AZGOP Legislators Simply Aren’t Conservatives Any More

The Arizona Legislature continues its recent career of trying to pass ruinously ignorant, reckless, and facially unconstitutional legislation. The AZGOP majority are now doing their level best to try to limit or usurp federal powers and duties over our national security. They are trying to pass legislation that would result in defunding 96% of the budget of the Arizona National Guard, and trying to undermine and usurp our national immigration policies despite their own party opposing fully funding border enforcement in Congress at Trump’s behest.

The AZ legislature continues to recklessly attempt to pass facially unconstitutional (and/or incredibly inept) bills such as SB1231, which seeks to allow state and local law enforcement to arrest foreign nationals for trespass for their mere presence in the state, and SB1121, which seeks to condition how the President may deploy members of the Arizona National Guard.

Let’s talk briefly about how ignorant and short-sighted are such slow motion attempts to secede from the United States and conduct Arizona’s own foreign policy. Please take note that EVERY Republican member of the Arizona Senate has co-sponsored SB1121, and NEARLY every member has co-sponsored SB1231. The entire AZGOP caucus has taken ownership of these utterly irresponsible and facially unconstitutional bills.

In the case of SB1231 – passed, no doubt, in emulation of Texas’ notorious SB4 passed in 2023 – there is direct US Supreme Court precedent in 2012, regarding Arizona’s own failed SB1070, in fact, that a law seeking to criminalize mere presence under a trespass theory is unconstitutional under our federal constitution.

When asked about this slight legal flaw, some GOP AZ Senators are quoted thus:

“We don’t legislate based on what may or may not happen in a court,” Shamp said.

Kavanagh added that the high court’s firmly established conservative bench might even prove an ally of the legislation. 

“If we have to go back to the Supreme Court we will, because, frankly, I think this Supreme Court will back the protection of the borders of the United States,” he said. 

AZMirror

Senator Shamp is the primary sponsor of SB1231. She is outright saying that she doesn’t care whether the laws she proposes are constitutional: that should have her tossed from the legislature for a violation of her oath right there by Arizona’s voters. But she is also immediately revealed as a liar by Kavanagh, who makes it clear that they are hoping that a more conservative Court will overturn itself based on political ideology and a change in membership, not law and precedent.

Now we at BlogForArizona know Kavanagh is a notorious ignoramus and unwarrantedly confident fool, yet his constituents continue to return him to office despite – or perhaps because? – of his overt bigotry and xenophobic rhetoric. Even this conservative Supreme Court, knowing what chaos they would unleash upon any future President trying to conduct U.S. foreign policy, would not dare vitiate the Constitution’s exclusive grant of authority on immigration policy to the federal government. Imagine any future President, even a Republican one, trying to conduct foreign policy if California – or any other Democratic state – were allowed its own immigration policy? Nope. Not going to happen. These AZGOP bozos are merely throwing red meat to their base to keep them stirred up and to reassure them that they are tough on immigration – and utterly careless of their oaths and honor.

But they do not stop at trying to break free of our Union on immigration. In SB1121 they seek to make the National Guard subject solely to their will, as well. The bill purports to allow deployment of the Arizona National Guard to active duty only if there is a war declared by Congress. That has not happened since 1942, and will probably never happen again now that Congress manages our conflicts with authorizations of use of force and budgetary and policy oversight. The utter volume of national security law and precedent that this silly law violates could fill the empty space between Arizona GOP legislators’ ears, but suffice it to say that one result would be the loss of 96% of the budget of the Arizona National Guard, and loss of almost all its current equipment. I guess the state of Arizona could make up the more than $600 million in funding the Arizona National Guard receives from the federal government every year while facing a $1.7 billion deficit? And buy them all new high tech weapons interoperable with our federal armed services and other state national guards to boot?

The absurdity of this bill would almost be funny if it weren’t so deeply stupid and obviously performative. The AZGOP Caucus seems not to even recognize that SB1121 would also prevent a future Donald Trump from including Arizona in implementing his evil plan to use national guard troops to round up and deport all undocumented people now present in the United States – unless the Congress declared war on… Arizona? I’m sure they are actually trying to tell their virulent voters that they oppose Donald Trump’s 2025 plans, right? Whatever. You don’t need foresight or wisdom to be a MAGA Republican these days, just a thirst to obey and a taste for kicking down at those different than you.

The AZGOP has become utterly arrogant in their power. They are utterly blasé about voting for clearly and facially unconstitutional and entirely nonsensical bills. They are so contemptuous of public opinion that they will openly send signals of bigotry and hate to their base with no regard to the sensibility of the rest of Arizona’s or America’s citizens, blackening our national reputation as a state with no regard to consequences. They are so disconnected from any accountability to Arizonans outside their very narrow minority of a minority of voters who vote in their gerrymandered district primaries that they are willing to utterly abuse the power vested in them if that suits their fevered dreams of fascist dystopia and keeps their base immersed in fear and anger.

We can and will show them they are wrong about all of that this November. We strip them of their majority and return Arizona to regular legislative order.

But they will not be silenced. No. Not for a minute.

They will learn what it means to live in a democracy again. We will not muzzle and wholly disempower them as they have us Democrats. They will be able to speak openly in session. They will be allowed to freely offer amendments to bills. They will not be kicked out of hearings for voicing viewpoints we disagree with. We will no longer negotiate public budgets in secret with no meaningful opportunity for public input or understanding.

They will be allowed the continued opportunity to beclown themselves in public, and thereby will continue to provide us every tool we need to ensure we continue to pound them in every election and ensure that they never return to the majority – at least until they return to civil and democratic behavior.

When the voters of Arizona see that their fascistic MAGA fever and sycophantic attachment to the traitor insurrectionist Trump has passed, perhaps they will allow REAL conservative Republicans back into positions of public authority and respect, as they may deserve. The MAGA Trumpanzees who smear shit on our laws and traditions and sacred values do not deserve to EVER return to positions of public authority. Mark well who these clowns are and keep that knowledge alive, and we can trust the majority of Arizona’s voters to make it so.

I believe in democracy, unlike these faux-conservative MAGA fascists and Christian Nationalists (whom we used to rightly call Clansmen and Neo-Nazis), all of whom are dictator fellating beta cucks.