A new state Senate committee created to vet executive nominees gave a scathing rebuke to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ pick to run the Arizona Department of Health Services.
By a 3-2 vote, Republicans on the Senate Committee on Director Nominations recommended the full Senate reject the confirmation of Dr. Theresa Cullen, who currently serves as the health director in Pima County.
But the committee vote is not the last word — all nominations must be confirmed or rejected by a vote of the full Senate.
Led by Chairman Jake Hoffman, GOP senators critiqued Pima County’s policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, from curfews to school closures to a vaccine mandate for county employees.
“We didn't get a reasonable candidate here. We got an extreme candidate, a candidate with a track record of infringing on the civil liberties of the people of Pima County,” Hoffman said.
Were there to be another pandemic-level public health threat, “I cannot fathom how devastating the impact would be if Dr. Cullen was in charge,” he later added.
Democrats on the committee defended Cullen’s body of work, and argued decisions made under duress during the pandemic, right or wrong, were done for the good of public health.
The committee represents a change in the state Senate — traditionally, executive nominees are referred to standing committees, like the committee on Health and Human Services.
Instead, Senate President Warren Petersen empowered a new five-panel board led by Hoffman, a fellow far-right lawmaker from the East Valley.
Hoffman began the hearing by sharing his political belief that nominees should run agencies in a way that reflects the legislature’s priorities — a Republican body often at odds with the new Democratic governor. And Hoffman used much of his questioning to poke and prod nominees about Hobbs’ political agenda.
The hourslong inquiry of Cullen overshadowed a positive for the Hobbs’ administration — a successful vote in favor of Angela Brooke Rodgers, who the governor nominated to run the Department of Economic Security.
