Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, sharply criticized Gov. Katie Hobbs’ nominee to lead the Department of Agriculture during a Senate Committee on Director Nominations hearing on Thursday for past comments criticizing President Donald Trump.
The DINO Committee voted 3-2 to recommend Paul Brierley’s nomination to the full Senate. Hoffman and Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, voted against Brierley, while Sen. TJ Shope, R-Coolidge, joined Democratic Sens. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, and Flavio Bravo, D-Phoenix, to vote for him.
Republican senators said they had issues with the department’s cage-free egg rule, their overcharging for regulated food items and with Brierley’s potential influence over letters of support sent by AZDA-regulated entities. However, the largest problem for both Hoffman and Kavanagh was a Facebook post — later uploaded to the website Medium — Brierley made in 2020 arguing Trump should not be reelected to a second term.
“You went on a war path against him in your rhetoric, and now you’re tasked with working with him,” Hoffman, the chair of DINO, said during the hearing on April 3. “That creates a problem. And so for those reasons and this lack of judgment, I’m going to vote no.”
Kavanagh said he had not been aware of the post and did not have any issues with Brierley’s nomination until Hoffman brought it up during his line of questioning. That led him to vote no as well.
Brierley said he chose to become apolitical after the 2020 election and has not publicly expressed political views since that Facebook post. He previously spent 22 years in different volunteer roles with the state Republican Party.
Brierley also said he does not believe it will hinder his ability to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Trump because he has a history of building relationships within the agriculture sector.
Ortiz defended Brierley and attempted to call a point of order to shut down Hoffman’s questions, saying the nominee’s past political views were not relevant to his future service at AZDA.
“I think it’s really important that we recognize the importance of people being able to have political opinions, and how those political opinions might change over the years,” Ortiz said while explaining her vote in Brierley’s favor. “We can’t just stand by the First Amendment when it suits us.”
Hoffman said he did not have faith that Brierley would be able to work with the Trump administration, telling him, “God willing, your over the top rhetoric and demonization of the greatest president in modern history won’t affect our relationship with the federal government.”
“God willing,” Brierley said.
Brierley’s nomination will move to a vote of the full Senate next week. Hobbs’ communications director, Christian Slater, said in a statement that the Governor’s Office is confident Brierley will be confirmed.
“Director Brierley has extensive support in the agricultural community,” Slater said. “He is highly qualified and widely respected, and we believe our dignified State Senators recognize Brierley’s experience and leadership and will vote to confirm him.”
Hoffman also questioned Brierley about an AZDA policy prohibiting egg producers from caging hens that lay eggs that are sold to consumers. That policy was supposed to take effect in 2026, but Hobbs delayed its implementation by seven years due to the avian flu and the resulting high egg prices.
The senator asked Brierley why AZDA has not revoked the policy, as it is also subject to an ongoing lawsuit alleging it will increase egg prices. Brierley told Hoffman he is not in favor of the cage-free egg policy and communicated that position to the Governor’s Office.
“You’ve asked if I would advocate, and I have advocated, and the solution that the Governor’s Office came to was delaying by seven years,” Brierley said.
Hoffman also accused Brierley of asking entities regulated by AZDA to send letters of support for him to the committee and telling some who sent letters that they were not supportive enough. Brierley said he did ask his network of contacts to send letters of support and that network did include those in the regulated industry, but he denied putting pressure on anyone to submit positive letters.
The governor’s nominee to lead the Industrial Commission, Gaetano Testini, also appeared before DINO on April 3, and received a unanimous vote recommending his confirmation. His nomination will also head to the Senate floor next week.
Five of Hobbs’ director nominees have been confirmed so far this legislative session and nine more await hearings. Two agencies do not yet have nominees after the Senate rejected the governor’s nominee for the Department of Housing and the director of the Office of Tourism resigned. Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, sharply criticized Gov. Katie Hobbs’ nominee to lead the Department of Agriculture during a Senate Committee on Director Nominations hearing on Thursday for past comments criticizing President Donald Trump.
The DINO Committee voted 3-2 to recommend Paul Brierley’s nomination to the full Senate. Hoffman and Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, voted against Brierley, while Sen. TJ Shope, R-Coolidge, joined Democratic Sens. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, and Flavio Bravo, D-Phoenix, to vote for him.
Republican senators said they had issues with the department’s cage-free egg rule, their overcharging for regulated food items and with Brierley’s potential influence over letters of support sent by AZDA-regulated entities. However, the largest problem for both Hoffman and Kavanagh was a Facebook post — later uploaded to the website Medium — Brierley made in 2020 arguing Trump should not be reelected to a second term.
“You went on a war path against him in your rhetoric, and now you’re tasked with working with him,” Hoffman, the chair of DINO, said during the hearing on April 3. “That creates a problem. And so for those reasons and this lack of judgment, I’m going to vote no.”
Kavanagh said he had not been aware of the post and did not have any issues with Brierley’s nomination until Hoffman brought it up during his line of questioning. That led him to vote no as well.
Brierley said he chose to become apolitical after the 2020 election and has not publicly expressed political views since that Facebook post. He previously spent 22 years in different volunteer roles with the state Republican Party.
Brierley also said he does not believe it will hinder his ability to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Trump because he has a history of building relationships within the agriculture sector.
Ortiz defended Brierley and attempted to call a point of order to shut down Hoffman’s questions, saying the nominee’s past political views were not relevant to his future service at AZDA.
“I think it’s really important that we recognize the importance of people being able to have political opinions, and how those political opinions might change over the years,” Ortiz said while explaining her vote in Brierley’s favor. “We can’t just stand by the First Amendment when it suits us.”
Hoffman said he did not have faith that Brierley would be able to work with the Trump administration, telling him, “God willing, your over the top rhetoric and demonization of the greatest president in modern history won’t affect our relationship with the federal government.”
“God willing,” Brierley said.
Brierley’s nomination will move to a vote of the full Senate next week. Hobbs’ communications director, Christian Slater, said in a statement that the Governor’s Office is confident Brierley will be confirmed.
“Director Brierley has extensive support in the agricultural community,” Slater said. “He is highly qualified and widely respected, and we believe our dignified State Senators recognize Brierley’s experience and leadership and will vote to confirm him.”
Hoffman also questioned Brierley about an AZDA policy prohibiting egg producers from caging hens that lay eggs that are sold to consumers. That policy was supposed to take effect in 2026, but Hobbs delayed its implementation by seven years due to the avian flu and the resulting high egg prices.
The senator asked Brierley why AZDA has not revoked the policy, as it is also subject to an ongoing lawsuit alleging it will increase egg prices. Brierley told Hoffman he is not in favor of the cage-free egg policy and communicated that position to the Governor’s Office.
“You’ve asked if I would advocate, and I have advocated, and the solution that the Governor’s Office came to was delaying by seven years,” Brierley said.
Hoffman also accused Brierley of asking entities regulated by AZDA to send letters of support for him to the committee and telling some who sent letters that they were not supportive enough. Brierley said he did ask his network of contacts to send letters of support and that network did include those in the regulated industry, but he denied putting pressure on anyone to submit positive letters.
The governor’s nominee to lead the Industrial Commission, Gaetano Testini, also appeared before DINO on April 3, and received a unanimous vote recommending his confirmation. His nomination will also head to the Senate floor next week.
Five of Hobbs’ director nominees have been confirmed so far this legislative session and nine more await hearings. Two agencies do not yet have nominees after the Senate rejected the governor’s nominee for the Department of Housing and the director of the Office of Tourism resigned.
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