Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee stepped in as acting governor for less than 24 hours without an explanation for why Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) will be absent.
Yee announced in a press release on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she will temporarily serve as acting governor of Arizona from Wednesday evening until mid-morning Thursday, stating she’s “pleased to step into this role.” No explanation has been provided as to why Hobbs is absent.
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I have been notified that I will be serving as Acting Governor beginning later this evening until mid-morning tomorrow. Read my full statement below. pic.twitter.com/sSuiSCebk4
— Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee (@AZTreasurerYee) September 27, 2023
A top Republican, Yee vowed not to use her interim new power to appoint 13 nominees as state agency directors and will refrain from calling the Arizona Legislature into session to confirm them.
"While I am pleased to step into this role, I will refrain from naming directors to the 13 agencies that currently have vacancies and will not call the Arizona Legislature into session to confirm them," Yee said. "That being said, I do hope when the Governor returns to Arizona, she will promptly name qualified directors to these important state agencies."
Yee has been critical of how the Democratic governor bypassed the Senate confirmation process for heads of state agencies by reassigning her 13 picks as “deputy directors.” Hobbs announced on Monday that she was ditching the long-standing Senate vetting process, stating she was fed up with the “political circus" that has caused stalled appointments and will pursue “other lawful avenues” to appoint nominees.
“You have reciprocated with a process designed to slow walk nominees and create a political circus that is beneath the dignity of the Arizona Senate,” Hobbs wrote in a letter to state Senate President Warren Petersen. “There are nearly three times as many nominees waiting for your review than have been considered to date. At this rate, I will be well into my second term before your political circus completes its job.”
Yee barred two of Hobbs’s appointees, Barbara Richardson of the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions and Elizabeth Alvarado-Thorson of the Arizona Department of Administration, from a State Board of Investment meeting.
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Republicans hold a majority in the state legislature, meaning GOP members have enough votes to reject Hobbs’s director nominees. Yee said the Democratic governor's move created “confusion” and prompted “legal uncertainty.”
Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee issued the following statement on today's State Board of Investment meeting. pic.twitter.com/SU0ByqcR4m
— Office of the Arizona State Treasurer (@AZTreasury) September 26, 2023
“Yesterday's decision by the Governor to pull the nominations of these cabinet-level positions has created chaos and confusion that is contrary to the orderly administration of government business,” the treasurer's office said on X on Tuesday. “The absence of lawfully appointed directors of these two agencies creates legal uncertainty and jeopardizes the proceedings of the State Board of Investment.”