Yesterday Paul said good riddance to outgoing Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and expressed the hope that the incoming Glenn Youngkin administration will “attack Northam’s radical policies with the same relentlessness that Northam and his party imposed them when they held power.” So far, it’s happening.
Check out Youngkin’s first-day executive orders here and executive directives here. Full documents at the links, but the titles are inspiring:
* EO-1 Ending the Use of Inherently Divisive Concepts, Including Critical Race Theory, and Restoring Excellence in K-12 Public Education in the Commonwealth
* EO-2 Reaffirming the Rights of Parents in The Upbringing, Education, and Care Of Their Children
This order bans mask mandates for school children.
* EO-3 Restoring Integrity and Confidence In the Virginia Parole Board and The Commonwealth’s System Of Criminal Justice
Youngkin fired and replaced the entire Virginia Parole Board.
* EO-5 Authorizing an Investigation of Loudoun County Public Schools by The Attorney General
* EO-6 Reinvigorating Job Growth by Removing Burdensome Regulations from Virginia’s Business Community
* EO-7 Establishing The Commission On Human Trafficking Prevention And Survivor Support
* EO-8 Establishing The Commission to Combat Antisemitism
* EO-9 Protecting Ratepayers from the Rising Cost of Living Due to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
The last order includes a statement of the governor’s intent to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. So far Youngkin’s instincts have been unerring. It obviously is premature, given that he has been in office for a day or two, but Youngkin is starting to look like another Ron DeSantis in the making.
His attorney general, Jason Miyares, is also getting into the act. Miyares has laid off 30 members of the attorney general’s office (although it is not true, as has been reported, that he fired the entire Civil Rights Division). Miyares also used his first day in office to announce that he is launching investigations of the Virginia Parole Board and the Loudoun County public schools.
Elections have consequences. In Virginia, those consequences look promising.
