Virginia Politics

A Tazewell Circuit Court judge, Jack Hurley Jr., voided a proposed mid‑decade constitutional amendment that would have allowed Democrats to redraw Virginia’s U.S. House maps, finding the Democratic‑led General Assembly improperly added the measure during a budget‑focused special session without the unanimous‑consent/supermajority its rules require and failed to meet statutory publication and three‑month pre‑election timing requirements. Hurley also held that the 2025 House election had effectively begun when early voting started—making subsequent legislative votes ineffective—issued injunctions blocking further action, and the pro‑amendment group Virginians for Fair Elections said it will appeal, accusing Republicans of court‑shopping.

In a new podcast interview, White House border czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration will “work around” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s executive order directing state and local police not to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and will respond by sending more federal agents into the state. Homan, a Virginia resident, blasted Spanberger for what he called a sharp break from her law‑and‑order campaign persona and accused her of abandoning child‑trafficking victims by refusing to help ICE transfer noncitizens from local jails. He said the administration is already using similar workarounds in New York, California, Oregon and Illinois, which he described as “not friendly” to ICE, and reiterated plans to hire “thousands of agents” and “flood sanctuary cities” so federal teams can track down noncitizens released from jails. Homan also claimed ICE has located about 130,000 previously missing migrant children, many allegedly exploited in sex trafficking or forced labor, contrasting that with what he said was inaction by the prior administration—figures that are his assertions and not independently substantiated in this piece. The remarks underscore an escalating clash between the White House and blue‑state governors over immigration enforcement, with federal officials openly planning to increase street‑level raids and arrests when local law‑enforcement agencies refuse to honor detainers.

Abigail Spanberger was sworn in on Jan. 17, 2026, in Richmond as Virginia’s first female governor in a noon outdoor ceremony at the state Capitol administered by Senior Justice William Mims amid a cold drizzle; Ghazala F. Hashmi was sworn in as lieutenant governor — the first Muslim woman to hold statewide office in the U.S. — and Jay Jones took office as attorney general. In her inaugural address Spanberger sharply criticized the Trump administration for cuts to health care, imperiling rural hospitals, closing markets and driving up costs for groceries, medicine and housing, while urging Virginians to speak up and also to work together where possible.