C6 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13 , 2022
of critical race theory, which
Youngkin banned in his first exec-
utive order.
Appointments also led to a ma-
jor showdown between Youngkin
and Democratic lawmakers on
Friday. Senate Democrats rejected
Youngkin’s nomination of former
Trump official Andrew Wheeler as
the state’s natural resources secre-
tary — an unusual step, but not
unheard-of during times of divid-
ed government in Richmond.
Youngkin responded with all-
out war. He pressured House Re-
publicans to threaten to withhold
what is usually routine confirma-
tion of nearly 1,000 appointments
Northam made last year to boards
and commissions. Legislative
business ground to a halt until
Republicans finally backed down
on all but 11 appointees.
“Gov. Youngkin is willing to
trigger a partial government shut-
down over the loss of one Trump
official. This is another hard right
turn away from his pledge to ‘dis-
agree without being disagree-
able,’ ” House Minority Leader Ei-
leen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) said.
The dust up prompted an irri-
tated Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-
Portsmouth), the highest-ranking
Black woman in the General As-
sembly, to go public with the fact
that Youngkin had confused her
with another Black lawmaker —
Sen. Mamie E. Locke (D-Hamp-
ton) — when he sent a text earlier
in the week praising a Black His-
tory Month speech.
Race has been a volatile issue
for Youngkin, one where he has
sent particularly provocative
mixed signals. During the cam-
paign, he routinely riled up pre-
dominantly White crowds by rail-
ing against critical race theory, an
academic framework for studying
the history of systemic racism that
is not on Virginia’s K-12 curricu-
lum. The day he was sworn in as
governor, Youngkin made a point
of designating a ban on schools
teaching “divisive” race-related
topics as Executive Order 1.
The actions led Del. Don L.
Scott Jr. (D-Portsmouth), who is
Black, to question Youngkin’s reli-
gious faith on the floor of the
House of Delegates. Youngkin re-
sponded by venturing into the leg-
islative office building for a pri-
vate meeting with Scott. As gover-
nor, he has prayed with Black min-
isters and pledged funding for
historically Black colleges and
universities. He has also drawn
criticism for suspending tours of
the Executive Mansion that focus
on the history of enslavement.
Asked in the interview if he sees
race as a particularly fraught issue
in the current climate, with the
newly energized social justice
movement, Youngkin said that “I
don’t think it’s any different than
the way it’s been for quite a while.
... We have to embrace our differ-
ences and work together on ac-
complishing shared values and
shared goals.”
But Youngkin’s fanning of the
national culture wars over race
has fueled speculation that he is
aiming beyond Richmond to a run
for president. He is aware of the
rumors. “I’m very honored by
them, but I’m so focused on the
commonwealth of Virginia,” he
said. “We have real work to do and
we’re getting the work done.”6:30 with chief of staff Jeff Goett-
man, either at the Executive Man-
sion or over the phone, then hud-
dles at 7 with top advisers in the
Patrick Henry Building, including
Cullen, communications director
Becca Glover and Moran, the pol-
icy director.
During the day, Youngkin walks
the halls of the Patrick Henry
Building’s third floor and doesn’t
mind senior staff popping into his
office as needed. “There’s disci-
pline, obviously, but it’s not like
people are afraid to stick their
head in and say, ‘Do you have a
minute, sir?’ ” Cullen said.
Aubrey Layne, a Republican
who served as finance secretary
under Northam and transporta-
tion secretary under former gov-
ernor Terry McAuliffe (D), is work-
ing part time with Youngkin to
help his finance staff get up to
speed. He describes a governor
who uses his background as the
former chief executive of a private
equity firm to full advantage in
looking at budgetary issues.
Democrats complain that some
of Youngkin’s appointees are less
prepared, many having come from
outside Virginia. A video montage
circulating on social media
showed various secretaries or de-
partment heads telling General
Assembly committees that they
don’t know the answers to ques-
tions about state policy.
There have also been accusa-
tions that Youngkin has been slow
to fill posts or resolve whether
longtime appointees will keep
their jobs. Several people familiar
with the appointment process
said candidates have been asked
litmus-test questions about their
views on such issues as abortion,
transgender policy or the teachingTV hosts — has worked against
Youngkin’s need to establish him-
self with lawmakers in Richmond.
While Republicans have a 52-48
edge in the House of Delegates,
Democrats hold a 21-19 majority in
the Senate and can put the brakes
on the governor’s agenda.
“It’s as if either he thinks or
consultants believe that he can
speak to two different audiences
and each doesn’t see what the
other sees,” said Del. Schuyler T.
VanValkenburg (D-Henrico).
A high school civics teacher,
VanValkenburg said he’s all the
more frustrated by the messaging
because he has found the adminis-
tration to be responsive and en-
gaged on education policy.
Insiders depict Youngkin as re-
lentlessly upbeat, even when work
days stretch 12 hours or more. Top
officials have learned to sleep with
their phones so they can respond
to Youngkin’s text messages,
which can land as early as 5 a.m.
Staffers routinely groan about
Youngkin’s early business hours.
He meets every morning aroundno contradiction between his
promises and actions.
“I had said that I was not going
to get in the way of localities hav-
ing mask mandates, but I also said
I was going to stand up for parents’
rights,” he said.
