Here we go again. Gov. Phil Scott has pulled a maneuver that will have little practical impact, but should suit his political purposes very well.

At his weekly press conference Wednesday, Scott signed an executive order aimed at boosting Vermont’s housing supply. And there was his cabinet’s top housing official, Alex Farrell, boasting that the order “will make a real difference immediately.”

Yeah, well, bullshit.

Scott’s authority to make policy changes without legislative input is quite limited. The items in his executive order might make some incremental difference — eventually — but it’s laughable to claim that this move will resolve our housing crisis or make any measurable progress in the next few months.

The order was less about housing, in fact, than about political positioning. In that respect, it’s already a success.

The real point of today’s presser was to fire a barrage of criticism at the Democratic Legislature. The big housing bill passed this year “hasn’t led to enough changes in the right direction,” he said. “We need relief right now.”

The need is so urgent, he claimed, that he couldn’t wait for the next legislative session to play out. But none of the changes in his order are going to accomplish anything between now and next January. Also, Scott has firmly rejected calls for a special session this fall. If there was a pressing need to change state policy, why not pull out all the stops? Why limit himself to the things he can do unilaterally?

Well, because he doesn’t want to have to deal with the legislative process. He wants to score a few points. Early indications are, that’s exactly what he’s done.

The response from House Democrats was muted. Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone didn’t criticize anything in Scott’s order. Her objections were limited to the process, not the substance. “We are encouraged to see the Governor join us in recognizing the need for urgent action,” she wrote in a press release. “In the days ahead, we will carefully review the order to ensure it reflects Vermonters’ values and priorities while protecting our environment.”

Which to me sounds like another way of saying, “Welp, the governor has snookered us again.”

Another prominent Democrat took the opportunity to insert himself in Scott’s back pocket. Former Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger, now head of Let’s Build Homes, a group that lobbies for increased housing production, wrote that his organization “applauds” the order, which “rightly identifies outdated state rules and processes as significant barriers to building new homes.”

Yeah, I guess we can rule out a Miro for Governor campaign in 2026. I mean, today’s response came not from Miro the politician but from the Miro with a paid position as an advocate for housing construction. But after that statement, he’d be in a pretty weak position to turn around and run against the governor who “rightly identifie[d]… the significant barriers” to resolving a crisis.

Between the Legislature’s meek acquiescence to Scott’s demand for education reform, this executive order on housing, and his pending “plan” to help with Burlington’s public safety problems, Scott is setting the agenda on his own terms and leaving precious little space for a mainstream Democratic challenger. That phrase refers to the type of Democrats who hope to appeal to the center and Vermont’s donor class, not those who might actually put forward a progressive platform.

Esther Charlestin redux, anyone? She could be the Vermont Democrats’ own version of H. Brooke Paige.