Attorney General Kris Mayes is positioning herself as the leader of opposition to Pres. Trump in Arizona.
On Feb. 10, she announced her alarm at the administration’s early actions, arguing “There is an ongoing coup against the Constitution of the United States happening as we speak.”
On Wednesday night, Mayes joined three other attorneys general — Minnesota’s Keith Ellison, New Mexico’s Raúl Torrez, and Oregon’s Dan Rayfield — at an event in Phoenix that they labeled a “community impact hearing.” They heard from a handful of speakers from the relatively sparse crowd, discussing losses of jobs or services that have resulted from the “Department of Government Efficiency” cost-cutting effort.
“The Constitution provides clear avenues for reforming the federal government,” Mayes said. “Congress — the people’s representatives — is empowered to oversee and shape the federal agencies that serve this country. Changes to federal programs and funding must be made through the legislative process or other lawful means, not by executive overreach or backdoor maneuvers that disregard the rule of law.”
The group of attorneys general plans to hold similar hearings around the United States.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes detailed Jan. 23 why she contends President Donald Trump exceeded his legal authority in declaring that not everyone born in the United States is automatically entitled to citizenship.
Mayes’ office has filed or joined five lawsuits against the Trump administration:
- - Challenging the Office of Management and Budget‘s attempt to freeze payments to the states
- - Opposing his executive order trying to limit birthright citizenship in the United States
- - Trying to stop the Department of Government Efficiency’s employees’ access to the Treasury Department’s payment system
- Challenging the National Institutes of Health’s reduction in payments to universities and other research-grant recipients
- Attempting to invalidate the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency and the appointment of Elon Musk
Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes have both been rumored to be considering a primary challenge to Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, although Mayes has said she plans to run for re-election as attorney general.
In contrast to Mayes’ approach, Hobbs has picked her battles with the Trump administration. She declined to join a coalition of Democratic governors challenging Trump and has pledged to work together where possible, including on border security.
Whether Mayes runs for governor or attorney general, the anti-Trump efforts carry political risks: While Mayes won the AG’s office by just 280 votes in 2022, Trump won Arizona by 5.5 percentage points, or 187,382 votes, in 2024.
Ciscomani, Hobbs do border tours
Rep. Juan Ciscomani, back from a narrow vote in favor of the GOP budget resolution, is taking a group of freshman Republican representatives on a border tour.
He won’t be the only one landing in Nogales Friday, though. Gov. Hobbs will, too.
Jaime Chamberlain, president and CEO of Nogales-based Chamberlain Distributing, said the Greater Nogales-Santa Cruz Port Authority will have a lunch with Ciscomani, a Tucson Republican, on Friday. And after that, he’ll be attending another lunch — with Hobbs, in town to discuss trade and tariffs.
Ciscomani’s tour with the nine freshmen will include stops at the port of entry and border wall, as well as meetings with the cross-border trade industry, his office said in a press release.
Ciscomani is just back from a controversial vote in favor of the GOP majority’s budget resolution. Before the vote, Ciscomani had stated his opposition to cuts in Medicaid spending, Pell grants and SNAP benefits.
The resolution, which passed 217-215 with Ciscomani voting in favor, does not call directly for the cutting of those programs, but it requires drastic cuts by the committees who handle those programs, likely necessitating cuts to Medicaid and these other programs.
Ciscomani has said he considers the vote one in favor of beginning discussions toward a final outcome, not as an outcome in and of itself.
Border sheriffs reverse Hobbs support
The decision by two Democratic border sheriffs to bow out of Hobbs’ newly announced border task force represents a sharp turnaround from Hobbs’ campaign in 2022.
Both Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos and Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway appeared in an ad for Hobbs that year, pumping her border credentials.
“When it comes to the border, Katie Hobbs gets it,” Nanos said in the ad, as the trio walked along the border fence.
Hathaway added, “As a border sheriff, let me tell you, Katie Hobbs is on our team.”
But now, as Erika Wurst reported in the Star Thursday, Nanos and Hathaway are declining to be part of her new border team — a federal-state-local task force she’s calling Operation Desert Guardian.
“In my opinion, this is nothing more than a political issue that has very little to do with public safety,” Nanos said.
Grijalva introduces bill
Rep. Raul Grijalva still is not back in Congress, but his office says he has introduced a new bill.
Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat, and New Mexico Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan have introduced an effort to reform the 1872 mining law, called the “Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025.”
The bill would, among other things, begin charging royalties on mining operations on public lands and force mining companies to clean up abandoned mines.
Grijalva has been largely absent from Congress for a year, after being diagnosed with cancer and returning home to receive treatment. He was the only member of the House absent when the chamber voted on the budget resolution last week.
One member, Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, brought her newborn son to the House floor to cast a ballot, after House leadership denied her request to vote by proxy.
