Nine Virginia Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit against the rectors of three state universities Tuesday, including University Board Rector Robert Hardie. The lawsuit is the Democrats’ next step in the political standoff regarding the legitimacy of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee’s vote to deny eight of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees to university boards June 10.
Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and eight Democrats on the Committee filed the lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court requesting the eight Youngkin appointees to be banned from continued service. The Democrats also asked for a judge’s declaration that current Board members letting the appointees continue to serve are violating their duties.
Among the denied appointees is Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia Attorney General and Class of 1991 alumnus. According to Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, if Cuccinelli does not step down, the Board of Visitors will not be able to meet without facing possible repercussions.
Cuccinelli succeeded Board member Bert Ellis after Youngkin removed Ellis March 26. However, Youngkin’s choice of replacement for Ellis brought its own controversy, given Cuccinelli’s polarizing stances on issues such as climate change and LGBTQ+ rights.
Cuccinelli’s appointment to the Board was blocked by a party line vote, eight to four, with three Republicans absent. The Committee’s vote also blocked Youngkin appointees to university boards at Virginia Military Institute and George Mason University.
Despite repeated requests for clarification over several days on if Cuccinelli will continue to serve on the University Board, The Cavalier Daily has not received a reply from University Spokesperson Bethanie Glover.
Republicans argue that the appointments must be voted on by the full General Assembly, not solely the Committee, as stated in the Virginia Constitution. A full vote by the General Assembly takes place 30 days into a legislative session. Unless Youngkin calls a special session, the next legislative session will not take place until the beginning of 2026.
Democrats, however, argue that this is the end of the road for the nominees, and that they must step down immediately. The argument revolves around the idea that by creating a resolution with the eight nominees and voting the resolution down entirely, it is unable to proceed to the floor, as is the case with any other bill, voiding the ability for the full Assembly to vote. Surovell and the committee members claim that a special session called in 2024 has never officially been concluded, therefore making the vote enough to require the nominees to cease participation on the Board.
In a letter to Hardie dated June 11, Surovell wrote explaining why Cuccinelli must immediately step down from the Board. This letter followed an initial letter that Surovell addressed to all rectors in the Commonwealth sent June 9. Surovell emphasized to the rectors that the legislative branch has the final say over Board appointees, not the executive branch, as outlined in the Virginia Constitution.
”Ken Cuccinelli is no longer eligible to serve as a member of the U.Va. Board of Visitors and must immediately cease all activities in that capacity” the letter to Hardie reads. “No further action on the resolution is possible by the Senate. It is dead.”
Surovell continued by citing sections of the Virginia Constitution and the Code of Virginia which affirm that the Board is granted powers by virtue of the General Assembly. He explained that any Board members who continue to serve alongside Cuccinelli may also be subject to removal by Youngkin or his successor on the basis of “malfeasance and incompetence.”
In response to the June 9 letter from Surovell to all rectors, Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to all rectors June 11, arguing that Surovell was incorrect in his claims that the vote of the Committee was final. Miyares argued that the vote of the Committee cannot be equated to a vote of the full General Assembly, therefore making the blocked appointments invalid.
“Senator Surovell incorrectly claims that ‘the General Assembly has refused to confirm’ these appointees,” the letter from Miyares reads. “This false statement appears designed to mislead you into thinking that the General Assembly as a whole has taken action when in fact it has not.”
When asked what the Democrats plan to do to enforce the resolution, Surovell said that if Youngkin will not enforce it himself, the next action depends on the next governor. After a new governor is elected in November and upon her inauguration in January, she has power to remove some of or the entire Board. But until then, it does not seem that the nominees will budge from their posts.
“If the entire Board of Visitors wants to subject themselves to being removed by the next governor if this governor won't enforce the law … [their removal] might end up happening,” Surovell said. “The Board of Visitors maybe just won't meet for the next six months.”
This political standoff notably falls in an election year for the Commonwealth, with Republicans accusing Democrats of playing politics. In November, the positions of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates will be on the ballot. If Democrats retain their majority in the House, they will remain in control of the Assembly, keeping them in charge of the confirmation process.
Following the Committee's vote to block the appointees, the American Association of University Professors Virginia chapter sent a letter to the entire General Assembly June 11 expressing support of the Committee’s decision.
AAUP is a union and membership association of faculty and other academic professionals who advocate for academic freedom and faculty shared governance at universities across the country, according to their website.
Walter Heinecke, immediate past president of the U.Va. chapter of the AAUP and Associate Professor of Education and Human Development, said that he sees Cuccinelli as a threat to academic freedom at the University, citing the example of Mann’s investigation in 2010. Heinecke also serves on the executive committee of the Virginia Conference of AAUP.
“Universities need to have a modicum of freedom from politicians in order to do the work that they need to do to provide knowledge that supports the development of the economic interests of the Commonwealth [and] the health interests of the Commonwealth,” Heinecke said. “And that's being interfered with.”
Heinecke referenced Surovell’s letter to Rector Hardie explaining the potential consequences of Cuccinelli continuing to serve on the Board. While Heinecke believes the nominees should step down from their posts and comply with the law, he said that it is possible the next governor will have to remove several Board members against their will.
“Senator Surovell pointed out quite clearly that if Boards of Visitors engage in this political support of Cuccinelli or the other appointees, they may be subject to removal by the next governor for malfeasance,” Heinecke said. “So what we could see is many Boards of Visitors members being terminated by the next governor.”
Heinecke accused Miyares and Youngkin of prioritizing politics and ideological control instead of the law.
“Miyares and Youngkin are just playing politics now,” Heinecke said. “They're playing ideological politics and trying to stymie a process which has been laid out by the Virginia Constitution and Virginia law.”
Heinecke accusing Republicans of playing politics is not a new line — a spokesperson for the governor’s office previously characterized the strategy by Democrats as a “political sideshow.” Surovell sees it as about the rule of law in Virginia — not national politics.
“The governor and attorney general [need to] go back and read the constitution and the law,” Surovell said. “This is Virginia, it's not the United States. This isn't Trump’s sandbox. It’s the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
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