Gov. Katie Hobbs illegally worked around AZ Senate's GOP nomination blockade, judge rules

Gov. Katie Hobbs' end run around the Senate to put her allies in charge of state agencies violates Arizona law, a Maricopa County judge ruled Wednesday.

The governor "has improperly, unilaterally appointed de facto directors for these 13 agencies," Judge Scott A. Blaney wrote.

"The governor took a series of actions that, when viewed in isolation arguably complied with certain applicable statutes, but took those actions for an improper purpose, culminating in an improper result — one that violates Arizona law," Blaney wrote. Hobbs cannot circumvent Senate confirmation of agency directors, nor can she leave the director positions vacant, the court ruled.

Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, filed the lawsuit in December after Hobbs put her director of operations in charge of a baker's dozen state agencies.

The court order is a victory for Senate Republicans but does not end the case. Blaney said he would set another hearing for July or August, giving "these co-equal branches of government" time to meet and try to resolve their dispute.

Hobbs' office did not immediately comment.

Hobbs' 1st year in office marked by wrangling with Legislature

The Democratic governor's first year in office was marked by her battles with the Republican-majority Legislature, with the confirmation of her Cabinet at the forefront.

Senate Republicans created a special committee to vet Hobbs' nominees and put one of Hobbs' most vocal critics and most conservative members, Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, in charge. Previously, agency directors would be vetted by a Senate committee based on their specialty. For example, a Health Department director nominee would go before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

The committee, which often took on a prosecutorial tone, rejected several nominees and approved only six. Hobbs' office charged that Hoffman was playing politics and standing in the way of Hobbs carrying out the policy pledges she'd been elected on.

She echoed those concerns via a spokesperson on Wednesday.

The Governor's Office would appeal the ruling that is “wrong on the law,” Hobbs spokesperson Christian Slater said. He noted Hoffman has been indicted as a so-called fake elector who falsely claimed Donald Trump won the presidency in 2020 and was the leader of a “sham committee.”

“Governor Hobbs stands ready to work with anybody in the Senate who is serious about putting the political games aside and delivering for everyday Arizonans, and as she’s said from day one, she remains open to a fair and timely process for confirmation of nominees,” Slater said.

Petersen released a statement calling Hobbs' manipulation of the nominating process a "prime example of Democrats weaponizing Arizona's government" and took a shot at state Attorney General Kris Mayes for failing to side with him on the issue.

"Unfortunately, every decision made by these fake directors on behalf of our state agencies will be under a microscope, opening the door for a myriad of lawsuits. I'm disappointed with our attorney general once again supporting another unlawful order by the Governor, but I'm very pleased with the court's rightful interpretation of our statutes," he said in the prepared statement. "I look forward to the Governor's cooperation so that we may reinstate sanity after this chaotic period she created for the entire state of Arizona."

Judge rejects Hobbs' premise for altering process

Hobbs’ solution to her committee problem was to redesignate her nominated agency heads as “executive deputy directors” who aren’t subject to Senate confirmation.

She promoted her director of operations, Ben Henderson, to interim director of 12 state agencies, with instructions to convey their director powers to her previous nominees, who then received their new titles. She tapped former Democratic Rep. Mark Cardenas to be interim director of the Department of Veterans' Services, which the law requires to be headed by a veteran. Henderson and Cardenas then resigned their interim-director positions after transferring their power.

Blaney wrote the governor "willfully circumvented that statutory process and eliminated the Legislative branch from its oversight role."

In his ruling, Blaney rejected the Hobbs legal team’s assertion during oral arguments on May 20 that the process somehow made the “executive deputy directors” legally unaffected by state law requiring senate confirmation of agency director nominees. Blaney said the “argument improperly elevates form over substance.”

The “long-standing doctrine of substance over form requires the Court to examine the objective realities of the Governor’s actions and the results of those actions,” and not simply that she’s giving the directors new titles.

Hobbs’ side argued the governor had to go around the Senate to carry out statutorily required duties to ensure laws are “faithfully executed,” executive officers are supervised and agency work is fulfilled.

Blaney rejected that rationale, noting that while doing those things she still had to comply with the “more specific statutes” on nominations.

The judge also noted Hobbs didn’t need the workaround to allow government operations to continue smoothly: State law allows the governor to appoint her nominees to lead agencies if the Senate takes no action on their nominations before the end of the year’s legislative session. However, the nomination committee process would have started up again this year, leaving Hobbs with the same frustrations.

Blaney acknowledged an amicus brief in the case by Democratic Sen. Lela Alston of Phoenix, a member of the Senate's Committee on Director Nominations, who said the nomination committee was a “radical departure” from past nominating procedures. But based on the separation of powers principle, Blaney said, it wasn’t the judiciary’s place to “scrutinize the Senate’s internal rules” or force it to stick with its previous nomination method.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669. Reach the reporter at  rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Katie Hobbs' workaround to GOP nomination blockade rejected by judge