Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County, warned the University of Virginia’s governing board Saturday not to pick a new president “anytime soon” in the wake of President James Ryan’s resignation under pressure from the Trump administration, because Democrats could install a new majority on the board if Abigail Spanberger wins this fall’s governor’s race.
“There will be a different ideological majority come next July 1,” Surovell said.
He also warned that if the board allows former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, whose appointment to the board is now the subject of a court case, to take his seat, that would give a future Democratic governor grounds to remove board members for “malfeasance.”
In a news conference with other Senate Democrats on Saturday, Surovell signaled that Ryan’s departure will trigger a wider confrontation with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin over board appointments, legislative action in the General Assembly — and potentially action from Spanberger if she is elected governor over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in November.
“All options are on the table,” Surovell said.
The most immediate action available to Democratic legislators is to block confirmation of Youngkin’s most recent appointments to university governing boards.
A Senate committee, with a Democratic majority, recently rejected eight Youngkin appointees for board of visitors positions: Cuccinelli at the University of Virginia, four others at George Mason University and three at Virginia Military Institute. Senate Democrats say that committee action killed their appointments; Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares had advised that those appointments aren’t officially dead unless the full legislature meets and rejects them, which it hasn’t. Senate Democrats have since filed suit to resolve the matter. Meanwhile, Cuccinelli has vowed to continue acting as a board member.
Surovell said Saturday that clarifying that situation is one of many actions that the state Senate will take up when it meets in January. “When we come back in January, we can rewrite the law,” he said, to prevent gubernatorial appointees from taking their seats until they’ve been confirmed. As things are now, board appointees take their seats immediately and often aren’t confirmed — or rejected — until months later. As a result, Surovell said, “the governor can put people on that we can’t do anything about” until the legislature meets again. “I think we need to look carefully at university governance,” he said.
Surovell also noted that, with the governor’s most recent round of appointees to university boards across the state, there are now 65 Youngkin appointees pending confirmation. Surovell indicated that those appointees will now get a closer look and could be rejected. “That’s something we’re actively discussing,” he said. All state college boards across Virginia now have a Youngkin-appointed majority. Surovell noted that if the Democratic-controlled Senate were to reject Youngkin’s latest appointees, that would create a lot of vacancies that the new governor — who he hopes will be Spanberger — could then fill.
That’s why he warned the University of Virginia to hold off picking a successor to Ryan. “This majority is only going to be in place for about 11 months. They’re not going to be in power very long.”
That implies that Senate Democrats are already primed to reject Youngkin’s latest appointees. Surovell noted that the General Assembly can block appointees but can’t remove board members once they’ve been confirmed — only the governor can, and then only for specific reasons. Earlier this year, Youngkin fired UVa board member Bert Ellis, and Surovell said that a future Gov. Spanberger could do the same.
He specifically warned the UVa board’s rector — a new one will be chosen in coming months — not to allow Cuccinelli to take part as a board member. If the rector does, “I think that would be malfeasance,” Surovell said, which then becomes grounds for removal by the governor.
A prominent Republican legislator pushed back againt Surovell’s warning: “Senator Surovell continues to overreach,” said state Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham County. “He is clearly wrong about the status of appointments and everyone knows it. In threatening board members, he is guilty of hypocrisy and is out of line.”
Virginia will elect a new governor and House of Delegates in November; the state Senate, which has a 21-19 Democratic majority, isn’t up for reelection. Neither Youngkin’s office nor the campaigns of Spanberger and Earle-Sears responded to requests to comment on Surovell’s remarks.
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