Senate Director Nominations Committee Chair Celebrates Hobbs' Withdrawal of Two Unqualified Agency Nominees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Senate Director Nominations Committee Chair Celebrates Hobbs' Withdrawal

of Two Unqualified Agency Nominees

PHOENIX, ARIZONA— Senate Director Nominations Committee Chair Jake Hoffman is releasing the following statement.

"Today’s announcement that not one, but two unqualified nominees were being withdrawn from their roles heading up state agencies is a win for every Arizonan," said Chairman Hoffman.

"The Arizona Senate Majority has been aware for months that Katie Hobbs had no intention of keeping Carmen Heredia in the position and planned to withdraw her nomination once she was placed on my committee's agenda; however, Senate Republicans made a promise to the people of this state that we would faithfully, thoroughly, honestly and accurately vet each of Katie Hobbs’ nominees to lead state agencies — which is precisely what we did.

"As noted in detail in my recently released statement, during our vetting, the Senate Committee on Director Nominations discovered that Heredia’s tenure at the helm of AHCCCS has been plagued by failures, mismanagement, and fraud.  She has allegedly been complicit in far less than ethical procurement practices, repeatedly failed our state’s most vulnerable populations, denied due process to those impacted by her heavy handed, big government approach, and established broken systems that even our state’s judiciary described as 'arbitrary and capricious.'

"The Arizona Senate Majority has been aware since earlier this week that Katie Hobbs planned to withdraw Jennifer Cunico as the nominee to lead the Department of Health Services following a disastrous one-on-one meeting with me.  During this meeting, Cunico double and tripled down on the systemic failures of public health officials during the COVID years, even going so far as to defend policies that even the CDC and WHO have now admitted were wrong and not rooted in science.  During this meeting, she was dishonest, combative, engaged in doublespeak, and demonstrated she is out of touch with the priorities of Arizona citizens.

"The withdrawal of these two highly unqualified nominees by Katie Hobbs is a victory for the hardworking people of Arizona that simply want a government that will work for them.  Katie’s clear inability to nominate qualified individuals to serve as directors defies logic and is yet another glaring example of why she will be recorded in history as a failed, one-term occupant of the ninth floor.

"The Senate Committee on Director Nominations has served as the last line of defense for the people of Arizona against the incompetence and failures of the Hobbs administration.  We will continue to faithfully do our job to thoroughly, honestly, and accurately vet Katie Hobbs' nominees, especially since it has become abundantly clear that she won't."

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For more information, contact:

Kim Quintero

Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus

kquintero@azleg.gov