In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), under the Biden-Harris Administration, imposed a staggering $37 million fine against Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Phoenix, the largest privately owned Christian University in the nation. The fine came without revealing any serious complaint against the school. In February 2024, the Goldwater Institute announced that it advanced a lawsuit to determine why such a massive fine was levied. Now, a hearing has been scheduled in the case for April 18th.
Acoording to the Goldwater Institute, the DOE claimed that GCU “violated federal disclosure rules regarding continuing education courses for PhD students.” GCU leaders deny this outright. Further, in a press release regarding the fine, the DOE declined to include any complaints from students or members of the public to support its regulatory action.
When a federal judge in the U.S. District Court hears arguments in Goldwater Institute v. U.S. Department of Education, Goldwater hopes to compel the federal agency to disclose the alleged violation(s), which it believes are particularly suspicious. According to Goldwater, a public statement from Biden’s Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona vowed to “shut down” GCU.
Adding doubt to the DOE’s allegations, as Goldwater notes, GCU reportedly hasn’t raised tuition in over 15 years. The manner in which the fine was announced was also suspect with Goldwater noting, “The Department also announced its unprecedented fine with a widely reported press release that was heavy on rhetoric and bereft of any serious complaints from students or the public. It also appears that the fine was assessed in conjunction with suspicious coordination among various federal agencies.”
According to Goldwater, efforts through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to determine the motivation behind the fine have gone unanswered, leading up to the complaint.
“The request seeks emails between key individuals of the Department and other federal agencies that discuss the Department’s fine against GCU. The records may help inform the public about this extraordinary fine, as well as coordination between various federal agencies in what appears to be the intentionally targeting of a successful university based on extraordinarily thin allegations. However, the Department has refused to produce the records requested and has failed to otherwise comply with the FOIA.”
As reported by AZ Free News in February 2024, Goldwater staff attorney Stacy Skankey explained, “With its motto of ‘private, Christian, affordable’ and its track record of graduating students into high-demand and high-paying jobs, GCU is a success story by any metric. And it stands apart from universities across the country that are facing declining enrollment, that are indoctrinating students with radical politics, and that are under attack for failing to defend the First Amendment.”
In an op-ed for the Washington Times in December, Jon Riches, Goldwater Institute Vice President for Litigation, wrote, “As the Trump administration prepares to tackle an ambitious education agenda, ending the shameful attack on GCU should be a top priority. This would not only correct the injustice done to GCU but also make clear the broader principle that higher education should be a domain of innovation and student achievement — not a fiefdom for ideological conformity and bureaucratic rule.”
The initial action was brought by the Goldwater Institute during the Biden Administration and saw little to no response from former Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Though confirmed by neither party, the hearing had initially been delay and could be reflective of the whirlwind of changes at the DOE under Trump Administration.
The upcoming hearing could present a departure from the DOE’s previous position on the GCU fine, or at minimum provide transparency that was lacking under the previous administration.
In an exclusive interview with AZ Free News, Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives Steve Montenegro revealed that Republican legislative leaders had been warning Governor Hobbs of her potential budgetary failure as far back as January. He further revealed that a notice from the Hobbs administration was only sent to House leaders two weeks prior to the funding crisis deadline and was sent to an incorrect email address.
Montenegro called out Hobbs for her administration’s “incompetence,” and explained the purpose of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Executive Budget Mismanagement, which met for the first time last week.
🚨House Releases Additional Details on Ad Hoc Committee on Executive Budget Mismanagement
“We’re seeing a complete breakdown in basic budget planning. Governor Hobbs’ pattern is to overspend, under plan, and wait until the last possible moment to admit failure. House Republicans… pic.twitter.com/ZoHLpjBgjK
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) March 26, 2025
Montenegro explained, “The purpose of the ad hoc was literally on executive budget mismanagement and the failures that the Governor has demonstrated from the start. I mean at some point we understand that there are shifting numbers. There’s sometimes you budget for a certain amount of caseload or you budget for a certain amount of students or you budget for a certain amount of individuals that are going to have need of services in the state and that can fluctuate a little.
