The expulsion of two lawmakers in Tennessee is prompting questions about Virginia’s state legislature, and if a similar incident could happen in the Commonwealth.
“People want to know what happened, how did this happen, what can be done about it and should this have happened,” said Dr. Brandy Faulkner, Virginia Tech professor.
Faulkner teaches administrative law and said expulsions are possible under the Commonwealth’s law.
“The language is quite broad,” Faulkner said. “It allows both the House and the Senate to determine whether the conduct that they wish to punish has in fact been disorderly, and that is what is stated in the constitution, but it does not mean that there may not be additional offenses for which somebody could be expelled.”
Delegate Sam Rasoul is serving in the House. He said that the closely matched number of Republicans and Democrats currently makes the act unlikely.
“Clearly things can happen anywhere,” Rasoul said. “In Virginia, it’s harder to do that needing a supermajority and being a split state.”
Rasoul said he doesn’t want a repeat of what happened in Tennessee.
“In Virginia, we fortunately do a pretty good job of working together across the aisle to ensure that we’ve got an open line of communication and things do not devolve that way,” Rasoul said.
Faulkner said to her knowledge there haven’t been expulsions in Virginia, but there have been censures.
“A censure is essentially your colleagues saying to you, we strongly condemn your behavior,” Faulkner said. “For example back in 2021, Senator Amanda Chase was censured for advocating insurrection in Washington D.C. Now, it doesn’t carry any legal penalty or criminal penalty, but it is a way of colleagues saying to each other this is unacceptable.”