A federal judge stopped the implementation of a new Trump administration policy that orders the withholding of trillions of dollars in funding, but not before Governor Katie Hobbs embarrassed herself when she penned a letter to the state’s Congressional delegation.
As a result of her quick response to Congressional members, the Governor is not only being accused of being a fear-monger, she’s being accused of not knowing that Arizona has nine congressional districts rather than seven.
At issue is the Governor’s reaction to a Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo outlining plans to freeze funding to various federal programs.
The OMB policy, issued late on January 27, directed all federal agencies to indefinitely pause the majority of federal assistance funding and loans to states and other entities beginning at 5:00 p.m. on January 28.
In response to the news of the memo, Hobbs announced on X.com that she “sent a letter to our congressional delegation asking them to join me in standing up for working people in our state.
“@KatieHobbs forgetting to include not 1 but *2* members of AZ’s delegation (@AbrahamHamadeh & @DrPaulGosar) on a formal letter to Congress — a letter that went through several aides for approval — encompasses her tenure perfectly,” tweeted Brian Anderson of Saguaro Group in response. “Bewilderingly dumb.”
.@KatieHobbs forgetting to include not 1 but *2* members of AZ’s delegation (@AbrahamHamadeh & @DrPaulGosar) on a formal letter to Congress — a letter that went through several aides for approval — encompasses her tenure perfectly.
Bewilderingly dumbhttps://t.co/CnY9lepGlL
— Brian Anderson (@AZBrianAnderson) January 29, 2025
Congressman Eli Crane responded to Hobbs, “Thanks for asking. I will not stand with you in needlessly scaring hardworking Arizonans by perpetuating lies for raw political gain. I’d also be remiss not to point out that you forgot two Members of Congress. Arizona has 9 House members. Not 7. @RepGosar and @RepAbeHamadeh.”
Thanks for asking. I will not stand with you in needlessly scaring hardworking Arizonans by perpetuating lies for raw political gain.
I’d also be remiss not to point out that you forgot two Members of Congress. Arizona has 9 House members. Not 7.@RepGosar and @RepAbeHamadeh. https://t.co/II3IEaR8rB
— Rep. Eli Crane (@RepEliCrane) January 28, 2025
Later, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan for the District of Columbia imposed an administrative stay, pausing the Trump administration’s action on Tuesday afternoon,” according to FOX News.
Contrary to Hobbs hyperbolic statement, the Trump administration made clear that no programs that directly affect individual Americans would be affected including Social Security benefits, Medicare, food stamps, and welfare benefits.
A supplemental memo from OMB was also sent out on Tuesday in an attempt to clear up confusion, according to FOX News.
“A pause could be as short as a day. In fact, OMB has worked with agencies and has already approved many programs to continue even before the pause has gone into effect,” the memo read.
Unlike Hobbs, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin offered reassurances to his residents, “I’ve spoken to senior officials at the White House and confirmed the temporary pause by OMB does not impact individual assistance and will not interrupt disaster recovery efforts, school and childcare funding, healthcare for seniors or low-income families, funding for our roads, meals and lunches, or any of the other misinformation that has spread. The partisan stunt to disseminate knowingly misleading information is dangerous fearmongering and completely wrong. President Trump is doing what an executive should do at the beginning of a term, which is find out where the money is and where it’s going, not unlike what we did at the beginning of our term here in Virginia when we identified $1.4 billion in appropriated but unspent taxpayer money.”
I’ve spoken to senior officials at the White House and confirmed the temporary pause by OMB does not impact individual assistance and will not interrupt disaster recovery efforts, school and childcare funding, healthcare for seniors or low-income families, funding for our roads,…
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) January 28, 2025
Hobbs, one of the least popular governors in the US, has had a number of stumbles and is facing sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike for those missteps.
“Katie ought to know how many US Representatives we have in this state, and if she were really worried about funding, she would be nice to all of them when she sees them. She needs them,” one political consultant told the Arizona Daily Independent.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined the multistate lawsuit that stopped the implementation of a new Trump administration policy that orders the temporary withholding of funding.
Attorney General Mayes and the coalition claimed in their lawsuit, that OMB’s policy has caused immediate chaos and uncertainty for millions of Americans who rely on state programs that receive these federal funds.