Speaker of the House Don Scott talked Monday about Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s response to federal spending cuts and how it will impact Virginia. He also gave an update on his plans for a special session to address those cuts.
“The number one issue that we have right now is that we have a governor who has basically abdicated his responsibility to look out for Virginians. And it’s sad,” Scott said.
Youngkin held a press event Monday morning to highlight job options across Virginia for federal workers who might have already or are preparing to lose their jobs due to cuts in spending from President Donald Trump’s administration.
“I don’t believe that the federal government downsizing is wrong, and in fact, we need to press forward and drive efficiencies in our federal government,” Youngkin said after the event. “And as a result of driving those efficiencies, I do expect that some Virginians will lose their jobs.”
“And that’s why it’s so important that we provide alternative opportunities for them,” he continued, citing multiple resources for federal employees who were fired can use.
While Youngkin said that these changes are what Americans voted for in November, Democrats point out that Kamala Harris won Virginia by 6 points and implore him to stand up to the president.
Democrats in the General Assembly voted this weekend to expand the scope of an already active special session to address the federal workforce and spending cuts that impact the commonwealth.
The resolution was filed late Friday night to expand the scope and it was approved on Saturday.
Scott said they are gathering information about what could benefit Virginians who are impacted by the cuts the most before deciding on what they want to accomplish during the special session.
“I gotta get some information,” he said. “ I’m gonna do something that Elon Musk and Trump didn’t do — we’re gonna get information and then make decisions based on that data.”
“They just come in indiscriminately with a sledgehammer smashing everything, and then say ‘oops, We saw where we fired all of the nuclear scientists that protect our nuclear stockpile. Can y’all come back please?'” he continued, referencing how the Trump administration fired officials who oversee the nuclear program just to try and rehire them back when they realized they needed them.
“That’s not the formula for good government and making sure that we keep our community safe.” Scott continued.
He said they are going to have to be patient at first, but they will try and move quickly once they gather the information they need to help Virginians.
“We have to be patient,” he said. “As soon as we gather all that information we need, we’re going to try to move as quick as we can to try to find some relief, and we will continue to fight back against this administration’s cuts, and with our federal partners, Senator Warner, Senator Kaine and other federal delegation members, they all know this is wrong. I mean, quietly, behind the scenes, Republicans are telling me this is crazy. We don’t know what’s going on. We can’t figure it out. So that’s why they’re joining us in a bipartisan way to try to come to our aid to get these answers.”