New York Democrats are abandoning a plan that would have kept the seat held by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik vacant for most of the year, which could have hindered President Trump’s ability to get his agenda through the House.

Lawmakers at Albany were expected Monday to vote on legislation that would change the time frame for special elections. If passed, it would have meant that the election to fill the seat held by Ms. Stefanik in New York’s 21st Congressional District would be delayed until the general election in November. 

However, on Monday, the Assembly speaker, Carl Heastie, told members the vote had been called off. 

Mr. Heastie introduced the bill Friday, and it was seen as an attempt to further slim down the Republicans’ majority in the House by keeping Ms. Stefanik’s open for most of the year. 

The chairman of the New York GOP, Ed Cox, said in a statement, “Democrats posted this legislation on a Friday evening like the cowards they are, hoping New Yorkers aren’t paying attention to this electoral heist.”

“But we are — and Republicans at the state and federal level will use every tool at our disposal to fight this corruption. We call on the Department of Justice to begin an immediate investigation into this subversion of democracy — and we’ll see the Democrats in court,” he added. 

A justification memo for the bill states that “the legislature finds it is crucial to ensure efficiencies in elections where possible and maximize voter turnout.”

“For congressional elections, the legislature seeks to create such efficiencies and increase voter turnout by allowing for special elections to be combined with a general election,” the memo said. 

Current state law requires that the governor act within ten days of a congressional vacancy to announce a special election, which must be held within 80 days. 

If Ms. Stefanik is confirmed, it would lower Republicans’ majority to 217 to 215, meaning they could not afford to lose any votes. Keeping that seat open for the majority of the year would pose a significant hurdle to passing Mr. Trump’s priorities in House.  

There has been some speculation that Ms. Stefanik might try to delay her departure from the House until at least April 1 so that Florida can hold two special elections that Republicans are expected to win. 

The Republican leader in the Assembly, Will Barclay, posted on X, “The bill to delay the special election for the 21st Congressional District is no longer moving forward. It was a terrible piece of legislation in policy & principle. Thanks to strong pushback from Republican legislators & North Country residents, the bill has been halted.”

For Democrats, the decision to call off the vote on the special election bill seems to have its own strategic motivations. 

Governor Hochul is in the midst of negotiations with the White House about Mr. Trump’s stated goal of ending New York’s congestion pricing at Manhattan. The president told the New York Post that part of his plan to end the $9 tax during peak travel times is to withhold millions of dollars in funding from the Department of Transportation. 

Democratic leaders in New York reportedly view their threat of delaying a special election to fill a vacancy left by Ms. Stefanik as a bargaining chip to dissuade Mr. Trump from trying to “kill” congestion pricing.