Cuomo Blocks Judges Picked by Trump From Officiating New York Weddings

Cuomo Blocks Judges Picked by Trump From Officiating New York Weddings

Cuomo Blocks Judges Picked by Trump From Officiating New York Weddings
ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s feud with President Donald Trump has covered all manner of topics, including taxes, immigration policy and whether America was ever “great.”
Now, however, the governor has brought their skirmish to a whole new battleground: marriage.
In an end-of-year kibosh, Cuomo has vetoed a bill that would have permitted federal appeals and district court judges from around the nation to preside over nuptials in New York, thus denying them inclusion on a lengthy list of those so empowered, including the governor himself.
And like the decision to tie the knot, the reasoning for Cuomo’s disapproval — signed Friday — was distinctly personal.
“I cannot in good conscience support legislation that would authorize such actions by federal judges who are appointed by this federal administration,” he wrote. “President Trump does not embody who we are as New Yorkers.”
The veto, one of scores that Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, has handed down in the closing days of the year, left Republicans fuming and the bill’s Democratic sponsor befuddled.
“This is the least substantive or controversial bill I have ever introduced,” Sen. Liz Krueger said, adding that she had been informed of the veto by Cuomo’s counsel Friday. “I did not think the reasoning made sense.”
Krueger, a Democrat who represents the Upper East Side of Manhattan, said she, too, had been alarmed by some of the conservative judges appointed by Trump, particularly in relation to their positions on immigration.
But, she said, “I’m not sure my moral outrage extends to refusing them the right to perform weddings.”
New York state law already grants a wide array of traditional clergy and others the power to solemnize marriages, including members of the Legislature, current and former mayors of cities and villages, county executives, tribal officials and leaders of the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
Federal district judges from jurisdictions inside New York, as well as judges from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals — which includes Connecticut, New York and Vermont — are also allowed to officiate. But the power to ask “Do you take …” ends there.
Republican leaders said the governor’s decision seemed particularly small-minded.

MMW

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