“We’ve seen that throughout the year it fluctuates. But the mismanagement that’s coming from this Governor’s office is startling—to see that they’re not factoring certain budgeting items in, completely ignoring it from start.
“In January, we pointed out there were failures in her proposal failing to include certain budget items. But now we’re seeing that in, specifically this latest debacle where we get an email sent to the wrong place and when we finally are able to see the email, there’s less than two weeks left before the Congregate Care program goes bankrupt. Then, the letter that she emailed states almost as a demand, ‘If this happens, kids will be sleeping in offices.’
“It’s almost as if there’s, first of all, no care, and second, no understanding that she should have let us know early on specifics on where we would need supplementals. So asking the question, is this a level mal-intent or incompetence?
“This is sheer incompetence in mismanagement of budgets, not understanding how to manage a budget, and when you’re talking about kids and the most vulnerable individuals in the state, it’s gross incompetence. Arizonans deserve better.”
Asked about the possible perception of the Ad Hoc Committee as having a political intent, Montenegro answered bluntly, “There are no games here. I haven’t even sat to consider politics in this subject. When we receive a letter, when our team receives a letter that kids are going to be sleeping in offices, there’s a certain level of indignation that I can’t ignore, especially when you’re saying kids will be sleeping in offices. And then we find out that the reasoning is because we can’t manage a budget.“
When asked about the potential intent of the Governor, Montenegro was equally direct:
“When we’re talking about kids here, I don’t care about the politics. What we do care about is making sure that these kids are taken care of and holding this Governor accountable because it’s gotten to a point now that we can’t ignore it. We genuinely can’t ignore the fact that we’ve got kids that are gonna be affected.
“We’ve got a Governor that decided to raise rates on the same program earlier this year. We know there’s an ongoing investigation, so we’re not gonna get in the middle of the investigation by Kris Mayes or Rachel Mitchell, County Attorney, or even others higher.
“But we want to find out, we want to get to the bottom of the budget mismanagement so that as we proceed forward in how we make sure these kids are taken care of and these vulnerable communities are taken care of, that from the legislature’s perspective, we’re putting safeguards and ending up some reforms that don’t allow the Governor’s incompetence to hurt these kids.”
Asked what recourse the House will have against a recalcitrant Governor, Montenegro answered, “Well, to start, that is why we’ve had our Appropriations Committee from the beginning asking the questions. Right now, the Governor refuses to give us access to her staff, to her policy advisors, to the people that know the numbers in these agencies. She refuses to make them accessible for us to talk to them, to understand where these numbers are.
“So what we’re doing is, we’re going to turn up the heat on holding her accountable. The Ad Hoc committee is formed to say, ‘Look, for weeks, we’ve been asking for your staff to sit down with our policy advisors on the numbers, on finding out where things are.’
“We get a letter two weeks out. We have been asking for weeks to sit down with them for numbers, to understand where these are. So, the whole purpose of this is now to take a deep dive in understanding where these numbers are so that Republicans can execute our plan. We are going to make sure that she’s using funds from her executive budget to fulfill these needs. And we’re going to make sure that, as we start stepping into the budget, we have the right reforms and we have the right safeguards for these kids.”
Referring back to the work of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, he added, “If you go back and see the JLBC committee hearing that we had, that’s a preview of what we expect to happen with this Ad Hoc Committee on Executive Budget Mismanagement that I put together.
“Because by forcing them to come to talk to us, to finally get somebody to speak, which I’ve told you before, she’s been preventing her staff from coming to speak with our staff about numbers. But by her folks having to come to the committee, we’ve learned a lot, specifically, by learning how they’re mismanaging DCS. We’ve learned a lot, and the goal is through the Ad Hoc to expose the rest of what’s happening in other areas of either DCS, or DDD, or in general DHS on the mismanagement.“
Congressman Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) pointed out this week the accuracy of his anticipation that Arizona Democrats would file a lawsuit seeking to block President Trump’s Executive Order 14248, entitled Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections. Hamadeh described the Democrats as “the beneficiaries of Arizona’s broken election system,”
Reacting to the announcement from Arizona Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Hamadeh’s office stated that they “and their ilk across the country will go to any lengths to keep our elections processes broken.” His office also noted that the Congressman alongside his co-sponsor Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R+NY-24), who chairs the Congressional Election Integrity Caucus, have introduced legislation to support and codify the President’s election integrity agenda.
