Stalemate over Hobbs' agency director nominees apparently will continue

PHOENIX — Gov. Katie Hobbs says she got a commitment from the Senate president to treat her nominees to direct state agencies differently than last year, even though the Senate won its lawsuit against her.

But Senate President Warren Petersen and Sen. Jake Hoffman, his hand-picked choice to head the special Director Nominations Committee, said Hobbs is mistaken if she thinks she can push through the same picks whose nominations stalled last year. Petersen said if Hobbs wants a different outcome the onus is on her to send different nominees.

Hobbs gave no indication she has any intention of changing her mind.

All that suggests a new stalemate when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

But one thing will be different: A judge ruled the Democratic governor can’t repeat her tactic of withdrawing the names from confirmation by the GOP-controlled Senate and and then using a procedural move to put the same people back in charge of the agencies as “executive deputy directors.’’

The issue dates back to Petersen’s decision after Hobbs was elected in 2022 to form the special panel.

Prior to that, agency nominees were screened by standing committees with expertise in specific areas. So, for example, the person tapped to run the Department of Health Services would go to the Health Committee.

Petersen said he wanted more extensive vetting of the new governor’s choices. He named Hoffman, the founder of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, to head the panel.

Hoffman, in turn, noted that agency regulations can have the effect of state laws. Better screening would protect Arizonans “from unelected partisan hacks who seek to advance a radical political agenda,” he said.

Hobbs’ press aide Christian Slater responded in kind.

“Extremists like Jake Hoffman would rather engage in partisan attacks to push their radical political agenda than work across the aisle to support veterans, grow jobs and invest in small business, and protect Arizona’s children,’’ he said.

Several of Hobbs’ nominees were confirmed and several were rejected.

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But another 13 found themselves in a sort of legal limbo as Hoffman refused to bring them up for a vote. Under state law, they could serve for only a year without confirmation.

So Hobbs instead withdrew their nominations but immediately renamed them as deputy directors of the same agencies. That left them in charge as there were no actual directors.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney ruled in June that maneuver was an illegal effort to avoid the legally required legislative oversight of agency directors. And earlier this week, facing a possible court order, the governor agreed to again send nominations to the Senate when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

“We have an agreement with the president that our nominees will get a fair consideration,’’ she said Wednesday.

Petersen, however, said “fair consideration’’ depends on what he thinks is a commitment from the governor. “Her picks will be better and there will be better upfront communications about getting the best nominee possible,’’ he said.

And Hoffman said Wednesday there won’t be any new special considerations next session.

“In light of Hobbs’ acknowledgment that her political stunt violated the law, I expect that moving forward the quality of her nominees and the level of communications from the Ninth Floor (where the governor’s office is located) will improve,’’ he said.

Hobbs, however, indicated she isn’t about to change her mind on her picks — and is likely to just re-send the nominations of those 13 individuals whose nominations stalled last year in Hoffman’s committee.

“(These are) nominees that I will remind everyone came through a bipartisan transition committee,’’ she said Wednesday, calling them “highly qualified for the positions” most of them have now held for more than a year and a half.

And despite the agreement, Hobbs continues to insist it was Senate who “politicized the process.’’

But the governor also is clearly hoping for a way around the stalemate.

“We’re going to have a new Legislature in January,’’ said Hobbs, who has been raising money to elect Democrats in November and potentially end the Republican majority.