MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrom WAMU 88.5 at American University in Washington, welcome to "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," connecting your neighborhood with the world. Later in the broadcast, a court ruling tosses out requirements for tour guides to obtain licenses in the nation's capital. But first, one crazy summer, Virginia politics edition. Lawmakers in the Old Dominion may have avoided a government shutdown when they passed a budget last month, but a season of weirdness does not look like it's going to end anytime soon in Richmond. The governor is looking into expanding Medicaid on his own.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIThe feds are investigating whether a state senator quit his job for the promise of a gig on a commission. And another legislative resignation has triggered a Democratic caucus in Arlington that's set to go down over the holiday weekend, this coming Sunday. Joining us to navigate the wild, wacky and weird summer taking place in Virginia thus far is Michael Pope, reporter for WAMU 88.5 and the Connection Newspapers. Michael, welcome.

MR. MICHAEL POPEGood to be here. Thank you.

NNAMDIJoining us by phone from Oxford, England, is Quentin Kidd, political science professor and director of the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University. Quentin, thank you for joining us.

MR. QUENTIN KIDDIt's good to be with you.

NNAMDIIf you have questions or comments, give us a call at 800-433-8850. Or send email to kojo@wamu.org. Michael, a few weeks ago we were still talking about the possibility of Virginia's government shutting down because lawmakers couldn't agree on a budget. Now we're talking about whether they're going to declare nuclear legal war over whatever Governor Terry McAuliffe ultimately decides to do about expanding Medicaid with executive power. From what you can tell, what options is McAuliffe considering? And how are Republicans in the general assembly preparing to react to them?

POPEWell, you described it as nuclear war. That's certainly one way to look at it. I think it's undoubtedly true that the governor and the Republicans in the general assembly are engaged in brinksmanship. I don't know how many more warfare metaphors we can use in this conversation.

NNAMDIWe'll think of a few.

POPEBut it's definitely headed to a confrontation. The Republicans passed a budget that does not have Medicaid expansion. The governor campaigned on expanding Medicaid health insurance for 400,000 people who live in poverty or with disabilities. And so at some point in the near future, we're going to come to a point at which the governor is going to make a key decision.

POPESo the buzz right now that's going on is that McAuliffe and the Democrats, who support Medicaid expansion, might try some sort of avenue where the money would go directly from the federal government to a private health insurance provider, like Anthem or Kaiser or Tricare, one of these kinds of private providers and bypass the state altogether. Now there's no precedent for that. So it's unclear whether or not that would be legal. It's unclear whether or not the federal government would agree to that. It's unclear whether or not the private providers would agree to that.

POPEIf the governor decides to go that route, there would definitely be a lawsuit. And so it's unclear how the courts would decide. So we're definitely headed for some kind of big confrontation on Medicaid expansion.

NNAMDIQuentin Kidd, you told Michael, for a story last week, that things could get interesting if Governor McAuliffe moves forward with that public-private partnership, not unlike what his predecessor had attempted with transportation. Why?

KIDDWell, because -- and I think Michael's point about this being unprecedented is really the key -- there's no precedence for a public policy service like providing health care or health insurance to be provided via an avenue outside of the general fund like this. And I think that's what would make it unprecedented. That's what would make it the lawsuit that I'm sure would come.

KIDDAnd, you know, the general assembly -- I think the general assembly's position, the Republican's position is this, they've made it clear in the budget and then in the amendments that got passed as they were passing the budget, that they did not want Medicaid expanded unless it was done through the commission that they set up last year. And I think they would argue that any other way of doing it -- you can call it what you want -- but any other way of doing it would be to violate the spirit if not the words of that new law now. And I think that would be the basis of their lawsuit.

KIDDAnd then the McAuliffe campaign -- or administration, sorry -- would say, look, this is completely bypassing the budget. So the general assembly has nothing to do with it and they don't have standing. I think that's what their argument would be. Whoever wins this, however, has to come back in two years. Let's say the McAuliffe administration wins this. They have to come back in two years however and find money to pay for it. Because there's only a two-year, 100 percent payment from the federal government.

NNAMDIQuentin, what do you see as at stake for McAuliffe with this next move? Is it too dramatic to say that this immediate sequence of events could define his tenure as governor?

KIDDMost clearly. I mean if he were to go down this route, somehow get the federal government to agree to bypass the budget -- the state budget, to give the money to an independent provider, and fail -- let's say, fail in court or fail somehow to get that to work -- it would clearly undermine everything that he ran on as governor. It would deprive him of revenue that he says he needs to do the other stuff he promised to do. It would weaken him in a major way in Richmond.