When it was pointed out that
allowing parents to opt out effec-
tively means no mandates, Young-
kin said: “This is about parents
having a choice. And so if there’s a
... [school district that says] we’d
like everybody to wear a mask, and
there are some parents who say it’s
not right for my children, that’s in
fact empowering parents.”
On Thursday, Youngkin used a
campaign-style event in Virginia
Beach as backdrop for an appear-
ance on the Fox News program
“The Story,” where host Martha
MacCallum spoke of a “Youngkin
effect” spreading around the na-
tion as “covid moms” feel empow-
ered to become politically active.
Spending part of his time in
fiery campaign mode — with tight-
ly controlled media appearances
favoring right-leaning radio andlegal.
But Youngkin went on Hannity
and then Fox’s “The Story” to take
credit for leading the anti-mask
effort not only in Virginia but in
those other states — citing a move-
ment of disgruntled parents.
Youngkin’s election campaign,
led by consultants at Axiom Strat-
egies, had leveraged parental frus-
tration over pandemic-related
school shutdowns to power last
year’s two-point GOP victory in a
Virginia that had been trending
blue. The governor and his consul-
tants continue to ride that wave.
“It has been such an intense
movement that has trickled
around the country that one by
one, you saw other governors do-
ing the same, not just Republican
governors but Democratic gover-
nors as well,” said Kristin Davison,
an Axiom Strategies consultant
who advises Youngkin. “The gov-
ernor’s leadership was only inspir-
ing it to continue across the coun-
try.”
But there are significant differ-
ences in the other states Youngkin
cites, such as New Jersey and Dela-
ware. Those governors timed their
mask mandates to lift in a few
weeks, as coronavirus numbers
decline, and left localities empow-
ered to impose their own man-
dates. Youngkin’s action, and the
General Assembly bill, would gut
all mandates by allowing parents
to opt their children out.
It’s another example of Young-
kin sending mixed signals. Last
year, before and after the election,
Youngkin said he would stop the
state mandate but let localities
decide for themselves. Last week,
in a brief sit-down interview — his
first with The Post since he was
elected — Youngkin said there isreal Youngkin? Depends on the
audience. At the Capitol, he has
impressed officials with his ability
to absorb information and ask
smart questions. He has met with
lawmakers on both sides of the
aisle and prayed for peace in mem-
ory of the fallen Bridgewater Col-
lege officers.
Then there’s the Youngkin who
stirred lawsuits with his day-one
executive order allowing parents
to opt their students out of wear-
ing a mask at school, whose cam-
paign Twitter account provoked
outrage by ridiculing a teenager,
and who threw the Capitol into
disarray Friday by threatening to
hold up hundreds of government
appointments in a disagreement
with Democrats.
“When you’re making change,
there are people that are going to
disagree with you,” Youngkin told
Fox News host Sean Hannity dur-
ing one of two recent appearances
on Fox programs. “I’m not going to
make everybody happy along the
way.”
What has the Capitol chattering
is the degree to which Youngkin’s
harsher messages seem to be
aimed at a national audience, fuel-
ing speculation that he has aspira-
tions beyond Richmond.
The full measure of Youngkin’s
fresh administration was on dis-
play last week with his first big
legislative win on the effort to end
K-12 mask mandates. On Feb. 4, an
Arlington judge handed him a
stinging rebuke, issuing a tempo-
rary injunction against his execu-
tive order empowering parents to
opt their students out of school
mask mandates.
Youngkin gathered a handful of
aides for a pep talk that Friday
afternoon. “He said, ‘We’re going
to press forward on this because
we’re right,’ ” Richard Cullen, the
governor’s counsel, said in an in-
terview with The Washington
Post.
Less than a week later, Young-
kin got his home run thanks in
large part to state Sen. Chap Pe-
tersen (D-Fairfax), an indepen-
dent-minded lawmaker who had
railed against former Democratic
governor Ralph Northam’s coro-
navirus executive orders. Petersen
headed into this year’s legislative
session determined to bring an
end to the school mask require-
ments.
When he and Sen. Siobhan S.
Dunnavant (R-Henrico) came up
with a plan to amend a schools bill
to make masks optional, they con-
tacted the administration’s policy
chief, Matthew Moran — a former
Virginia House staffer and one of
the few Richmond veterans in
Youngkin’s inner circle.
“I gave them a heads-up be-
cause obviously I need them to
sign the bill,” Petersen said. “I
talked to Matt Moran. That was
basically, like, ‘Whatever you need
from us.’ ” Moran declined to com-
ment to The Post about the discus-
sions.
The handful of Democrats who
wound up supporting Petersen’s
effort said they were motivated by
falling coronavirus rates, the deci-
sions of Democratic governors in
other states to start winding down
mask mandates and a belief that
Youngkin’s executive order was il-
YOUNGKIN FROM C1
Governor’s office struggles to find stable ground as Youngkin plays two fronts
STEVE HELBER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) at a news conference on Jan. 27. Youngkin, since taking office, has sent out a variety of mixed signals
about campaign promises and his actions since taking the governorship — most notably his stance on mask mandates in the state.“It’s as if either he thinks orconsultants believe that he can speakto two different audiences and eachdoesn’t see what the other sees.”Del. Schuyler T. VanValkenburg (D-Henrico), speaking on the governor’s
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