Congressman Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06) applauded two major announcements he said further solidify Arizona’s position as a national leader in copper production and critical minerals. The announcements include a $1 billion investment in the Ivanhoe Santa Cruz Copper Project near Casa Grande and $180 million in grants to strengthen mining education programs, including at the University of Arizona.
✅$180 MILLION to strengthen mining education, including at @uarizona.
Arizona has the resources, workforce, and expertise to lead America’s mining future 🇺🇸 ⛏️ pic.twitter.com/lDPDKuWmtv
— Congressman Juan Ciscomani (@RepCiscomani) August 7, 2026
Arizona is home to some of the world’s largest copper deposits, as well as an abundance of other critical minerals essential to the nation’s energy, manufacturing, defense, and technology sectors.
The University of Arizona is consistently ranked among the nation’s top mining engineering programs and reports a 100% job placement rate for its graduates, helping prepare the workforce needed to meet growing demand for domestic mining and mineral production.
Two Arizona mining and eduction leaders attended the announcements at the White House and praised the investments.
Kray Luxbacher, Executive Director and Head of the School of Mining Engineering & Mineral Resources at the University of Arizona, highlighted the significance of the investment in mining eduction.
“This was a historic investment in American mining engineering schools, and we’re really grateful, said Luxbacher. “I also want to say thank you for what you’ve already done toward accelerating permitting for mining in the United States. It’s really been unbelievable.”
Proud to see Kray Luxbacher representing the University of Arizona's world-class mining program at the White House today!
UofA's leadership in mining education is second to none and today's federal investment in developing the workforce will power America's future. Thank you,… https://t.co/qvLJt1BQar
— Congressman Juan Ciscomani (@RepCiscomani) August 7, 2026
Vicky Peacey, President and General Manager of Resolution Copper, also praised the administration’s efforts to revitalize the domestic mining industry.
“Mr. President, you have brought mining back to America, single-handedly,” said Peacey.
Ciscomani called the announcements a landmark investment in Arizona’s mining industry and workforce.
“From a $1 billion investment in the Santa Cruz Copper Project to $180 million to strengthen mining education, including at the University of Arizona, these are major wins for Arizona,” said Congressman Ciscomani. “Arizona is leading America’s effort to produce the critical minerals our economy and national security depend on.”
“These once-in-a-generation investments by President Trump and the administration will create good-paying mining jobs, strengthen our workforce, and train the next generation of miners and engineers right here in Arizona,” added Ciscomani. “I am proud to see Arizona’s local leaders Vicky and Kray at the table. They are leaders in this industry and this is a transformational moment for Arizona and America’s mining future.”
Ciscomani has made strengthening America’s domestic critical materials supply chain a legislative priority.
He championed the Critical Mineral Consistency Act (H.R. 755), legislation designed to align the Department of Energy’s and U.S. Geological Survey’s separate lists of critical minerals and materials, making copper a critical mineral.
The legislation would establish a more consistent federal framework for identifying critical minerals, with the goal of reducing regulatory uncertainty, streamlining permitting, attracting investments, and accelerating domestic mining and processing projects.
For Arizona, the legislation could help facilitate the development of copper projects by ensuring federal agencies use consistent standards when determining which minerals qualify as critical.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Scottsdale City Council candidate Bob Littlefield withdrew from the race this week to avoid splitting votes among candidates seeking to stop the Axon development.
Littlefield, a three-term councilman from 2002 to 2014, dropped out of the race just days after expressing gratitude for winning in the primary. Littlefield expressed a desire to have more votes in the general election go to fellow, likeminded candidates Barry Graham and Michelle Ugenti-Rita — all three have been vocal in their desire to prevent a development effort by Axon Enterprises.
Dear Friends,
Today I made the difficult and personally painful decision to withdraw from the City Council race and return to my position as the Chairman of TAAAZE (Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions). I made this decision based on the results of the recent…
Raoul Zubia, the fourth primary victor, and incumbent Councilwoman Solange Whitehead, have expressed support for the Axon apartment development, though they have lamented the legislative intervention that thwarted a ballot referendum.
