McAuliffe tests executive power by unblocking Medicaid expansion, nixing judgeship funds

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A borderline-incensed Gov. Terry McAuliffe tested the limits of his gubernatorial power Friday by pulling the rug out from under the General Assembly-approved budget.

With just 10 days left in the fiscal year before the government shuts down without a budget, McAuliffe said he will sign the budget, but is vetoing seven portions of it. And some of those vetoes undermine the Republican-controlled Legislature’s greatest goal — rejecting not only Medicaid expansion, but the future possibility of expansion.

The governor vetoed an amendment that says Medicaid expansion can happen only through the legislative budgeting process, and with another strike of his pen, vetoed the authority of the Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission, saying the executive branch will no longer assist the legislative group tasked last year with forging a path for Medicaid reforms.

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