Governor Glenn Youngkin asked the Supreme Court of Virginia Thursday to allow him to put a handful of appointees on state college Boards of Visitors. The brief hearing comes after state senators denied the appointments in a committee meeting and Youngkin claimed more steps were needed.
Justices on the Supreme Court of Virginia were tasked to determine whether a state senate committee vote is all that’s needed to nix a gubernatorial appointee. A circuit judge sided with the senators, blocking the appointees. Thursday’s hearing aimed to roll back that lower court ruling.
Youngkin appointed eight people, including former state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to the Boards of Visitors at George Mason, UVA, and VMI. Members of the Senate Privileges and Elections committee voted them down during a June meeting. But current Attorney General Jason Miyares told the college rectors to ignore that vote and allow them to participate. He claimed, as did Virginia Solicitor General Kevin Gallagher during oral arguments, that the entire legislature must vote down a nominee.
“I would point this court back to the constitutional text," Gallagher said. "It says, ‘the General Assembly shall have refused.’ It doesn’t say the Senate shall refuse or the House shall refuse.”
Justice Wesley Russell pushed back on that theory, noting the different chambers vote differently on bills often.
“If the House of Delegates votes 100 nothing but the Senate votes 40 to nothing… the person is rejected,” Russell said.
Attorney Mark Stancil, who represented the senators, explained their core concerns with Youngkin’s push.
“They are asking for a rule that would intrude on the Senate's expressed constitutional prerogative to set their own procedures,” Stancil told the justices.
The justices did not signal how they intended to rule nor did they offer a timeline for an opinion.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
