Va. Gov. Northam meets with Cabinet and senior staff, weighs resignation

Source: Washington Post

Virginia Politics
Va. Gov. Northam meets with Cabinet and senior staff, weighs resignation

By Gregory S. Schneider and Laura Vozzella
February 4 at 11:16 AM

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) met with his Cabinet early Monday morning and planned to speak with other administration officials as he considers resigning after two days of controversy over a racist photo in his medical school yearbook.

All 140 members of the General Assembly returned to Richmond for the ongoing legislative session, trying to focus on deadlines for approving a state budget in an atmosphere of uncertainty and drama.

House Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) renewed his call for Northam to step down but in a morning news conference expressed “hesitation” about the possibility that the legislature would try to force him out. ... “I think there’s a rightful hesitation about removal from office,” Cox said. “Obviously you have to consider that to some degree you’re overturning an election. I think the constitutional provisions are very specific .?.?. it really does call for mental or physical incapacitation.”

Cox, who worked closely with Northam in last year’s session to pass Medicaid expansion, called this a “painful and heartbreaking moment for the commonwealth.” He said Republican leaders had resisted calling for resignation until later Saturday. ... “It had become clear to us by then, regardless of the veracity of the photograph, the governor’s lost the confidence of the people and cannot effectively govern,” Cox said. The legislature’s Democratic caucuses were both quick to call for Northam to step down.
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Greg Schneider covers Virginia from the Richmond bureau. He was The Washington Post's business editor for more than seven years, and before that served stints as deputy business editor, national security editor and technology editor. He has also covered aviation security, the auto industry and the defense industry for The Post. Follow https://twitter.com/SchneiderG

Laura Vozzella covers Virginia politics for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, she was a political columnist and food writer at the Baltimore Sun, and she has also worked for the Associated Press, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Hartford Courant. Follow https://twitter.com/LVozzella

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-gov-northam-meets-with-cabinet-and-senior-staff-weighs-resignation/2019/02/04/3ec1f13c-2896-11e9-984d-9b8fba003e81_story.html