Trumpworld Ready To Push DOJ To Block New York Law On Stefanik's Open Seat

According to Republicans familiar with the discussions, the idea is to block the law on civil rights grounds. U.S. law allows states to schedule special elections.

Welcome back to Straight from the Hut, where we have a quick scoop for you before a longer Sunday evening read.

Should New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sign a bill tomorrow pushing back the special election for Elise Stefanik’s vacant House seat into the summer, Republicans are privately encouraging the Department of Justice to block the new state law, according to two Trumpworld Republicans familiar with the discussions.

“No one is pretending to speak for DOJ,” one of the GOP operatives told me, requesting anonymity to speak about the behind-the-scenes discussions. “All we can do is send in information and refer, but we’ll see.”

The Republicans who confirmed the push for the DOJ to intervene said they would seek to challenge the state law on civil rights grounds. The messaging campaign would attempt to paint the new law as politically motivated.

Longtime New York State government reporter Jimmy Vielkind (who also has a Substack I recommend on my page called Notes From Jimmy) has a good story on the new bill online for The Gothamist/WNYC.

Under U.S. law — specifically U.S. Code (2 U.S.C. §8(a)) — state legislatures are granted the authority to determine the scheduling of special elections for vacancies in Congress.

The legal challenge seems flimsy, but should Attorney General Pam Bondi’s DOJ get the case in front of the right judge in the Northern District of New York, all bets could be off.

More importantly, Stefanik has significant sway in Trumpworld and landed a top administration gig, awaiting confirmation as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.