Editing Melissa DeRosa (section)

===Secretary to Governor Cuomo===
In 2017, DeRosa was promoted to [[Secretary to the Governor of New York]], and became Cuomo's top aide and one of his closest advisers.<ref name="Dawsey 2021"/><ref name="Vilensky 2017">{{cite news |last1=Vilensky |first1=Mike |title=New York's First Female Secretary to the Governor Faces Ethical Minefield; Melissa DeRosa will have to be vigilant, as her husband and father's jobs could present challenges |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-yorks-first-female-secretary-to-the-governor-faces-ethical-minefield-1492693202 |access-date=6 August 2021 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=April 20, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Lovett 2021">{{Cite web|last=Lovett|first=Kenneth|title=Melissa DeRosa named New York's first female secretary to the governor|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exclusive-cuomo-appoints-female-secretary-governor-article-1.3065631|access-date=2021-08-05|website=The New York Daily News|date=April 17, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="Foderaro 2017" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/23/nyregion/andrew-cuomo-last-day.html|title=Cuomo Blames 'Political Pressure and Media Frenzy' in Farewell Speech|first1=Luis|last1=Ferré-Sadurní|first2=Katie|last2=Glueck|date=August 23, 2021|work=The New York Times}}</ref> The role was described by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as the most powerful appointed official in the state, and she was the first woman appointed to the role.<ref name="La Ferla 2020"/><ref name="Lovett 2021"/>

DeRosa was involved in steering bills through the legislature, including minimum wage, paid family leave and expanded insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization.<ref name="Minutaglio 2020"/><ref name="La Ferla 2020" /><ref name="Banjo 2021"/> She chaired the New York State Council on Women and Girls and headed the COVID-19 maternity task force.<ref name="La Ferla 2020" /> ''City & State New York'' described her as the Cuomo administration's "go-to person" on a 2020 budget proposal to legalize paid gestational surrogacy, which DeRosa described as a priority of the Council.<ref>{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Zach |title=Democrats' generational divide on gestational surrogacy |url=https://www.cityandstateny.com/personality/2020/03/democrats-generational-divide-on-gestational-surrogacy/176319/ |work=City & State New York |date=March 4, 2020 |access-date=June 12, 2026}}</ref> In 2017, DeRosa spoke publicly about her experience with sexual harassment and encouraged women to "speak up and speak out."<ref name="Vielkind 2017">{{cite news |last1=Vielkind |first1=Jimmy |title=DeRosa recalls sexual harassment, urges women to speak up |url=https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2017/10/18/derosa-recalls-sexual-harassment-urges-women-to-speak-up-115121 |access-date=6 August 2021 |work=Politico |date=October 18, 2017}}</ref> DeRosa also chaired the New York State Domestic Violence COVID Task Force.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/new-york-covid-19-domestic-violence-task-force|title=Behind the New York Domestic Violence Task Force Launched in Response to COVID-19|date=June 18, 2020|website=Vogue}}</ref>

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she had a major role in the coordination and management of the New York response.<ref name="Minutaglio 2020"/> DeRosa chaired the state's COVID-19 Maternity Task Force.<ref name="La Ferla 2020" /> In 2020, ''Harper's Bazaar'' included DeRosa in its "Voices of Hope" feature, after Christy Turlington Burns selected her as one of five women "who give her hope".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Introducing BAZAAR's Summer Issue, Dedicated to Voices of Hope |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a32881371/bazaar-summer-issue-voices-of-hope/ |magazine=Harper's Bazaar |date=June 24, 2020 |access-date=June 18, 2026}}</ref>

In March 2020, when [[COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)|COVID-19]] testing was limited in New York, ''The New York Times'' reported that Cuomo's family and other influential people received priority access to coronavirus testing and expedited results. The article said Giorgio DeRosa, Melissa DeRosa's father, was among those treated as a "special".<ref name="auto1"/> In May 2021, federal prosecutors began to investigate the priority testing program as a potential improper use of their position to obtain “privileges or exemptions”.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/19/nyregion/cuomo-covid-test-investigation.html|title=U.S. Inquiry Into Cuomo Widens to Examine Virus Tests for 'Specials'|first=J. David|last=Goodman|date=May 19, 2021|work=The New York Times}}</ref> State officials said DeRosa contacted the health commissioner, [[Howard Zucker]], and requested her father be tested after he was exposed to someone with COVID-19 who had recently been hospitalized and died. The state officials said the Health Department granted the request due to his daughter's close and regular contact with the governor and others involved in the pandemic response.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2021/05/19/cuomo-family-got-special-covid-testing-while-he-was-under-fire/|title=Cuomo's family got special COVID-19 testing even while he was under fire for it|first=Bernadette|last= Hogan|date=May 19, 2021|work=New York Post}}</ref>

