Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen is assuring the citizens of Arizona that the Senate “will continue to follow the law and serve as the constitutional check and balance” after Governor Katie Hobbs announced her intention to avoid the normal nomination process for agency directors.
Petersen is directing the Senate Committee on Director Nominations to stand ready to resume hearings, as well as to continue accurately vetting and recommending rejection or confirmation of the individuals tasked with leading our state agencies.
According to Petersen, “Regardless of who the Governor appoints or what title she gives these agency leaders, these individuals can only lawfully serve for one year without being confirmed by the Senate.”
Petersen says the “law is clear” on the matter.
A.R.S. 38-211 states “when it is provided by law that a state officer shall be appointed pursuant to this section, the governor shall nominate and with the consent of the senate appoint such officer as prescribed in this section.” Additionally, “the governor shall nominate a person who meets the requirements of law for such office and the nominee shall assume and discharge the duties of the office until rejection of the nomination or inaction of the senate.”
Arizona law also requires Senate-confirmed directors to run state agencies and for agency powers to be exercised under the direction of a director.
Even the normally reserved Arizona State Treasurer, Kimberly Yee, weighed-in on the battle between the Arizona Senate and Governor Katie Hobbs over department nominations.
Yee, a Republican who secured over 100,000 more votes than Hobbs in Arizona’s 2022 General Election tweeted:
“Katie Hobbs has decided the law doesn’t apply to her because the Senate did not rubber stamp her left-wing and disastrous nominees.
This is exactly why we have checks and balances in our system and Constitution.
No one is above the law.”
Petersen called Hobbs’ decision “disturbing,” in a tweet:
Very disturbing to see that the governor and director of ADEQ blatantly and openly attempting to circumvent the law. Dark day for Arizona.
“This move by the Executive Branch showcases another prime example of an elected official who believes they’re above the law and will go to extreme measures to bypass the requirements of the law when they don’t get their way,” said Petersen in a press release. “The law is very specific on who is to run our state agencies. Without directors fulfilling these obligations, the legality of every decision made by these state agencies is dubious, and litigation against the state would surely prevail.”
“Our members of the Committee on Director Nominations will continue to be professional and stand ready to resume the confirmation hearings created to critically vet her appointments in order to protect the people of Arizona from government overreach and tyranny from unelected bureaucrats,” said Petersen. “The process is working. Because of the committee’s thorough vetting, we have been able to recommend several directors for appointment and have also rejected those who proved they were not competent to serve. We are prepared to receive a new list of nominations. If they are competent and not hyper-partisan, they will have no problem getting confirmed.”
Chair of the Senate Committee on Director Nominations, Sen. Jake Hoffman, blasted Hobbs for having a “temper tantrum.”
The Senate Committee on Director Nominations, according to Hoffman, “was created to accurately and thoroughly vet Hobbs’ nominees to ensure only qualified individuals seeking to serve the best interests of the state without extreme partisan influence are holding these important positions of power. The Senate has instituted a long overdue process that has proven to be fair, comprehensive, and committed to the best interests of the people who call our state home. State agency directors have an immediate impact on the lives and livelihoods of every Arizonan; therefore, the Senate has a crucial role under Arizona law in providing a check and balance on the Governor’s choices.”
“With this latest stunt, Katie Hobbs has doubled down on her commitment to weaponizing the government of Arizona to enact her extreme far-left agenda. The people of our state deserve highly qualified, non-partisan individuals to lead these agencies, instead Hobbs has chosen to nominate partisans and ideologues,” said Hoffman in a press release. “Hobbs is the only person to blame for her nominees struggling to succeed under actual due diligence. She should have done her homework prior to making her nominations, yet she chose not to and is now attempting to blame everyone else except herself for her failures.”
Hobbs advised the Senate of her decision to “pursue other lawful avenues” to appoint her nominees. She did not specify what the other avenues were available, nor did she publicly defend her decision to circumvent the process, opting instead to have her Chief of Staff and former lobbyist, Chad Campbell, address the squabble.
The Arizona Senate Republicans tweeted:
While President @votewarren provides interviews and remains transparent w/media on the Governor’s repeated unlawful power grabs- like her latest stunt w/ state agency directors, Hobbs continues to HIDE behind her team of lobbyists guised as “staff” to speak for her.
Such a disappointment. We can’t say we’re surprised.
Just last week, the bipartisan Senate Committee on Director Nominations rejected another Hobbs nominee. The Committee found Hobbs’ nominee to head up the Arizona Department of Housing, Joan Serviss, to be “unqualified” to lead the agency.
The Committee, in a 3-2 party-line vote, recommended rejecting the confirmation of Serviss to the entire Senate body.
According to Senate Republicans they uncovered what they say is “troubling information,” related to alleged “repeated and seemingly pervasive plagiarism” by Serviss while she served as Executive Director with the Arizona Housing Coalition.
RELATED ARTICLE:
Hobbs Pulls Cullen Nomination, Fails To Inform Senate Before Vote To Reject Her