PHOENIX – Two of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ agency director nominees resigned Wednesday in the face of unbending Republican opposition.
AHCCCS Director Carmen Heredia and Department of Health Services Director Jennie Cunico stepped down after it became clear the GOP-led Senate Committee on Director Nominations (DINO) wouldn’t recommend their confirmation.
Heredia led AHCCCS, the state’s Medicaid program, for over two years without confirmation. Cunico oversaw the health department’s transition from the previous administration.
“Unfortunately, the Senate’s unprecedented politicization of the director confirmation process has ended the directorship of two health care professionals who have made our state government run more efficiently and more effectively,” Hobbs, a Democrat, said in a statement.
After Heredia and Cunico withdrew from consideration, DINO Chair Sen. Jake Hoffman said they weren’t qualified for the positions.
“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,” Hoffman said in statement. “Katie’s clear inability to nominate qualified individuals to serve as directors defies logic.”
Heredia was scheduled for her DINO hearing on Thursday, but the meeting was canceled after she withdrew.
“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,” Hoffman said.
Committee to vet director nominees was created after Hobbs took officer
Hoffman’s committee has been a thorn in Hobbs’ side throughout her tenure as governor.
Senate President Warren Petersen created the committee and appointed Hoffman to lead it after Hobbs took office in early 2023. The panel vets nominees who are subject to Senate approval before the full chamber votes on them.
Early on, the committee approved most of the director nominees it vetted. However, several candidates were rejected following sometimes contentious hearings.
Shortly after Hoffman’s committee recommended the rejection of Joan Serviss as director of the Department of Housing in September 2023, Hobbs withdrew her remaining director nominations.
Next, she tried to sidestep the committee by naming interim directors. The interims then appointed “executive deputy directors” and resigned, leaving the deputies in charge.
Republicans took Hobbs to court over the maneuver and won. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled in June 2024 that the executive deputy director appointments were illegal, regardless of the job titles.
Hobbs resubmitted nominees for unconfirmed director positions in January of this year.
Since then, DINO has held hearings for 10 of the nominees, with the committee voting to recommend confirmation nine times.
Only Barbara D. Richardson, Hobbs’ pick to lead the Department Of Insurance And Financial Institutions, didn’t get the committee’s recommendation.
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