Governors in Michigan and Arizona Veto Batches of Legislature-Passed Bills

In early July 2026, two U.S. governors vetoed batches of bills passed by legislatures controlled by the opposing political party. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed nine bills that had originally been passed during the 2023-24 legislative session under a Democratic trifecta but were withheld from her desk by the state House. Separately, in Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed 88 bills passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature, including measures that would have banned Sharia Law and restricted gender-transition hormone therapy for minors. In the Michigan case, the state Senate had filed a lawsuit challenging the House's delay in transmitting the nine bills to the governor. The Michigan Supreme Court, which has a majority of Democratic-nominated justices, declined to take up the case, leaving in place a lower court ruling that required the House to send the bills to Whitmer. The court's lone Republican justice dissented, warning the decision could damage the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches. Whitmer then vetoed all nine bills once they reached her desk. In Arizona, Hobbs's veto of 88 bills came during her ongoing tenure working with a GOP-controlled Legislature, marking her fourth legislative session facing this dynamic. The Michigan veto follows resolution of the transmission dispute, though it is not specified in available reporting what the nine bills addressed or whether further legal action is anticipated. In Arizona, the specific policy areas beyond the two named measures—Sharia Law and gender-transition hormone therapy for minors—were not detailed in the available reporting, leaving the content of the remaining 86 bills unresolved. No information is available on whether either legislature intends to attempt overrides of these vetoes.