Littlefield, Graham, and Ugenti-Rita have opposed Axon, citing concerns with overdevelopment. The trio recently accused the company of engaging in a pay-to-play scheme to sway the council election. They claimed certain Axon executives funneled more than $1 million into cohort-run political action committees (PAC) dedicated to ensuring only development-friendly candidates were elected: Arizonans for a Better Future, and Better Together.
Arizonans for a Better Future has collected more than $1.1 million, which included $500,000 from Axon, $500,000 from Axon CEO Rick Smith, $100,000 from Axon President Josh Isner, and $20,000 from Axon Chief Legal Officer Isaiah Fields.
In June, the PAC gave $225,000 to American Perspective, a Virginia-based PAC, and spent around $30,000 for communications, more than $16,700 for polling and research, and $1,500 for legal services.
Better Together has raised more than $335,000 from National Horizon, a Virginia-based conservative super PAC. Better Together has spent approximately $200,000 to oppose Littlefield, Graham, and Ugenti-Rita, and $62,000 to support Whitehead.
“Bottom line, if Axon defeats the candidates who told them ‘no,’ Axon will never hear ‘no’ from the Scottsdale City Council again,” said Littlefield in June.
Dear Friends,
For 25 years, overdevelopment has been the dominant issue in Scottsdale elections — and the biggest threat to our city’s character and quality of life. Clogged roads, blocked views, higher taxes, and strained infrastructure are its lasting legacy.…
The city council approved a deal with Axon to fast-track its headquarters expansion last November following the company’s legislative intervention against grassroots opposition. Axon executives had initially called it quits on the city last summer after declining to break ground on its new headquarters early last year.
A ballot referendum led by Littlefield, Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAZE), had gained enough signatures to appear on the ballot and allow voters to decide on the rezoning.
TAAZE emerged following a lame-duck city council agreement in 2024. The group had accused Axon of paying petition blockers to prevent Scottsdale residents from signing petitions to put Axon’s apartment development to a vote on the November 2026 ballot.
TAAZE raised 26,000 signatures and was poised to put the fate of the development to a vote.
Axon Referendum Update: I am happy to report our effort to collect the necessary signatures to refer the massive Axon apartment complex to the ballot is ahead of schedule. This in spite Axon's efforts to undermine our petition drive by deploying blockers to harass our petition… pic.twitter.com/opxb1Qaec6
However, in the months following the petition signature dropoff, Axon successfully lobbied the legislature to pass a bill preventing certain municipalities from allowing residents to decide land zoning measures pertaining to hoteling and housing. Gov. Katie Hobbs signed that bill into law in April 2025.
In May, the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled the law to be constitutional.
Littlefield promised to continue to fight the Axon apartment development from outside the council.
Turning Point COO Tyler Bowyer commended Littlefield for withdrawing.
“Huge props to Bob Littlefield for putting Scottsdale ahead of himself, which he has always done,” said Bowyer.
True! 🇺🇸
Huge props to Bob Littlefield for putting Scottsdale ahead of himself, which he has always done
Ugenti-Rita commended Littlefield’s decision as “sacrifice” and an exemplar of leadership.
“For decades, Bob has been one of this city’s fiercest and most principled advocates, always willing to stand up to special interests and fight for the residents of Scottsdale, no matter the personal or political cost,” said Ugenti-Rita
I want to honor Bob Littlefield for his extraordinary service to #Scottsdale. For decades, Bob has been one of this city’s fiercest and most principled advocates, always willing to stand up to special interests and fight for the residents of Scottsdale, no matter the personal or… https://t.co/jpvAHbL8eE
— Michelle Ugenti-Rita (MUR) (@MichelleUgenti) August 5, 2026
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
The city of Surprise now has a webpage to monitor the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility planned for their area.
The page offers a chronicled outline of the actions undertaken by the city and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as the current knowns, unknowns, and courses of action the city may take.
