it’s not. Hochul and the Dem legislature enjoy all the leverage.


     
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    guyjones in reply to Crawford. | February 3, 2025 at 11:19 am

    Exactly. Two can play at this game. Have Stefanik’s underling stand in for her at U.N. proceedings, as is necessary. The Ambassador to the U.N. does not need to be present at all proceedings of this wretched and corrupt body; only the most consequential and strategic votes.


 
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CommoChief | February 3, 2025 at 7:36 am

Cool. Go ahead d/prog, do your thing and exercise the political power you hold to alter the rules, norms and traditions for partisan political reasons as memes to ‘punish’ your political opponents. No whining when the shoe is on the other foot though. No trying to exploit or weaponize empathy and/or appeal to the rules, norms and traditions you cast aside here. No BS arguments about a ‘dangerous path/escalation’ will be entertained from either d/prog trying to weasel out of payback or from squishy ‘conservatives’ who didn’t expend all their energy on stopping the d/prog before they could follow through on blowing up those rules, norms and traditions.


 
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TargaGTS | February 3, 2025 at 7:54 am

Hard to see any good answer to this predicament. The biggest problem is as in California, the Dems enjoy an overwhelming (super) majorities in the NY State legislature. So, as soon as Stefanik resigns – which she has to do before she can take the oath of office as an Ambassador (Article 1, Section 6, Clause 2), the Dems would have 10-days to change their statutory law which obligates the Governor to schedule (not hold) an election within 10-days. The good news is the Constitution obligates the state executive to initiate the process (When vacancies happen in the Representation from any state, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies). The bad news is there isn’t any time-table specified in the USC. Over the years, the ‘average’ time to replace a House vacancy is 120-days.

Pray that God will destroy their ability to do evil.


 
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Dolce Far Niente | February 3, 2025 at 11:41 am

Stephanik is more valuable in the legislature than she would be as an ambassador.

The obvious answer is for her to decline and for Trump to appoint someone not in office.


     
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    CommoChief in reply to Dolce Far Niente. | February 3, 2025 at 4:40 pm

    Nah. She can delay accepting.and her resignation from Congress until the special election. Trump.can then simply send the most JR diplomat to the UN to veto everything and anything until she is in her post. Shut down everything to do with the UN, pause all contributions until later in the year. I’m sure there’s all sorts of wrenches to throw into the gears then blame the NY Gov. We need way more FO when the d/prog FA.


       
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      Milhouse in reply to CommoChief. | February 4, 2025 at 12:05 am

      There is no special election until she resigns. But once the new legislation passes and she knows when the special election would be, she can then time her resignation to minimize the time the seat is empty.


 
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Mauiobserver | February 3, 2025 at 1:41 pm

It is expected that the House will send the reconciliation bill to the Senate in April and the Senate should have to the President as early as May 1.

Once this bill passes which will almost certainly slash the budget, eliminate large parts of the federal bureaucracy and retain the 2017 tax cuts (as well as eliminate taxes of SS benefits and tips) then she could resign without jeopardizing the people’s agenda.

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