KIDDAnd it would cause such a fissure between him and the Republicans in the general assembly, that I think we would be in for two years of, you know, to use another war analogy, a Cold War in Richmond that might define Governor McAuliffe's entire term in office.

NNAMDINot that we, the media, are complaining about that. But here's Michael Pope.

POPEI'm wondering, Quentin Kidd just made this point from Oxford, England, that if the governor is unsuccessful in this lawsuit, then there would be hostility and it would be sort of difficult for them to get along. I'm wondering -- well, that may be true. So let's imagine another scenario where he is successful. Doesn't that also create all kinds of fissures in state politics?

NNAMDINot that we, the media, are complaining, Quentin.

KIDDWell that -- no, I mean, I think, yes. But I think the fissure would be more serious for McAuliffe if he loses than he wins. And I say this -- I say it for this reason. If he wins, it's not something that the general assembly has to do anything about. It would be an independent arbiter who basically -- a court, who basically said, no, he can do this. And the Republicans would essentially be left with a budget that they agreed to and said that they wanted anyway.

KIDDThe real rubber would hit the road two years down the line, when McAuliffe tried to then move this new program, whatever it gets -- whatever it is called and however shape it takes, into the budget, because he would need the 10 percent match. So I think if he loses, he's in worse shape, because I think then he's in a position to be essentially pilloried on all sides. Democrats would be demoralized and upset. Republicans would feel victorious. And there would be a Cold War between him and the general assembly when it came to anything else that he was interested in doing. So I take my point.

NNAMDIHe won't be...

KIDDI mean, win or lose.

NNAMDIHe won't be able to lose and advance like the U.S. did against Germany. Michael, meanwhile, the FBI is investigating the resignation of State Senator Phil Puckett, whose absence gave Republicans leverage in Richmond, that forced McAuliffe's hand on the budget and on Medicaid. Investigators are looking into whether Puckett stepped down for the promise of a job with the states' Tobacco Commission, which is chaired by a Republican. What's the latest you're hearing on that?

POPEWell, the latest is that there's a Congressman Morgan Griffith, who says that the investigation is politically motivated. There is a grand jury that is looking into this. And, you know, it's sort of your standard political corruption case -- quid pro quo. You know, was there promises made in exchange for this action that he took? And that's something that is still being investigated. And I guess we shall wait and find out.

NNAMDIQuentin Kidd, the Washington Post published excerpts from emails exchanged between Puckett and various officials with the Tobacco Commission. Apparently he was asked for input into writing a description for the job that they were looking to offer him. What did you find illuminating about those notes?

KIDDI think this is what makes the -- I think this is why there's an investigation going on. Because it's clear in those emails that there was discussion that went on several days, if not several weeks before Puckett resigned. And it's clear to me from those emails that there are discussions that aren't recorded, probably verbal discussions, that those emails build upon. And I think that's why there's an investigation here. I notice that the speaker sent out a press release or sent out a comment a few hours ago that said, you know, why isn't there an investigation with Bob Brink's resignation? You know, after all, he's taking a job also, et cetera.

KIDDI think the difference is there's a record that there was prior conversations here that seem a little bit untoward. And we'll find out whether they are illegal or whether federal officials think they were illegal.

NNAMDIMichael Pope, where does Puckett's daughter fit into this. She's a judge who was up for an appointment. It's my understanding that the senate and the house of delegates have different rules for seating the relatives of lawmakers to these kinds of jobs.

POPEYou know, I was just -- as I was coming into the studio, Kojo, I was talking to an aide of a senator who was curious about the background of that -- I mean, you said it was a rule. I'm not sure if this is a tradition, a rule. I think it could be that this has happened a couple times, that they didn't want to vote on a family member. The House apparently does not have this rule, does not have this tradition. The Senate, you know, maybe they do, maybe they don't. It's a little unclear, you know, what the background of that is.

POPEIt's also worth pointing out that there is a special election for that Puckett seat. And the Republican in that race has a sister who is a judge. And at some point, she will need to be reappointed to that position. So, you know, it's likely that we're going to face this same situation in the future.

NNAMDIAnd, Quentin Kidd, to make things even more complicated, Democrats are going to hold a caucus this Sunday, on the Fourth of July weekend, to nominate a candidate for the special election to replace delegate Bob Brink, who's taking a job in the governor's administration. How did this election come about and why is moving ahead so quickly?

KIDDWell, it's a mystery to me why it's moving ahead so quickly, because, I mean, this seat seems relatively safe for a Democrat. But the margin, the Democratic-Republican margin in the house of delegates is not so close the Democrats are desperate to fill this seat. So I don't understand why they're doing it this quickly, except maybe they just want to get it out of the way. I mean, everybody recognizes that there's likely to be a special session -- at least my understanding is there's likely to be a special session sometime over the summer perhaps. The speaker had promised one on Medicaid.