Last month, DHS and ICE entered into an agreement with Attorney General Kris Mayes to pause the conversion of a purchased West Sweetwater Avenue warehouse into a detention facility pending an environmental review in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Mayes sued to halt the property conversion in April.
ICE had originally estimated its initial intakes to occur around the end of May.
According to the DHS-Mayes agreement, DHS failed to engage in a proper environmental review. That concession by the federal government appears to conflict with earlier communications DHS had provided to city officials following a March meeting in Washington, D.C.
In those communications, DHS reported that ICE had completed a NEPA analysis in addition to a site history assessment, existing facility condition report, environmental due diligence audit, engineering assessments, and site feasibility assessments.
DHS had initially told Surprise that its warehouse conversion would have a negligible environmental impact and was therefore in compliance with NEPA.
“ICE processing centers share key operational and physical characteristics with industrial facilities, including a similar footprint and traffic patterns. Zoning conformity reports were conducted for all sites,” stated the DHS response. “Based on this analysis, DHS determined that the facility’s functional use remains consistent with the industrial use category and that the acquisition and modification do not introduce significant new environmental impact.”
City of Surprise officials stated that they weren’t made aware of the detention facility prior to the purchase of the warehouse for about $70 million in late January. The Surprise warehouse was one of multiple warehouse purchases across several states for similar conversion plans totaling more than $1 billion.
Mayor Kevin Sartor asked then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in a February letter for more information about the planned detention facility and its potential impacts on the community. DHS staff met with Sartor and other Surprise officials the following month, and provided a four-page response with information on the planned facility.
According to those communications, the facility would contain 500 to 1,500 beds for the temporary intake and transfer of illegal aliens undergoing removal proceedings. DHS estimated that those aliens would remain in the facility for a week or less, and then they would be removed to a larger detention center.
It is unclear when, if ever, the Surprise detention facility will become operational.
After Markwayne Mullin succeeded Noem as secretary of DHS in March, the fate of the Surprise facility and others grew murky. Mullin expressed skepticism of Noem’s approach to immigration enforcement proceedings. The new secretary told The New York Times that he would like “lightning speed” deportations using existing detention space, not additional processing pathways at the expense of taxpayers.
DHS advised in court proceedings earlier this summer that it would offload or sell off seven of the warehouses purchased for more than $700 million collectively, though the Surprise warehouse wasn’t named among them.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
U.S. Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) spent the last week of July traveling across Arizona’s Second Congressional District, meeting with constituents, educators, ranchers, business leaders, and local officials while highlighting legislative priorities ranging from agriculture and energy to education and public lands.
The weeklong tour included stops in Douglas, Show Low, Holbrook, Williams, Camp Verde, and other communities where Crane promoted recent federal investments, discussed ongoing policy initiatives, and gathered feedback from residents on issues affecting rural Arizona.
One of the week’s most significant announcements came Wednesday, July 29 in Douglas, where Crane joined fellow Republican Representatives Andy Biggs (AZ-05) and Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06) alongside Secretary Brooke Rollins as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled a $25 million investment to construct a new sterile fly production facility in Douglas.
The project is intended to strengthen the nation’s defenses against the New World screwworm, a destructive livestock pest that has prompted growing concern among ranchers across the Southwest.
The announcement followed a letter signed by Crane, Biggs, and Ciscomani along with Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ01) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ09), urging the USDA to modernize the Douglas facility to improve the nation’s long-term response capabilities.
Following the announcement, the congressmen toured livestock inspection facilities at the Douglas Port of Entry, which is scheduled to re-open to livestock trade on August 24th after preparations aimed at safeguarding American agriculture.
Crane later traveled to Show Low, where he visited Linden Valley Arena, a well known destination within Arizona’s roping community that has been owned and operated by the Perkins family since 2010.
The following morning, Crane addressed teachers and staff with the Show Low Unified School District ahead of the upcoming school year, sharing lessons on leadership and teamwork drawn from his experience as a Navy SEAL and small business owners.
