On June 9, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee (P&E) met to consider the Governor’s recess appointments to the boards of visitors of three public universities. Specifically, we considered three appointments to the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors, four to the George Mason University Board of Visitors and one to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors. All of the appointments were rejected, meaning that the appointees can no longer serve. Two of my colleagues in the Senate of Virginia, the Governor, and the Attorney General disagree. It seems that they are taking a lesson from the President that if they disagree with the law, the law doesn’t apply. I beg to differ and thought it was time for a little primer on the Governor’s authority.
I have served on P&E in the Senate of Virginia since 2002. I chaired the Committee in 2020 and 2021 and am its senior member. I have always taken very seriously the responsibilities of that committee, including constitutional amendments, election law, as well as gubernatorial appointments.
The Governor of Virginia, though limited to one four-year term, has an awful lot of authority. The governor makes thousands of appointments, the vast majority of which are approved by the General Assembly. After all, while the legislature can reject a nominee, the governor still retains the authority to fill that vacancy and certainly can appoint someone who is more controversial or concerning.
The General Assembly, since time immemorial, has worked through a committee system. For context, George Washington served on the Elections and Privileges Committee when he was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Legislation is referred to the subject matter committee, which determines whether to report the measure. Gubernatorial appointments come before the Senate P&E Committee in the form of a resolution, which is sponsored by the Chair of the Committee. The resolution is not introduced, historically, until the appointments are officially communicated by the Governor to the legislature. If the individuals are rejected, Section 11 of Article V of the Virginia Constitution states that they cannot be reappointed.
As you may recall, the General Assembly rejected certain nominees for the Boards of Visitors for VMI and GMU during the 2025 Session. The Governor quickly filled those vacancies with new people.
The appointments were important to the Governor because a large part of the proxy war regarding cultural values is taking place on college campuses. President Greg Washington at GMU, President Jim Ryan at UVA, and Superintendent Cedric Wins at VMI have all been targets in these wars. Importantly, after the three appointments were made to the VMI Board, the Board met and declined to renew the contract of General Wins, effectively ending the tenure of the only African American superintendent in the history of VMI.
The Governor fired Bert Ellis from the UVA Board earlier this spring. I led the unsuccessful charge in 2022 to block his appointment. I did not do so for personal reasons, I was concerned that some of Mr. Ellis’ prior actions, including taking a razor blade onto the Lawn to remove a poster from a student’s door, did not match the maturity and seriousness that we need on the Boards of our public institutions. The Governor removed Mr. Ellis because his conduct and demeanor did not align with the mission and goals of the Board.
The Governor replaced Bert Ellis with Ken Cuccinelli, a former attorney general and a former colleague of mine. Mr. Cuccinelli was the Republican nominee for Governor in 2013.
The appointments for the Boards of Visitors for VMI, GMU, and UVA were communicated on May 30.
My colleagues from the other side of the aisle have suggested that the vote this week in P&E to reject those nominees is ineffective because the Constitution and the law of the Commonwealth requires the entire General Assembly to act. As my colleagues and the Attorney General know, and as I presume the Governor knows, the General Assembly acts through its committee system. It has from the beginning, and the rejections are valid under Virginia law. The words of my colleagues and the Attorney General put the rectors of each institution in a very tough spot. Appointees have been rejected and thus cannot serve as members of their respective Boards. The Governor and the Attorney General insist that they can. At the end of the day, the rectors must decide whether to follow the law or the administration.
I would suggest that a very similar set of choices exists for many of our institutions in this country as we are going through a very difficult set of challenges for our democracy. I am confident that in the end, democracy will win.
As always, please let me know if you are having problems with a state agency and need assistance, have a suggestion for a bill for the 2026 Session, or just want to chat. My office is located at 411 8th Street NE and can be reached at 434-296-5491 or by email at senatordeeds@senate.virginia.gov.
Best,
