New York Democrats hit the brakes on a controversial bill allowing the governor to delay congressional special elections until Election Day. The bill was introduced Friday to fierce Republican opposition, which prompted a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking her to open an investigation into the move.

Multiple sources say the directive came straight from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who depending on whom you ask, is either looking for leverage in her negotiations with President Donald Trump as he targets congestion pricing, or simply felt the optics of the bill were bad. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Assemblymember Chris Tague and Republican lawmakers spent the first part of Monday railing against Democratic efforts to pass the bill, which would most notably impact the expected race to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik in New York’s 21st Congressional District if she is confirmed as UN ambassador.

“Who gets left out in the cold? The people of upstate New York and the North Country,” he said at a midday news conference.

A delay would keep a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives narrow for longer, but the official rationale for giving the governor the option of consolidating special elections with the general date was a desire for efficiency in running elections and higher turnout. Republicans wasted no time pointing out that Democrats made no such complaints about the special election that ultimately sent Democrat Tom Suozzi to Congress in the 3rd Congressional District last year.

Tague, who is on the short list to run for the seat if Stefanik is confirmed, expressed relief after it was revealed that Democratic leadership had shelved the bill.

“I’m happy to have been part of the team that helped stop this, I’m glad that some common sense finally came to the Governor and Democratic leadership and thank you President Trump for standing up for American First,” he said.

While it's unclear if the bill or one like it will make a comeback, Republican state Senator Jim Tedisco called on Democrats to call it quits for the sake of those who live in the district, and future districts where a special election may arise.

“It affects all across the state of New York when the Governor can say for the next 11 months you have no representation,” he said. “There’s no phone number, no representative to call in congress. Who is going to deal with the woman who didn’t get her social security check?”

Jeffrey Wice, professor and elections expert at NY Law School, argued that putting aside the bill’s official justification, it was a clear attempt for Democrats to use what leverage they have to fight back against Trump.

“They are recognizing some of the political realities,” he said. “Democrats have been accused of being weak in terms of countering what Republicans are doing for a long time.”

He added that for all of the Republican outrage that echoed through the Capitol’s stone halls Monday and right up to New York’s congressional delegation, Republicans have a history of supporting delays and twisting long-standing norms if it suits them.

“An example being when the republicans prevented Merrick Garland from being a Supreme Court justice by running out the clock and not holding hearings,” he said of then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s 2016 move, though that effort didn’t have a direct constituent impact.

We attempted to speak with members of Democratic leadership in both houses, but no one was willing to speak on camera.