In March 2021, ''The Wall Street Journal'' and ''The New York Times'' reported that a group of Cuomo administration officials, including DeRosa, rewrote a July 2020 report from public health officials that resulted in undercounting nursing home deaths from COVID-19 in New York. The actual number of deaths was removed soon after DeRosa and [[Linda Lacewell]] became aware of its inclusion in the report.<ref name="Palazzolo 2021">{{cite news |last1=Palazzolo |first1=Joe |last2=Vielkand |first2=Jimmy |last3=O'Brien |first3=Rebecca Davis |title=Cuomo Advisers Altered Report on Covid-19 Nursing-Home Deaths |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/cuomo-advisers-altered-report-on-covid-19-nursing-home-deaths-11614910855 |access-date=8 December 2021 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 4, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Goodman 2021">{{cite news |last1=Goodman |first1=J. David |last2=Hakim |first2=Danny |title=Cuomo Aides Rewrote Nursing Home Report to Hide Higher Death Toll |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/nyregion/cuomo-nursing-home-deaths.html |access-date=8 December 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=March 4, 2021 |quote=Updated Sept. 23, 2021}}</ref> New York Attorney General [[Letitia James]] released a report in January 2021 that indicated the original published death toll was less than half of the 15,000 deaths attributable to COVID-19.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rosa-Aquino|first=Paola|date=2021-04-28|title=Cuomo Aides Accused of Hiding COVID Nursing Home Death Toll: Report|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/04/cuomo-aide-melissa-derosa-led-nursing-home-cover-up-report.html|access-date=2021-08-05|website=The Intelligencer|language=en-us}}</ref> According to the Cuomo administration "the out-of-facility data was omitted after D.O.H. could not confirm it had been adequately verified" and the conclusions of the report were not changed.<ref name="Goodman 2021"/><ref name="Palazzolo 2021"/>

DeRosa resigned as Secretary to the Governor on August 8, 2021.<ref name="Dawsey 2021 2">{{cite news |last1=Dawsey |first1=Josh |title=Melissa DeRosa, top aide to Cuomo, resigns in wake of state attorney general's report |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/melissa-derosa-top-aide-to-cuomo-resigns-in-wake-of-state-attorney-general-report/2021/08/08/f56ae2e0-f8b4-11eb-943a-c5cf30d50e6a_story.html |access-date=9 August 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=August 8, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Gronewold 2021">{{cite news |last1=Gronewold |first1=Anne |last2=Mahoney |first2=Bill |title=Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo's top staffer, resigns |url=https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2021/08/08/melissa-derosa-cuomos-top-staffer-resigns-1389733 |access-date=9 August 2021 |work=Politico |date=August 8, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Ferré-Sadurní 2021">{{cite news |last1=Ferré-Sadurní |first1=Luis |title=Cuomo's Top Aide, Melissa DeRosa, Resigns as He Fights to Survive |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/08/nyregion/melissa-derosa-resign-cuomo.html |access-date=9 August 2021 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 8, 2021}}</ref> Her resignation was effective August 24, the same date as Cuomo's resignation after a report from the state's attorney general concluded he had sexually harassed nearly a dozen women.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldmacher |first1=Shane |title=Cuomo Will Resign Amid Sexual Harassment Scandal |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/10/nyregion/cuomo-resigns |access-date=10 August 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=10 August 2021 |quote=Melissa DeRosa is still serving as Cuomo’s top aide. Though she submitted her resignation, she did so without a date. She set the date to be 14 days away — lining up with Cuomo’s own resignation.}}</ref><ref name="Ferré-Sadurní 2021"/> The report found that DeRosa had "spearheaded efforts to retaliate against one of the women who had spoken out publicly about her allegation."<ref name="Ferré-Sadurní 2021"/>