Glenn Youngkin Delivers on Day One Promises in Day of Historic Firsts in Richmond

AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Abbott

This past Saturday was a day of historic firsts in the Old Dominion. Glenn Youngkin, a lifelong businessman, and entrepreneur was sworn in as the first Republican Governor of Virginia – and first Republican elected statewide – in over a decade. Alongside him, Winsome Sears was inaugurated as Lieutenant-Governor, as she became the first black woman to hold statewide office in Virginia. Completing the trio, Jason Miyares was sworn in as Attorney General, the son of two Cuban refugees who escaped the Castro regime; he is the first Latino to hold statewide office. Combined, these three Republicans represent the most diverse leadership team in Virginia’s history.

While that already made Youngkin’s first day historic, he also made it clear he has no intention of resting on his laurels. Within hours of assuming office, Governor Youngkin signed nine Executive Orders and two Executive Directives. These measures fulfilled or were the first step in addressing several of his “Day One” promises essential to his campaign’s success. The executive orders focused on Education, “reopening Virginia,” and a shift in pandemic response strategy. They did the following:

1. Ban teaching “divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, in public education,”
2.  Repeal the mandatory mask mandate for children in schools. Parents can still choose to mask their children; however, the school cannot mandate them.
3. Fire and replace the Parole Board of Virginia. The Board had come under fire for illegally releasing violent inmates from prison without cause and violating the right of victims’ families and prosecutors by failing to inform them of the release of violent offenders.
4. Investigate wrongdoing by the Loudoun County School Board. The Board drew widespread scrutiny for allegedly covering up the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl by a transgender student. The accused served no jail time and was transferred to another school where he molested another teenage girl.
5. Create the position of Commonwealth Chief Transformation Officer. This officer will work to make “government work for Virginians” by identifying which parts of government aren’t functioning as effectively and efficiently as they should. Specifically, the new Officer was directed to start with the Virginia Employment Commission and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
6. Declare Virginia “open for business.” In application, this will be a review of all COVID-19 pandemic protocols with the intent of burdensome regulations on businesses that are not doing anything in reality to stop or slow the spread of COVID-19.
7. Focus more resources on combating and preventing human trafficking and expanding support to trafficking survivors.
8. Establish a commission to combat antisemitism statewide.
9. Withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The RGGI’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, yet the initiative has contributed heavily to increasing energy prices for millions of Virginians without delivering on the promised benefits.
10. Directive #1: Cut government regulations by 25 percent.
11. Directive #2: Rescind the vaccine mandate for all state employees.

The education-focused orders were, arguably, the most popular within the state and among Republicans and consequently the most controversial among liberals and the mainstream media. Specifically, the order banning the teaching of divisive concepts in schools, including Critical Race Theory, became a flashpoint for early opposition to the Youngkin regime.

Opposition to Critical Race Theory and related ideologies became a key issue during Youngkin’s campaign, in which he asserted that the controversial teaching approach, which teaches that the United States and its institutions are inherently racist and that students must view one another according to hierarchies of privilege, was harmful to students. Loudoun County, where Youngkin secured a higher percentage of the vote than many previous Republican statewide candidates, became ground zero last year in the national debate over

 Critical Race Theory. Youngkin promised that he would ban the teaching of the concept on “day one,” and made good on that promise by making it the very first thing he did as governor. After some pushback from the liberal media and politicians, Youngkin doubled down on the order in a Fox News appearance on Sunday, promising that “we will teach all history, the good and the bad… but to actually teach our children that one group is advantaged and the other disadvantaged because of the color of skin, cuts everything we know to be true.”

Additionally, the mask mandate repeal immediately received pushback from several Virginia School Districts. Most notably, Arlington and Fairfax County public schools announced they would disregard the Governor’s order and continue to impose mask mandates regardless of parental consent. Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki, whose kindergartener is in the Arlington school district, also criticized the governor and encouraged school districts to oppose it. Under Youngkin’s order, Psaki would be free to mask her kindergartener during school; she just wouldn’t be able to force other students to do the same. However, despite the blowback, Youngkin promised that he would “use every resource within the governor’s authority” in order to make sure that “parents’ rights are protected.”

Youngkin’s order ending vaccine requirements for government workers was also a hot topic shortly after Youngkin’s first wave of orders were announced, particularly as it went into effect the same day as neighboring DC’s mandate requiring proof of vaccination for entry into all indoor DC establishments. The directive states that vaccine requirements and mandatory testing are “harmful to [the] individual freedoms and personal privacy” of employees” – making clear where the Youngkin administration will likely continue to fall on such questions.

In short, Youngkin’s first day in office was a good one for conservatives in Virginia and all throughout the country. As the first high-profile Republican elected following President Trump’s departure in 2020, Youngkin had the opportunity to set the tone for how the party might govern without Trump in the White House. The answer, at least thus far, appears to be with a similarly firm commitment to protecting individual liberty and traditional American values. After one year under Joe Biden and unified Democratic rule, that was likely a welcome sight to many Americans – and further encouragement to return Republicans to power in Congress this fall.

Andrew Abbott is the pen name of a writer and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in DC at the intersection of politics and culture.