President Trump's Preserving & Protecting the Integrity of American Elections Executive Order takes historic steps to keep noncitizens from voting in elections, eliminate voter fraud, & repeal Biden's corrupt EO 14019!@RepAbeHamadeh & I introduced legislation to enshrine this…
Congresswoman Tenney posted on X, “President Trump’s Preserving & Protecting the Integrity of American Elections Executive Order takes historic steps to keep noncitizens from voting in elections, eliminate voter fraud, & repeal Biden’s corrupt EO 14019! @RepAbeHamadeh & I introduced legislation to enshrine this EO into law to ensure our elections remain free, fair, & honest.”
“The American people deserve better. They deserve to know that their legally cast ballot is counted and accounted for. I am disappointed, but obviously not surprised that Mayes and Fontes seek to thwart the implementation of commonsense safeguards of democracy,” concluded Congressman Hamadeh. “As a trusted advisor once said to me, ‘election integrity never disenfranchised a single soul, but a single act of election fraud disenfranchises us all.’”
The proposed bill, H.R. 2499, would codify Trump’s EO 14248 by ordering states to require proof of citizenship in the form of government-issued ID on voter registration forms, ordering the Departments of State and Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to provide federal database access to states for determining voter eligibility, and requiring a single Election Day deadline for vote tabulation. Each measure will carry the threat of withdrawn federal funding in the event of non-compliance. In a press release, Rep. Hamadeh stated, “In Arizona, we have seen what the mismanagement of voter rolls, failed election infrastructure, and corrupt courts can do to destroy voter confidence and faith in our system overall. We are taking swift action to rebuild citizens’ trust in our elections through comprehensive and meaningful election integrity legislation.”
In a speech on the House floor earlier this week, Arizona Republican Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ-01) blasted leftist activists and vandals who allegedly affixed a swastika to his wife’s Tesla.
Schweikert expressed exasperation speaking to the House saying, “It’s not, ‘Hey David, we’re concerned about Medicaid. Here are ideas for how you could deal with debt and deficits so we have the resources.’ No, because [instead], it’s this really high-brow intellectual conversation from our brothers and sisters on the other side: Stick Nazi things on people’s cars. This is what you’ve come down to? This is what’s going on?”
The congressman reflected that when his wife bought a Tesla a few years back, they were teased by fellow conservatives. Then, he excoriated the leftists resorting to “stick[ing] Nazi signs on people’s cars.”
“The wheels are coming off, and instead, the brain trust of some of these folks… okay, I accept that the tonal quality from some of the folks out of the White House isn’t warm and cuddly, but [is the answer really to] go around neighborhoods and offices and stick Nazi signs on people’s cars?“
The congressman, a well known critic of out-of-control government spending, explained, “Over the next 10 years, we’re going to spend $86 trillion. We’re talking about at best on the house budget resolution cutting $2 trillion over those 10 years. That’s 2.3%. Oh, god, dear heaven, you’re butchering government. 2.3%. You’re telling me if we didn’t grind through government, look at our programs, look at all the reports the GAO gives us of waste and fraud and programs that haven’t been authorized in decades, you couldn’t find 2.3%? But it’s easier to stick this sort of crap on my wife’s windshield than to do the intellectual work of saying, ‘I think we have more elegant ways to spend and make it better, faster, cheaper for the American people.’ No, we’d rather burn things down. Are we all proud of ourselves?”
