Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) was cleared of campaign finance and sexual misconduct accusations by one entity, but now faces a probe into his campaign finances by another.
The Senate Ethics Committee issued a letter to Gallego on Friday notifying him that he was cleared of accusations made by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13) concerning sexual and financial misconduct.
The committee advised it had reviewed statements from individuals identified in the complaint, Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports, the 2025 Senate secretary’s expenditure report, the House of Representatives clerk’s expenditure reports, the House of Representatives reports of privately sponsored travel, and information provided by Gallego to the committee.
Committee members include Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), chairman; Christopher Coons (D-DE), vice chair; James Risch (R-ID); Brian Schatz (D-HI); Deb Fischer (R-NE); and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
In response to the committee letter, Gallego accused Paulina Luna on Monday of being one of many “far-right activists” spreading “right-wing conspiracies.”
The dismissal by the Ethics Committee reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies.
I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna…
— Senator Ruben Gallego (@SenRubenGallego) June 29, 2026
Relief for the potential 2028 presidential candidate was short-lived. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also had an announcement on Monday wherein it revealed Gallego was under investigation for those alleged campaign finance violations the ethics committee had cleared.
According to federal campaign finance records, Gallego allegedly spent campaign funds on amenities and extravagances for himself and his family. An anonymous source first reported on by Politico accused the senator of treating his campaign cash like a “personal slush fund” for “a luxury lifestyle.”
One widely scrutinized expenditure concerned Gallego’s attendance at the 2023 Super Bowl with his former best friend: ex-California congressman and gubernatorial candidate, Eric Swalwell. Gallego and Swalwell hosted a joint fundraising committee event in which they dropped tens of thousands of dollars on brunch, tickets, and other watch party arrangements for themselves and select special guests.
Gallego has reportedly spent around $20,000 in campaign funds on childcare over the past seven years (nearly half came from this past year alone), and tens of thousands more on trips to vacation destinations including Miami for his wife’s birthday, the Caribbean for the birthday of his wife’s boss, and Nantucket and Puerto Rico as well.
Twice in 2025, Gallego used campaign funds to fly his family and an au pair to Disney properties.
Another anonymous source — either the same source quoted by Politico or another source — toldThe Daily Beast that Gallego arranged at least the Miami trip under the guise of fundraising but truly intended as a celebration for his wife’s birthday.
The New York Times recently reported that, while running for Senate back in 2024, Gallego allowed his wife to drive an SUV leased for campaign purposes.
Gallego and his spokespeople have defended the au pair as allowable childcare reimbursements under FEC rules, and some of the events criticized as luxury outings like the jet-setting trips and 2023 Super Bowl watch party as valid fundraising endeavors.
“Trump is targeting Senator Gallego while the most weaponized Department of Justice in history is turning a blind eye to Trump’s unprecedented corruption that’s raising costs for families, and instead targeting anyone who gets in their way — like the Federal Reserve, members of Congress doing their oversight duty, and now Senator Gallego,” read a recent statement from a Gallego spokesperson.
“Because I’m not a millionaire (I’m one of the least wealthy members of Congress), every month is a game of childcare, travel, and scheduling balancing,” said Gallego in a post to X earlier this month. “And because of my schedule and the laws passed that allow for it, I will at times bring my wife and children with me to these retreats and fundraisers. Are these at nice venues? Yes, it’s where the donors are, and it’s part of campaigning. I know people have opinions on that, but that’s the nature of the campaign system we have in our country.”
Let me clear the air on some of these stories swirling around. The FEC has stated that childcare may be reimbursed. There is a simple reason: we want Congress to look like America. Not just people without children, those with grown children, or those from wealthy backgrounds.
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) voted June 1st to direct the Arizona Auditor General to conduct two targeted special audits examining student safety in schools and the administration of federal childcare assistance funds.
One audit will focus on school safety practices statewide, marking the fourth special review of the issue. It will specifically include the Phoenix Union High School District following recent serious incidents of campus violence, including the August 2025 stabbing of a student at Maryvale High School.
The Auditor General will assess whether Arizona schools have properly adopted and implemented emergency response policies, thoroughly investigated student safety allegations, and complied with the state’s mandatory reporting laws.
In a separate action, the JLAC approved a special audit of Arizona’s administration and oversight of the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). The program, primarily administered by the Arizona Department of Economic Security, provides childcare assistance to qualifying families.
“JLAC took bipartisan action to get answers on two issues that matter to Arizona families,” said Chairman Matt Gress (R-LD4). “Parents deserve to know whether schools are prepared to respond to credible threats and whether serious safety concerns are being handled properly. Taxpayers deserve to know whether hundreds of millions of federal childcare dollars are being managed responsibly. These important audits will establish the facts, identify gaps, and help us determine what needs to change.”
Arizona spent around $573 million in federal CCDF funding during fiscal year 2024. The audit follows previous State Single Audit findings that identified deficiencies in provider oversight, questioned costs, and reporting.
The review arrives amid growing national concerns about fraud and abuse in publicly funded assistance programs. Federal officials have highlighted risks across the country, including recent charges announced by the U.S. Department of Justice in Minnesota against 15 defendants in alleged fraud schemes involving more than $90 million, some tied to childcare assistance programs.
The Auditor General’s examination of the CCDF will cover the approval and monitoring of childcare providers, inter-agency oversight responsibilities, and the accuracy and propriety of program expenditures from fiscal years 2021-25. The review may also extend to participation providers and other areas deemed necessary by the Auditor General, with particular attention to higher-risk periods during and after COVID.
