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Potomac Politics Comes to the James River

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The Democratic State Senate last week rejected nine of Governor Youngkin’s appointments to key governing boards in the state.

Although Senator Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) used high-minded language to defend the action, it is much more likely that the rationale was baser — simply keeping important policy-making board seats open for what they believe will be an incoming Democratic Governor.

It certainly couldn’t have been a problem with the appointees.  Even the progressive blog Blue Virginia, which has never approved of anything this Governor has done, seems confused about why some were rejected.

After all, the rejected appointees included a) a Black businessman, b) a Jewish scholar, c) immigrants, d.) accomplished women, and e.) an opponent of Donald Trump on January 6th.  Were we to utilize the language of Progressives, we must necessarily conclude that the action of the Senate was a) racist, b) antisemitic, c) xenophobic, d) misogynistic, and e) part of a conspiracy of Trumpist retaliation.

But while it is tempting to give the Left a taste of itsown attack mode language, we know it’s not the reason for the nominees’ rejection.

Nor is it the argument Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell seems to have made on the Senate floor: “Donald Trump Made Me Do It!”  

As noted by the blog Bacon’s Rebellion, Surovell’sremarks on the Senate floor point to Presidential Executive Orders on Inauguration Day as the excuse.  He finds those Executive Orders so distasteful that he is forced … forced to lower the tenor of policy discussion and debate in Virginia to the equivalent of a congressional mudfight.  It will be, he hints, a future in which the nominees of a Governor from one party will be soundly rejected by legislators from another – except for, as he notes, those appointees with jurisdiction over “matters that don’t carry a lot of import.”

There’s usually a certain level of deference offered to a Governor’s appointments during his term. This is what was once called “The Virginia Way.”  To believe the Senate Majority Leader, all of that is now out the window in Virginia because of things happening on the other side of the Potomac over which legislators in Virginia have no control.  But a stark governing future is coming anyway, and it starts now.

The Virginia Board of Education will thus be denied the benefit of knowledge from someone who holds a PhD in cognitive psychology.  The Virginia Military Institute Board is to be denied the experience of a civil engineer appointed Deputy Secretary of Transportation by Governor Ralph Northam.  The George Mason University Board is to be denied the counsel of one of the nation’s leaders in the study of antisemitism.

And because the Virginia Constitution prohibits re-appointing someone to a Board if they are rejected, should the House of Delegates concur in the decision, those candidates will never be allowed to offer their services.

Together, they and the others hold degrees from Virginia Tech, Virginia Military Institute, the University of Virginia and George Mason University. Or perhaps the Senate finds their doctorates from Amherst College, Williams College and UCLA at Berkley School of Law insufficiently progressive.

No, despite the disparate professional, racial, educational, and national origin backgrounds of the nominees, the real problem is that they were appointed by a Republican Governor.  For the Left, diversity is a good and maybe only thing; diverse views, not so much.

The reality, however, is that there is likely a more strategic reason for their rejection.

One of the hallmarks of the Virginia Board appointment process is that for major policy boards, appointments are phased in. And while board appointees may take office immediately, they are subject to General Assembly approval – which can come as much as 10 months later.

A new Governor cannot simply appoint a whole new Board upon arrival.  That is a source of great frustration to impatient advocates on the Left and the Right, but it has helped ensure that Virginia policy doesn’t suffer from rapid regulatory shifts making itconfusing and difficult for businesses, schools, and colleges to manage.

Timing is everything.  The common factor for each of the rejected nominees is that, assuming all future Youngkin appointees are rejected (and Senator Surovell has promised as much), the incoming Governor will have ruling majorities within six months, if not immediately, setting policy for education, health, and two major universities.

The Left anticipates a Democrat, whether named Spanberger or Scott and are acting accordingly to tilt the scales well in advance.

Which is what the game is about:  Power.  By any means.

Ugly national politics and divisions have ruled the nation’s capital for decades, so much so that multiple Presidents (Obama and Biden and Trump) now try to rule by Executive Order rather than seek permanent legislative solutions as the Founding Fathers preferred.The long-term result has not been good for Americans.

The ugliness has come to Richmond.  The consequences for Virginians are not yet seen, but they will not be good.

Chris Braunlich is Senior Advisor and former president of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy.  He can be reached at Chris@thomasjeffersoninst.org.


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