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Republicans say they’ll resume Hobbs’ director confirmations, but won’t say when [1]

['Caitlin Sievers', 'More From Author', '- July']

Date: 2023-07

Senate Republicans say they plan to continue confirming Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ state agency director nominations, just weeks after those confirmations were put on hold in response to an executive order that Republicans said went too far.

But Senate Republicans, Hobbs, and the chairman of the committee have all remained silent about when the Senate Nominations Committee will resume hearings to interview Hobbs’ director nominees.

The Senate Republicans quietly announced that they would continue to confirm “qualified director nominees” as the fourth point in a legislative session update emailed to members of the media on Monday.

The three Republicans on the Senate Nominations Committee — Committee Chairman Jake Hoffman, T.J. Shope and Sine Kerr — announced June 26 that they would halt all nomination hearings in response to Hobbs’ executive order that effectively bars county attorneys from prosecuting doctors for violating Arizona abortion laws. The order instead puts those cases in the hands of Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, who is staunchly pro-choice.

The Republican members of the committee sent Hobbs a letter saying that they wouldn’t resume hearings until the administration met with them to discuss what they called her abuse of power.

Hobbs instead met with Sen. President Warren Peterson on Friday, according to the Senate Republicans, who said that the meeting went well.

“While there must be consequences for overreaching executive action, we are optimistic on finding a way to move forward in a bipartisan manner that benefits all of Arizona,” Senate Republicans said in a statement.

Hobbs declined to comment on the meeting and the possible re-starting of the nomination hearings for directors.

A Senate Republican spokeswoman did not respond to questions about when or if the Senate Nominations Committee would resume its work, and no upcoming meetings of the committee are listed on the Senate’s official calendar.

Twelve of Arizona’s 15 county attorneys asked Hobbs in a letter to rescind the executive order that would stop them from prosecuting abortion providers, but Hobbs refused, leaving the possibility of the county attorneys challenging the order in court.

The Committee on Director Nominations had been scheduled to meet June 27 to consider Hobbs’ appointment of Barbara Richardson as director of the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions.

“Katie Hobbs’ reckless abuse of power and willful disregard for the separation of powers established by the Arizona Constitution sets a dangerous precedent that will not be tolerated by the Republican Majority within the Legislature,” Hoffman said in a June 26 statement.

Hoffman said that the committee, which was created earlier this year, aims to “honestly, accurately and thoroughly vet directors appointed by the Governor to critical state agencies” so that only qualified and non-partisan people are approved to head state agencies.

But the nomination hearings so far have been anything but non-partisan. The committee’s purpose is to vet Hobbs’ appointments and then make recommendations to the Senate on what action to take. Until this year, executive nominees were reviewed by the Senate’s relevant standing committees, typically with little fanfare.

Hobbs’ initial nominee for director of the Arizona Department of Health Services Dr. Theresa Cullen, the former Pima County director of public health, endured a contentious hearing during which Hoffman accused her of being responsible for an increase in depression and suicide among children because of her choice to close schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hobbs later withdrew her nomination for Cullen to head the department. Her nominee to head the Department of Public Administration was also put on hold because of the nominee’s views on abortion.

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[1] Url: https://www.azmirror.com/blog/republicans-say-theyll-resume-hobbs-director-confirmations-but-wont-say-when/

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