Fight Over Youngkin Nominee Intensifies As House GOP Threatens 1,000 Northam Appointments

By Graham Moomaw and Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury

February 11, 2022

Virginia Democrats’ refusal to confirm Andrew Wheeler, a controversial environmental appointee of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, spiraled into a bigger standoff Friday in Virginia’s divided legislature.

As of early afternoon, more than 1,000 of former Gov. Ralph Northam’s outstanding appointments to state boards and executive agencies were in limbo after the Republican-led House of Delegates refused to take up a resolution confirming them. The positions range from industry advisory groups like the state’s Potato Board to prestigious posts on boards overseeing state universities.

Those appointees are already serving in their roles, but the House’s refusal to take what is usually a routine procedural step casts uncertainty over how their boards and agencies could continue to function if the political fight in Richmond drags on.

The House’s move was a response to the Democratic-led state Senate’s vote this week to block Wheeler from taking office as Virginia’s next secretary of natural and historic resources. Democrats have pointed to Wheeler’s record as the former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump to argue he’s unfit to serve in Virginia’s top environmental post. But Republicans appear adamant about using hardball tactics to push him through.

“They want to be the brick wall, let ’em be a brick wall,” House Majority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, said of Senate Democrats shortly after the conflict broke out Friday. “But they don’t run the place.”

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, who oversees appointment resolutions as chairman of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee, called the escalation frustrating and out of step with General Assembly protocol.

He and other Democrats in the Senate said that if Republicans follow through, the Senate will block all future appointments put forward by Youngkin as long as it remains under Democratic control.

Ebbin accused Youngkin of throwing a temper tantrum. “He needs to learn that government is about compromise, and it’s not for the thin skinned and the petty,” he said. “This is not like he’s at a private equity firm where we can tell everybody what to do.”

House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, declined to discuss the matter in detail but said he’s hoping for a “controlled stand-down” as both sides reflect on their positions.

“We’ve always had conflicts like this arise between the institutions,” Gilbert said.

It was unclear how long the standoff might last, with many lawmakers eager to wrap up their work and go home for the weekend. Gilbert and other House Republican leaders were seen huddling with Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, after the Senate adjourned for the day.

Youngkin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury. For more stories from the Virginia Mercury, visit Virginia Mercury.com.