On the Issues
Donald Trump is waging an unprecedented assault on Virginia communities, jobs, and even civil rights. Across the country, state Attorneys General have been stepping up to defend democracy, protect families, seniors, and the rights of their citizens, and ensure that support for our schools, health care systems, law enforcement, and so many other critical priorities remain intact.
But here in Virginia, MAGA extremist Attorney General Jason Miyares has put politics first and refused to join in the effort to defend against unconstitutional and un-American Trump policies.
When Trump illegally waged a chaotic trade war and imposed disastrous tariffs that would raise costs on the average Virginia family by thousands of dollars a year and make it harder for Virginia’s small businesses, farmers, and manufacturers to get by, 12 Attorneys General sued him in court and won, protecting their states’ economies and family budgets. But Jason Miyares was not among them – because he took Trump’s side and refused to do his job of defending Virginia, instead putting partisan politics first.
When Trump attempted to illegally fire tens of thousands of Virginia workers out of political retribution, 20 Attorneys General went to court to stop him. They sued to protect these workers’ jobs — many of whom are veterans and provide key services, from healthcare to law enforcement—because mass firings without legal justification don’t just hurt families, they destabilize entire communities. But Miyares refused to act. So when the coalition of states suing the Trump admin won a victory in court halting the firings, Virginians were left unprotected as the legal measure only applied to the states that sued and not states that sided with Trump.
When Trump froze federal loan and grant funding, putting thousands of small businesses, law enforcement jobs, and healthcare providers at risk, Attorneys General across the country took action and secured legal rulings stopping the extreme move. Miyares, once again, stayed on the sidelines. And again Virginia was left unprotected as the injunction stopping the halt in funding applied only to states that took action.
From working to block Elon Musk’s access to citizens’ private records to halting the plot to abolish the Department of Education – state Attorneys General have gone to court to get results and stop the Trump administration, while Miyares has done nothing.
It’s long past time to get Virginia off the sidelines and back in the game of protecting its citizens from an autocratic administration seeking to destroy what makes our Commonwealth and country great. As MAGA Republicans are gearing up to gut Medicaid while Elon Musk guts Medicare and Social Security services that Virginia seniors rely on, this fight is only becoming more urgent.
As Attorney General, I will always put the well being of Virginia first and never stay silent out of party loyalty so we can best protect Virginia families and communities.