KIDDAnd so maybe they want to have this seat filled by then. But it seems awfully quickly to me, especially over a holiday weekend.

NNAMDIAnything you've been hearing about that, Michael Pope?

POPEWell, my understanding is -- in terms of the question, why this quickly -- is that the Virginia Code requires the parties to come up with candidates within five days of the announcement of the special election. So the announcement by the speaker, the Republican speaker, was on Monday, which gives the Republicans and the Democrats five days to come up with their candidates. Friday, as you pointed out, is a holiday, so the deadline under state law is Monday at five o'clock. So already, in Arlington and McLean -- by the way it's worth pointing that this district goes from McLean and Arlington -- there are seven candidates.

POPEAnd so there is lots of politicking going on in terms of endorsements and who supports whom. And two of the candidates are on record opposing the streetcar, the controversial streetcar proposal. One of them is on the record supporting the streetcar proposal. So we're likely to see a very intense campaign going forward. I'll use another war metaphor, blitzkrieg.

NNAMDIComing this Sunday. Quentin Kidd, if there wasn't enough going on, a Democratic delegate from Henrico County was charged yesterday with having sex with a teenaged receptionist at his law firm. What's the latest that we know about the legal situation facing Joseph Morrissey?

KIDDYeah, this thing is really wacky, because just within the last, what, hour, hour and a half, Joe Morrissey, you know, gave an interview on national TV where he used the F word. He swore the F word on TV reading what he alleged was a hacked text message. And he alleged that all of this is somehow the result of somebody hacking into his cell phone and planting photographs.

KIDDAnd it's a really strange situation. It seems a little bit weird. And it's the last thing that Virginia politics needed right now was something like this. You know, if he's found guilty, you know, it's a horrible thing but it just seems really weird right now the way this thing is playing out. And Joe Morrissey's been very defiant about this but he has a history of being defiant and getting in trouble. And so I guess that's not anything new about him.

NNAMDIThe only thing we're using more than war metaphors today is the word weird, Michael.

POPEThis is a weird story. So it's important to point out that Morrissey denies any wrong doing here. The girl and her family deny any wrong doing apparently. And so one thing that's important also to keep in mind about this delegate, Joseph Morrissey who represents the Henrico County, this is the Richmond area, is that he has a background of being a very dramatic and sort of flamboyant elected official. I'll give you a good example of that.

POPELast year, there was this big debate about gun safety in the wake of the elementary school shooting. So in order to make his point, Delegate Morrissey brought an AK47 to the House floor and was brandishing it about as he was giving his speech in favor of gun safety. And so that certainly brought a lot of attention to him, and that's why he did it.

POPEAnd so now he is engaged in some language, as Quentin Kidd just pointed out, that's also going to bring him some attention, and the story some attention. And I guess we're going to have to wait to see what happens as a result of these court proceedings.

NNAMDIFinally -- we're running out of time -- a Fairfax County prosecutor was fired last week because she won a seat on the Fairfax City Council, which apparently set up a kind of conflict of interest in the eyes of the county attorney despite the fact that he had given her assurances before she ran that it was okay. What's the matter in dispute here?

POPEWell, so this is an employee of Fairfax County that was running for a seat in Fairfax City. And...

NNAMDIThe council that pays the princely sum of $4500 a year?

POPEIt's an important gig. Let's not overlook the importance of the role. So, you know, I always wonder about these kinds of situations. You come upon them with some regularity in Virginia because elected officials are perceived as being part time employees. And so there was an election that happened a couple years ago that involved a department head in the city of Alexandria. He's the head of the general services department who was running for a seat in the House of Delegates from Prince William County.

POPEAnd I remember interviewing him for that campaign. And he said, oh I've got assurances. I've talked to the city attorney. I've got this all worked out. And so I'm wondering, well, if -- he ended up losing that race -- but if he was successful would we be saying -- would we be seeing a similar situation with him now? And this is a particular candidate who was successful and kind of now we have to sort of sort through the promises. You know, did the county attorney say it was okay? When did he change his mind? Did he change his mind? Why did he change his mind? And so all these things, again, I think the courts might end up making a decision on all this.

NNAMDII'm afraid that's all the time we have. Michael Pope is a reporter for WAMU 88.5 and the Connection Newspapers. Michael, thank you for joining us.

POPEThank you.

NNAMDIQuentin Kidd is a political science professor and director of the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University. Quentin, when can we expect you back in these parts?

KIDDA couple weeks. Visiting family.

NNAMDIOkay, good. We look forward to having you back here again. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll be taking a short break. When we come back, a court ruling tosses out requirements for tour guides to obtain licenses in the nation's capital. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.