He also thanked educators for their commitment to students while highlighting what he described as a recent legislative victory for rural schools.
Last year, Crane helped build congressional support for a three-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools program, legislation that was ultimately signed into law and continues funding for education and essential county services in communities located near national forests throughout Arizona’s Second Congressional District.
After leaving Show Low, Crane visited Northland Pioneer College in Holbrook, where he met with administrators to discuss the college’s Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) program.
The visit coincided with the Trump administration’s recently announced Freedom Haulers Initiative, a federal effort designed to expand career opportunities for veterans entering the trucking industry.
Crane praised the initiative while recognizing the college’s work to strengthen workforce development through its CDL program.
Later that day, Crane met with the Murph family at H Bar and Y Ranch in Holbrook. The Murph family, whose cattle operation pre-dates Arizona statehood, faces uncertainty over long-held Arizona State Land Department grazing leases because of a proposed solar development by a foreign company.
Crane said he has been working behind the scenes to help resolve the dispute. The meeting also followed last month’s signing of a memorandum of understanding between the USDA and the Small Business Administration (SBA) establishing cooperation between the USDA Lawfare Portal and the SBA’s Office of National Ombudsman.
The agreement is intended to ensure complaints from farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers alleging legal harassment are investigated and resolved.
According to the USDA, the Lawfare Portal has received more than 400 complaints from 47 states over the past two years.
Crane also toured the Cholla Power Plant, which stopped burning coal in March 2025 after more than six decades of operation. Arizona Public Service is pursuing plans to convert the facility to natural gas, a transition expected to generate approximately 380 megawatts of capacity while preserving jobs and maintaining reliable power generation for the region.
On Saturday, August 1, Crane attended the annual Coconino County Farm Bureau and Cattle Growers Association banquet in Williams, where he updated attendees on several legislative priorities pending before Congress.
Among the measures discussed was the House-passed Farm Bill which includes Buy American requirements for school meal programs, increased reporting requirements for agricultural land purchases by foreign adversaries, and strengthened farm credit and crop insurance programs.
Crane also highlighted his amendment intended to accelerate recovery efforts following the White Sage Fire, while noting his support for proposals removing pesticide liability protections and ensuring compensation for livestock losses caused by Mexican wolves.
The measures seek to improve forest management through expanded technology and reduced litigation while accelerating reconstruction efforts at the Grand Canyon’s North Rim following the Dragon Bravo Fire. Both bills have passed the House but remain pending in the Senate.
The congressman’s final stop took him to Camp Verde, where he met with ranchers to discuss ongoing concerns involving the U.S. Forest Service.
Crane said he is developing legislation aimed at simplifying fence repairs following natural disasters while also addressing what he characterized as abuses of the Equal Access to Justice Act.
The district also received additional federal infrastructure support during the week as the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded more than $5 million in airport improvement grants throughout Arizona’s Second Congressional District.
The funding Includes:
Bagdad: $90,389 for design work to expand terminal parking.
Chinle: $339,000 to reconstruct aircraft apron pavement.
Cottonwood: $536,876 to reconstruct portions of Taxiway A.
Page: $679.031 for design of a new aircraft rescue and firefighting facility.
Springerville: $443,000 to construct a new taxilane serving future hanger development.
Prescott: $2.97 million to construct a new aircraft storage hanger designed to improve airport self-sufficiency.
ICYMI – The @USDOT awarded more than $5 million to improve airport infrastructure in #AZ02.
The latest awards follow additional federal grants announced last month totaling approximately $10 million for improvements at Polacca Airport and Coolidge Municipal Airport.
Reflecting on the week’s events, Crane emphasized the importance of maintaining close ties with constituents while Congress remains out of session.
