Washington — Former Governor of New York. Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to testify publicly before a Republican-majority House subcommittee next week on his administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing homes– the panel announced on Tuesday.

The Cuomo administration has faced significant criticism for its handling of nursing home residents who contracted COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic. In March 2020, New York ordered nursing homes to admit patients who tested positive for COVID. The administration was later accused of undercounting nursing home deaths, including by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who released a 2021 tally. report claiming the state may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths among nursing home patients by as much as 50%.

“Andrew Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who have lost loved ones in New York nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic,” House of Representatives Chairman Brad Wenstrup said in a statement.

Wenstrup said Americans will get a chance to hear from Cuomo about New York’s ‘potentially deadly nursing home policy’ after former Gov. testified before the committee behind closed doors in June after being called to testify. The Ohio Republican said Cuomo was “shockingly callous” when asked about the number of nursing home deaths and “repeatedly evaded accountability.”

“We hope that at next week’s public hearing, Mr. Cuomo will stop evading responsibility and answer honestly to the American people,” Wenstrup added.

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, said the former governor agreed to testify voluntarily at the Sept. 10 hearing, while criticizing the commission for continuing to push “false political attacks blaming New York for nursing home deaths” even as the state follows federal guidelines. Cuomo resigned from office in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment.

Azzopardi placed blame on Republicans and former President Donald Trump, saying the “key question” is how many COVID-19 deaths there have been under Trump — and how to prevent it from happening again.

“Governor Cuomo is happy to rejoin the commission to try to get answers,” Azzopardi said. “The American people deserve the truth, and these partisan political games have to stop because this is a matter of life and death.”