Governor Glenn Youngkin plans to ignore claims by Virginia’s House Clerk that some of his final actions in the 2025 legislative session were done improperly, but it's not as uncommon as you might think.
“These vetoes will stand and that’s how we will run the executive branch going forward,” a defiant governor Glenn Youngkin said of rulings made by House Clerk Paul Nardo which could make some of his line item vetoes invalid.
Virginia’s Governor has unique power with his veto pen, the ability to strike things from the final budget before he signs it. But there are some limits to that power, set in the state’s constitution and narrowed by state courts.
One of Youngkin’s three veto flubs, according to Nardo, involved nixing changes to rules for which Medicaid recipients can qualify for new weight loss drugs.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell noted it’s not the first-time clerks have tried to wrangle an improper veto - at least two Virginia Governors, Mills Godwin and Jim Gilmore, faced similar rebukes. And Nardo sent a similar missive to then Governor Terry McAuliffe when he tried to veto language blocking Medicaid expansion in 2017.
No legal fights ensued then, it was in McAuliffe’s last year in office, and insiders say legal fights are unlikely now as Youngkin has only about 6 months left in his single term.
Still, Surovell used the opportunity to take a shot at the lame duck governor: “He doesn’t seem to understand how government works and that’s disturbing.”
As for the would-be vetoed change in weight loss drug access, its author, Delegate Rodney Willet, said he was disappointed but hopes the agency responsible will follow the letter of the law.
“This was just a win-win, again, we had bipartisan support,” Willet said.
Willet said he’d push for the change again next year if needed.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
