Arizona GOP state lawmakers target power of Democratic Secretary of State Hobbs

Arizona's GOP-controlled legislature has targeted Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs with a measure that aims to block Hobbs from engaging in lawsuits pertaining to state election rules, while stating that the "sole authority" regarding such matters belongs to the attorney general.

The measure is contained within budget legislation approved by the state House last week and which was slated to head to the Republican governor. The New York Times noted that the governor can accept or reject individual components. 

"Republican legislators have egregiously weaponized the budget process to exact partisan retribution against the Office of the Secretary of State," Hobbs said in a statement last week. "Bills that did not make it to the governor's desk on their own merit were rolled into the budget. All because Republican legislators used the threat of a shutdown to hold the entire process hostage with their bad ideas, including a politically motivated power grab by the Legislature for the attorney general. This statutory sleight of hand is set to expire at the end of my term, leaving no doubt that this was prompted by my efforts to protect the freedom to vote and because they did not like the outcome of the Presidential Election."