“Last week, I had the privilege of visiting with constituents, industry leaders, and remarkable institutions within Arizona’s Second Congressional District,” said Rep. Crane. “While there is much work to be done in Washington, D.C., it’s refreshing to get back home and meet face to face with the people I’m honored to represent. I look forward to building on these relationships and delivering principled and effective solutions for all Arizonans.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
America First Legal (AFL) has filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court challenging the official ballot language prepared by Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes for Proposition 144. The lawsuit argues the description violates state law by failing to provide voters with a neutral and accurate summary of the election integrity measure.
The lawsuit asks the court to require the Secretary of State’s Office to revise the ballot language before early voting begins in October.
Proposition 144, referred to the ballot by the Arizona Legislature, would amend the Arizona Constitution to require proof of citizenship to register and vote, require voter identification for all forms of voting, prohibit foreign money from being used to influence Arizona elections, and affirm the authority of the people and the Legislature to enact election laws while clarifying the legal standard for court challenges involving those laws.
According to AFL’s complaint, Arizona law requires the Secretary of State to provide voters with an impartial, objective, and accurate description of ballot measures.
The organization alleges the current description fails to meet those standards by omitting major provisions of the measure, inserting political commentary, and making unsupported claims about its legal effect.
🚨BREAKING — AFL just filed an important election integrity lawsuit in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Adrian Fontes is trying to manipulate and sabotage ballot language to stop election integrity initiatives.
One of the lawsuit’s primary claims is that the official ballot language does not mention Proposition 144’s citizenship requirements, which AFL describes as the measure’s central purpose.
The complaint notes that while Arizona law allows for a 50-word descriptive title, Secretary Fontes allegedly used only about 28 words and did not reference the amendment’s provisions requiring citizenship to register to vote.
“Free and fair elections start with an honest ballot,” stated James Rogers, Senior Counsel at America First Legal. “Secretary Fontes had one job here: tell Arizona voters the truth about what’s on their ballot.”
The lawsuit also challenges language describing the measure’s prohibition on foreign election spending. The official “yes” vote explanation states that the provision is “similar to prohibitions that already exist in federal law.”
AFL argues that statement is misleading because federal law does not prohibit foreign money from being spent to influence ballot measures, and contends Proposition 144 would close that gap.
Additionally, AFL disputes the ballot language stating that the measure would “lower the legal standard for judicial review of election laws, making it harder to challenge election laws in state court.”
The organization argues that Proposition 144 contains no such language and that the statement represents a speculative legal conclusion rather than a neutral explanation of the amendment’s text.
“Arizona law requires official ballot language to be impartial, accurate, and free from advocacy,” added Rogers. “Secretary Fontes’s description of Proposition 144 fails all of these requirements. AFL will fight in court to ensure that every voter in Arizona gets the truth before they cast their ballot. That is what the law demands and what democracy requires.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that congressional Republicans must make temporary federal income-tax deductions for qualified tips and overtime permanent, tying their continuation to the outcome of the November midterm elections.
Johnson made the commitment during a press conference at PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay manufacturing facility in Casa Grande, where he joined Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06) for a factory tour and roundtable discussion with Arizona manufacturers and business leaders.
Responding to a question from AZ Free News about the provisions’ scheduled expiration after 2028, Johnson said Republicans intend to pursue an extension.
“We have to make these tax cuts permanent,” Johnson said during the press conference. “We have to ensure that the great benefit that people are feeling right now continues.”
The Working Families Tax Cuts established deductions for qualified tips and overtime compensation beginning with the 2025 tax year and continuing through 2028. The tips deduction is capped at $25,000 annually, while individuals may deduct up to $12,500 in qualified overtime compensation, or $25,000 for married couples filing jointly. The overtime deduction applies to compensation exceeding a worker’s regular rate of pay, such as the additional half-time portion of time-and-a-half wages, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Johnson argued that continued Republican control of Congress would be necessary to extend the provisions.
“If the Republicans lose control of the Congress in this election cycle in 2026, you can kiss those tax cuts goodbye,” Johnson said.
He also said no Democratic members of the House or Senate supported the tax package and argued that the November election would determine whether Congress extends its temporary provisions.