“The fraud scandals unfolding in other states are a warning sign,” added Gress. “Arizona should not wait for a crisis before asking hard questions. When hundreds of millions of dollars flow through a program, strong oversight is not optional. This audit will help determine whether taxpayer dollars are protected, safeguards are working, and childcare assistance is reaching the families it is meant to serve.”
The school safety audit, which received unanimous approval, will begin following completion of the third school safety special audit now underway. It is scheduled to be completed on or before December 31, 2027. The Child Care and Development Fund audit will require cooperation from relevant state agencies and entities involved in federal childcare funding.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Last week, the Arizona House of Representatives passed an Arizona First budget focused on increasing take-home pay, lowering costs, and protecting core services. The Arizona Senate is on track to approve it today. Governor Hobbs should sign it.
The fastest way to address an affordability crisis is simple: let people keep more of what they earn.
This budget returns $1.45 billion to taxpayers over the next three years. When government takes less, families keep more through bigger paychecks, larger refunds, and lower overall tax burdens.
Our plan raises the standard deduction so workers can keep more from each paycheck. It exempts tips and overtime pay so frontline workers see meaningful relief at tax time. It reduces the cost of raising a family by exempting childcare expenses from state taxes and increasing the per-child tax refund by 25%. And it supports seniors on fixed incomes by exempting retirement income for Arizonans age 60 and older.
The goal is straightforward: you keep more, and government takes less.
At a time when families are tightening their belts, government should do the same. Yet the governor’s proposal increased spending to $18.7 billion. The House budget spends $800 million less without compromising the core services Arizonans rely on. It reflects the same discipline families practice every day.
This plan shows that responsible leadership is still possible in divided government. It prioritizes stability, protects taxpayers, and delivers a balanced approach ahead of the new fiscal year.
It fully funds K-12 education with an inflation increase, provides $200 million for public school facility repairs, gives additional support to low-income students, and eliminates co-pays for reduced-price school meals. It protects the most vulnerable by funding congregate care within the Department of Child Safety, addressing rising costs for high-need individuals with developmental disabilities, and strengthening foster care support through community providers.
This is what responsible governing looks like: targeted tax relief, controlled spending, and a commitment to core priorities. It recognizes that affordability is not just a talking point. It is the defining issue for Arizona families.
Governor Hobbs now has a clear choice. She can embrace a balanced, responsible budget that lowers costs and delivers real relief. Or she can reject a plan that reflects the will of a divided government working in good faith.
The House has done its job. We cut taxes. We protected essential services. We kept spending in check.
For Arizona families feeling the strain of rising costs, this budget deserves the governor’s signature.
Steve Montenegro is the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives and serves Legislative District 29 in the West Valley, Goodyear, and Surprise. Follow him on X at @SteveMontenegro.
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is proposing to put a strict limit on childcare enrollment, but a policy group says that’s illegal.
The Goldwater Institute advised ADHS in a letter that such a cap on childcare facilities (preschools, daycares, and day camps, for example) would violate statutory requirements on agency rulemaking.
Arizona law restricts agencies from making any rules that exceed authorized subject matter areas, that supplement a more specific grant of rulemaking authority, and that aren’t specifically authorized by statute.
The Goldwater Institute argued that the proposal to impose a maximum group size on childcare facilities constitutes an authority that ADHS doesn’t possess within their regulatory powers.
“[A]n across-the-board cap on ‘group size,’ independent of any relevant considerations such as child-adult ratio, is not a regulation of ‘staffing per number and age groups of children’ [per their regulatory authority] and it is not justified by any other provision in the statute,” said the Goldwater Institute.
The organization also predicted in its letter that such a proposal would result in a greater burden on childcare facilities and a greater cost for families, in addition to reducing overall childcare availability.
The proposal concerns amendments to two rules pertaining to staff-to-children ratios: 9-5-404 and 9-5-726. The amendment adds on limitations of group size per age group.
Group size limitations begin small with younger children and expand as the ages rise: infants are limited to 10 in a group; one-year-old children are limited to 12 in a group; two-year-old children are limited to 16 in a group; three-year-old children are limited to 26 in a group; four-year-old children are limited to 30 in a group; and both five-year-old children and school-age children are limited to 40 in a group.
The amendments also struck provisions allowing volunteers to be counted as staff in staff-to-children ratios and restricting student aides or qualified teacher caregiver aides from being counted as staff. Also replaced were any instances of staff as “caregivers,” instead renaming them as “child educators.”
In a press release, Goldwater Institute staff attorney John Thorpe said the group size restrictions would not only be an exercise of authority beyond ADHS’ scope, it would serve to restrict families’ critical access to childcare facilities. Thorpe marked the proposal as another example of “ill-informed, heavy-handed bureaucratic regulation” within the state and nationwide.
“Imposing an arbitrary cap on the number of children allowed in a space — regardless of the size of the space, nature of the activity, or number of adults supervising — makes no sense,” stated Thorpe. “It’s especially pernicious during a childcare shortage, as it will force good preschools and childcare facilities to turn away families they’re perfectly equipped to serve for no other reason than an irrational bureaucratic requirement.”
Last December, a report by the Council for Strong America estimated that Arizona lost close to $5 billion annually in earnings, productivity, and revenue due to lack of adequate childcare. Over half of responding parents said they were late for work, leaving work early, missing days of work, or low in their productivity at work due to their childcare struggles.
Nearly 20 percent reported having been let go or fired from their work related to those struggles.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
