Judge confirms Senate Dems power grab

A Fairfax County Circuit County Judge has taken the side of state Senate Democrats in a lawsuit filed to stop eight members of public university boards appointed by Governor. Glenn Youngkin cannot continue to serve.

The Democrats claimed an 8-4 vote by a Senate Subcommittee on June 9, during a Special Session, was sufficient. Youngkin and Jason Miyares argued that the Senate must vote on whether to reject the nomination. The eight nominees can continue to serve until the vote.

Jonathan D. Frieden wrote in a decision handed down today that “the Senate’s refusal to accept the Confirmation resolution, through and through the vote by the Committee charged by Senate with reviewing and determining if it should be advanced or die in Committee, constitutes the General Assembly’s refusal to confirm the Disputed Appointees.”

In a press release, Sen. Aaron Rouse (D-Virginia Beach), head of the Privileges & Elections Committee said: “Today the court confirmed what we have always maintained”: “The Senate of Virginia’s constitutional authority cannot be circumvented to confirm or deny board nominees.”

Board members of George Mason University, Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Virginia have all been affected by the battles surrounding Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.

If the ruling is upheld, it would fundamentally change the power of the executive and legislative branches. Virginia’s constitution allows the governor to nominate people to sit on boards of public university, but the legislature can confirm or deny their nomination. Legislators have traditionally shown deference to governors, but Democrats are becoming more assertive, as the stakes of who controls Virginia’s universities public have increased.

In the past lawmakers would wait until the regular session to reject candidates. The Senate committee removed names they didn’t like from a list of hundreds of nominations for dozens of boards, commissions and other government positions. The full Senate then voted on this revised list. The Senate leadership did not allow a vote by the full Senate this summer.

Frieden may have declared the action constitutional, but it is clear that this June’s Privileges & Elections Committee decision represents a departure from past practice. Senate Majority Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), a raw assertion of legislative authority, warned the University of Virginia Board that it should not appoint a replacement for ousted president Jim Ryan before next year. This implied that any choice would have to be approved by the next Governor, presumably Democrat Abigal Spanberger.

The VMI Board is also looking for a new Superintendent after refusing to renew Cedric Wins’ contract, which was appointed by Governor. Ralph Northam.

Frieden concluded his ruling by writing:

The Senate of Virginia has delegated the task of examining the resolution to confirm gubernatorial appointments to the governing bodies of George Mason University and the University of Virginia and the Virginia Military Institute to its Committee on Elections and Privileges.
The Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections must decide whether to report the confirmation resolution or not, as well as how to do so. The Senate Committee on Elections and Privileges, by voting 8-4 not to report the confirming motion, rejected these appointees on the Senate’s behalf.

The Senate committee’s action, which required a majority vote in each chamber to confirm a gubernatorial nominee, showed the “positive unwillingness of the General Assembly” to perform the requested confirmations.
A refusal to confirm is a violation of the Constitution of Virginia. The Constitution of Virginia requires that the appointees who were rejected immediately cease to serve on their respective boards. They haven’t done so.

Ken Cuccinelli’s reaction to losing his UVA Board seat was the question I asked.

This is what I saw:

— JAB

Fairfax is an independent city in Northern Virginia.

Fairfax County is a county in Northern Virginia. Its county seat is Fairfax, an independent city.