According to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), President Donald Trump is not going to be the one to decide when students are allowed back in schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.
During his press briefing on Wednesday, Cuomo argued it is up to the states to make the decision of when schools will reopen.
“It’s not up the president of the United States. There is something called the Constitution that guides government power and then there are a series of laws based on that Constitution and the president does not have the authority to open schools,” Cuomo said.
Watch his comments below:
#BREAKING: Cuomo rejects Trump call for school reopenings: "The President does not have the authority to open schools." pic.twitter.com/qvU3hySp6A
— The Hill (@thehill) July 8, 2020
During an event at the White House on Tuesday, Trump made it very clear he believes schools should be back up and running in the fall, as IJR previously reported.
Trump said the administration is going to put pressure on governors and other officials to reopen the schools.
The president followed his comments with a tweet on Wednesday threatening to “cut off funding” if schools make the decision to remain closed, as IJR previously reported.
Cuomo responded to Trump’s comments reiterating the states are the ones responsible for sending students back to school.
“I heard what the president said on schools, but this is been there, done that,” Cuomo said.
He added, “School reopenings are a state decision, period. That is the law and that is the way we’re going to proceed.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and member of the White House coronavirus task force, weighed in schools reopening during his video conference with Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) on Tuesday.
While Fauci suggested children need to go back to school due to the “ripple effects” of the unintended consequences, he acknowledged it will not be a “one size fits all” approach.
The number of coronavirus cases continues to rise across the nation. As of Wednesday afternoon, there are more than three million coronavirus cases and over 130,000 deaths in the United States.