The law, enacted as Public Law 119-21, permanently extended several provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act while establishing the temporary deductions for tips, overtime, qualifying vehicle-loan interest, and eligible seniors. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the law would increase primary federal deficits by approximately $3.4 trillion between 2025 and 2034 through a $4.5 trillion reduction in revenues, partially offset by $1.1 trillion in lower direct spending. A separate CBO estimate placed the total deficit effect at approximately $4.1 trillion when additional debt-service costs are included.
Arizona adopted corresponding state income-tax deductions for qualified tips and overtime through the budget agreement between Arizona Republicans and Gov. Hobbs in June.
Bessent, Johnson, and Ciscomani toured the Casa Grande facility before meeting with local business owners and managers to discuss manufacturing, taxation, and economic growth. The City of Casa Grande lists more than 300 associates at the Frito-Lay facility, which produces Lay’s, Fritos, Tostitos, Doritos, and Cheetos products.
Bessent said in a post on X that the visit focused on the administration’s “America First pro-growth economic agenda” and the effects of the Working Families Tax Cuts one year after President Donald Trump signed the legislation.
One year after President Trump signed the Working Families Tax Cuts into law, the promise of the American Dream is extending to every factory floor. It was great to join Speaker Johnson and Congressman Ciscomani at the Frito-Lay facility in Casa Grande, Arizona to discuss how the… pic.twitter.com/crTUUOySqx
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 6, 2026
The Treasury Department says 97 percent of filers received a tax cut compared with what they would have owed if the 2017 tax provisions had expired. The Treasury reported $325 billion in total refunds, $82 billion claimed through individual tax-relief provisions, and an average refund of approximately $3,300.
During the press conference, AZ Free News asked Ciscomani what specific economic developments in the Sixth Congressional District could help reverse the continuing financial pressure facing Arizona households and the state’s declining workforce participation.
The question cited a recent Common Sense Institute (CSI) analysis, which found that Phoenix-area prices remained 33.4 percent higher than in June 2019. CSI estimated that the higher price level is costing a typical Arizona household an additional $1,673 per month.
Arizona’s unemployment rate also increased to 4.9 percent in June, its highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, while labor-force participation fell to 60.3 percent. The participation rate was near the state’s 10-year low after declining for five consecutive months.
Ciscomani responded by citing projected increases of between $7,400 and $10,600 in take-home pay for an average Arizona family and approximately $3,500 in lower taxes. He also pointed to accounts from parents on a youth football team he coaches who told him they had received the largest tax refunds of their lives.
“This is real money back in people’s real pockets,” Ciscomani said.
The $7,400-to-$10,600 figure has been promoted by Republican lawmakers as a projected increase in take-home pay. It is separate from the Treasury’s reported national average refund of approximately $3,300. Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ-01) previously described the estimate as including lower taxes and projected wage growth.
“Our opponents on the Democrat side believe that just either freebies or more government programs are the ones that create that. And creating more government jobs is not. Creating jobs is what this company here is doing by expanding and hiring more people, improving the safety of the company, and also attracting more people to work here. That is what’s actually moving forward.”
Ciscomani said allowing families to retain more of their earnings would increase consumer spending and stimulate private-sector job creation. He cited the host facility’s expansion and hiring as an example of private-sector economic activity.
“From the numbers that we know as statistics and also testimonials that I hear about everywhere I go, we know that families are overall doing better,” Ciscomani said.
He acknowledged that Arizona families continue to face financial difficulties and attributed much of the remaining pressure to inflation experienced during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Are there hardships? Are there things that people are struggling with? Absolutely,” Ciscomani said. “And we don’t ignore that.”
Ciscomani said the country was “clawing” its way out of the earlier inflationary period and described the economy as moving in the right direction. “We have more work to do, but we’re definitely on the right track.”
Johnson concluded that maintaining Republican congressional majorities would be central to extending the tips and overtime provisions beyond their current expiration.
“Elections have consequences,” Johnson said. “They really do.”