As reported by the Fountain Hills Times, protesters marched on Schweikert’s Scottsdale District Office as recently as Sunday. Ten days prior, protesters delivered a petition to the Congressman’s office demanding he conduct a townhall meeting with 30 protesters holding signs outside of the building at Northsight Boulevard and Raintree Drive.
This week, Governor Katie Hobbs issued a directive to all of her agency directors not to appear or testify at the inaugural hearing of the Arizona House Ad Hoc Committee on Executive Budget Mismanagement. Hobbs issued the directive 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting. Democrats on the committee also refused to attend.
According to Committee Chairman Matt Gress (R-LD4), agency leaders from AHCCCS and the Department of Economic Security (DES), who share responsibility for the $122 million shortfall in Arizona’s Developmental Disabilities (DD) program, were scheduled to appear before the committee and answer for the program’s massive cost overruns that have threatened to disrupt critical services for Arizona families.
Gress said in a statement, “The Governor pulled her directors because she can’t defend the damage she’s done. If she had a plan, she would have sent her team to explain it. Instead, she’s hiding behind a press release while Arizona families face the consequences of her financial mismanagement. This Legislature asked for answers. The Governor responded with a tantrum. What she calls a ‘political stunt’ is actually legislative oversight—a constitutional duty that we will carry out whether she likes it or not.”
In the press release referred to by Gress, Hobbs and Democratic House Assistant Leader Nancy Gutierrez claimed the “Ad Hoc committee is a waste of time and a shameless political stunt,” and derided it as a “sham,” demanding instead that the legislature issue a supplemental budget bill to cover the shortfall.
Despite the conspicuous absence of Democrat members of the committee, the hearing went forward with the Republican members reviewing budgetary data, testimony from the Joint Legislative Budget committee, and expert testimony from former Idaho House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, whose state suffered what Gress’ office called “a near-identical funding crisis.”
The committee issued its formally adopted findings, naming the Hobbs administration accountable for:
“Without approval from the Legislature or specific appropriation authority, dramatically expanded its Developmental Disability program by making permanent a temporary, COVID-era program to pay parents to provide attendant and habilitative care to their minor children.”
“The programmatic and scope changes of the DD program adopted by AHCCCS and implemented by DES led to dramatic unfunded liabilities, threatening the entire DD program and leaving the state with at least a $122 million budget deficit in FY2025.”
“Through its Medicaid agency at AHCCCS, put the Department of Economic Security under legal threat with a November 2023 Corrective Action Plan, which aimed to grant parents 2 additional hours for care under the PPCG program, which was at odds with the ’extraordinary care’ standards and dramatically expanded costs to the state.”
“AHCCCS delayed implementation of guardrails on the PPCG program by over 18 months, despite its original plan submitted to the Federal CMS in August 2023, causing considerable cost overruns and unrealistic expectations for families.”
The committee further found that “The critical nature of the Developmental Disabilities program and its pending exhaustion of funds requires that the Executive identify available federal funds, and the Legislature will work to identify transfers of other available funds, in the month of April, to continue the program.”
It also added that “the State Legislature must receive annual reports from the executive administration identifying all federal funds received and an exit plan should those federal funds be eliminated.”
In a statement following the hearing, Gress addressed the Democrats’ absence and Hobbs’ order for her agency directors not to attend.
“Fifteen minutes before the committee hearing began, I received a letter from Governor Hobbs criticizing legislative intent on providing oversight and learning exactly what happened. Now this is a pattern and a practice of Governor Hobbs. She fails to even acknowledge who’s responsible for this problem. Instead, it’s deflection and trying to scare families who rely on the DD services for their loved ones.
“We will not be deterred. Her unhinged, chaotic letter falls far below the standard that Arizonans expect of their leaders. We will continue to find the facts. We will be the adults in the room to provide a supplemental appropriation, and we will ensure that there are guardrails put in place so that this never happens again.
“Let me be very clear, we will not pass a financially irresponsible supplemental. It will include the reforms necessary to protect families who rely on DD for their loved ones. We demand accountability and transparency, and it’s going to happen soon.”
