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On January 17, 2026, Abigail Spanberger stormed into the Governor’s Mansion and signed ten executive orders billed as immediate relief for families struggling with affordability. What the left calls decisive action conservatives should recognize as a raw exercise of unilateral power that bypasses the legislative process and voter debate. Executive orders are supposed to be for emergencies, not the launchpad for a sweeping partisan agenda.
She didn’t stop at sweeping directives — Spanberger demanded resignations and moved quickly to remake the leadership of Virginia’s public universities, appointing 27 new members to boards at UVA, George Mason and VMI. This wasn’t a careful review; it was a purge-by-proclamation that hands political operatives control over institutions that should be neutral centers of learning. Virginians who believe in academic freedom and local control should be deeply alarmed by this kind of raw politicization.
At the same time, Spanberger signaled she intends to rejoin costly climate schemes and pursue partisan redistricting, priorities that will raise living costs and tilt the political playing field. Returning Virginia to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and pushing for a congressional redistricting amendment are ideological moves disguised as governance. Conservatives must call these what they are: expensive, partisan policies that punish working families and erase fair representation.
Her inaugural rhetoric about unity rang hollow in light of a first-day blitz that looks more like political theater than a plan to solve everyday problems. Spanberger even framed part of her agenda as a stand against what she calls “recklessness” in Washington — language that signals ongoing national partisan warfare rather than practical, bipartisan problem-solving for Virginians. Demanding resignations and reshuffling university legal staff on day one is divisive and sets a dangerous precedent for every governor who follows.
Republicans who handled a courteous transition with the outgoing administration warned of this sort of centralization, and polite handshakes don’t negate the reality of orders that circumvent voters’ representatives. The ritual lunch between Youngkin and Spanberger may have been cordial, but it didn’t stop a checklist of orders that sidestep debate and oversight. It’s time for conservatives in Richmond to defend checks and balances before these partisan moves become entrenched policy.
This is a call to action for every patriotic Virginian and every conservative across the Commonwealth: show up, speak out, and push back. Attend hearings, demand transparency, and insist that real policy be made in public and through our elected legislators — not by midnight edicts from the governor’s office. If we stay silent while boards are stacked and mandates are imposed, working families will be the ones left footing the bill.
