Katie Hobbs took a day trip to DC, she didn't resign as Arizona governor | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs resigned

A Sept. 28 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims a top Arizona official has stepped down.

"BREAKING: Katie Hobbs RESIGNS as Governor of Arizona," reads the post.

Other versions of the claim were shared on Instagram and YouTube.

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Our rating: False

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs didn't resign. She temporarily gave up her powers as governor while she visited Washington, D.C., granting the power of acting governor to the state treasurer until Hobbs returned to Arizona the next day.

Hobbs temporarily left Arizona, did not resign

Hobbs didn't resign as governor, but she temporarily ceded her power when she left Arizona on Sept. 27 to visit Washington, D.C., to speak with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about border issues, according to the Arizona Republic.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and State Attorney General Kris Mayes were also in D.C. at the time, so Kimberly Yee, the state's treasurer, became the acting governor for less than 24 hours, The Arizona Republic reported. This transfer of power follows a standard, established protocol and is only in place until the governor returns to the state.

Following this brief transition, Fox News published an article on Sept. 28 with a headline claiming Hobbs had "mysteriously stepped down," but the outlet quickly updated the headline to clarify she had stepped down in a "short absence."

Nonetheless, the erroneous claim that Hobbs had inexplicably disappeared spread across social media. Her press secretary, Christian Slater, addressed the claim on X, writing, "Hobbs didn’t disappear. She was in Washington, D.C."

Fact check: Social media users share false claim that Arizona governor was indicted

Hobbs, who returned to Arizona on Sept. 28, is still referred to as governor in the press releases published by her office, and her office continues to post about her actions as governor on social media.

As recently as Oct. 2, her office announced steps to stop a Saudi Arabian company from using groundwater beneath state land in western Arizona to grow and export alfalfa, The Arizona Republic reported.

USA TODAY reached out to Hobbs' office and the Instagram user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The X user couldn't be contacted.

Lead Stories and the Associated Press debunked similar claims.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arizona's Katie Hobbs took one-day leave, didn't resign | Fact check