Sen. Ernst Kiss-Off To Cuomo: Say Goodbye To Infrastructure Funds

WASHINGTON, DC — Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst took a legislative dig at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday by introducing an amendment to President Joe Biden’s massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that would prohibit the money from going to states with governors who have been accused of sexual harassment or misconduct.

The “Cuomo Amendment,” as the Republican senator has dubbed it, would “prohibit funds for any state in which the governor of such state has been found, by the relevant state or federal authorities, to have sexually harassed employees while holding the position of governor,” according to Ernst’s website.

The proposed amendment came the same day the New York attorney general’s office released an explosive new report saying Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women in violation of federal and state law.

Meanwhile, Cuomo has remained defiant, saying that he never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances toward multiple women.

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The amendment conflates the investigation into allegations that New York's Democratic governor sexually harassed as many as a dozen female staffers and the infrastructure bill, putting a new twist on the partisan politics that stall progress on Capitol Hill.

While Ernst’s website offered no additional comment or context on the proposed amendment, proposal was covered by conservative website The Federalist as well as Fox Business.

“A sitting governor who harasses and abuses women on his own staff and members of law enforcement must be held accountable, and shouldn’t be getting a dime of Iowa taxpayer money. Here’s a good place to start,” Ernst told both The Federalist and Fox Business.

Ernst, who has served as a U.S. senator since 2015, is a survivor of sexual assault and domestic violence. She went public with her story in 2019, telling Bloomberg that she was raped in college and was in a relationship with someone who was “physically and sexually abusive.”

It’s unclear whether the amendment will reach the Senate floor for a vote.