Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger Launches De-Youngkinization On Day One
With a big middle finger to ICE and Trump, too.
Abigail Spanberger was sworn in Saturday — wearing Suffragette white, her hand on her grandmother’s Bible — as Virginia’s first woman governor, though she’s the 75th person to hold the office. She quickly made clear that with a Democratic trifecta in the commonwealth, elected by far larger margins than outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin, it’s time to stand up to the authoritaran regime that’s taken over the federal government. She didn’t name Donald Trump, and didn’t have to. Everyone knows who eliminated the jobs of roughly 23,000 federal workers who live(d) in Virginia (plus layoffs of another 7,000 private jobs, many with companies that contracted with the federal government).
It was a good speech! Here, have a video and a transcript!
Spanberger briefly emphasized that when she talks about the potential for government to improve people’s lives, she means all the people: “in Virginia, our hardworking, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say — we’ll focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them too.”
Then she got right to work making it so.
After the speech, Spanberger signed a package of 10 executive orders aimed at reversing some of Youngkin’s policies, and at shielding people from the economic impact of the dog’s breakfast that Trump is making of federal tax and funding policy.
Beyond the EOs, Spangberger and the new Democratic majority in both houses will decouple Virginia tax law from federal policy, a step the Lege began right after Congress passed the Big Stinky Bill:
Virginia normally conforms to federal tax law on a “rolling” basis, with some exceptions. However, state lawmakers paused that conformity in 2025 in light of the federal cuts to taxes that could have trickle-down effects on Virginia’s tax collections — to the tune of billions of dollars.
Democrats said during the opening of the General Assembly session they would not look to conform to many of new federal tax law’s provisions.
And in the most significant departure from her predecessor, she threw out Youngkin’s executive order requiring state and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE.
Youngkin only had the power to order state law enforcement agencies — Virginia State Police and the Department of Corrections — to enter into “287(g) agreements” with ICE, although his February 2025 order also encouraged local agencies to do so.
That order also created a “task force” to help ICE apprehend criminal immigrants, required Virginia’s public safety office to contact local law enforcement to pressure them to sign agreements with ICE, and required corrections officers to be trained as “immigration officers” as well. Rescinding Youngkin’s order will allow Spanberger to dissolve those rules as well.
And here’s a telling data point: Not a single one of Virginia’s municipal police departments followed up by signing a 287(g) agreement. But 26 sheriffs — who are elected — did. Funny what happens when law enforcement priorities are subject to demagoguery.
At the signing ceremony, Spanberger said, “State and local law enforcement should not be required to divert their limited resources to enforce federal civil immigration laws.”
Youngkin had claimed his EO was needed to crack down on “violent illegals,” although ICE data show that about 70 percent of the people swept up in Virginia by deportation goons have no criminal history.
Nonetheless, Virginia Republicans, now with a minority in both houses, HA HA, tried to fearmonger that Spanberger’s order was “reckless,” and would somehow result in letting all those evil “criminal illegal immigrants” “commit crimes over and over again,” as if the executive order had somehow eliminated police and sheriffs’ departments.
We suppose this means that Virginia just went up several places on Stephen Miller’s list of states to invade and start bullying.
Among the other executive orders Spanberger signed Saturday were a suite of measures directing state agencies to identify ways they can change regulations and budget policies to reduce costs in areas including housing, energy, and health care. Another separate order on healthcare creates a task force to identify services likely to be affected by cuts in Trump’s Big Buggery Bollocky Bill, and to shore up the state’s healthcare infrastructure.
Other orders were aimed at revamping regulations to make housing more available and affordable, and to encourage new home and apartment construction. Another order seeks to depoliticize appointments to the boards that govern Virginia higher education, thank Crom. Still others will end Youngkin’s attempts to make discrimination great again by dismantling anything that might be labeled “DEI.” You can see a full list at the Governor’s Office webpage.
Seems like Spanberger and the Virginia trifecta (not a good band name, but a good governing team) are already off to a good start. Man, we love what a Blue Trifecta can get done.
[WVTF radio / WHRO / Cardinal News / Office of the Governor of Virginia / CBS 6 Richmond / Virginian-Pilot (archive link) / Virginia Public Media]
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This is what happens when you win elections.
A Virginian in a dress has not held this high a political office in the state since Jefferson Davis fled approaching Union forces.