New Jersey’s highest-ranking state lawmaker, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, expressed disbelief Monday that an embattled Gov. Phil Murphy administration official accused of running a patronage pit still has a job.

Lizette Delgado-Polanco, the governor’s pick to head the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, crossed the line when she hired people with ties to her to fill high-paying positions, Sweeney said. The agency she heads can expect to see its funding dry up under her leadership.

“I am shocked. I am absolutely shocked. It is so obvious ... what went on there,” Sweeney told reporters minutes after appearing alongside Murphy, a fellow Democrat, at an unrelated public event in his hometown of West Deptford.

“She thinks she going to come to the legislature and we’re going to refinance that program?” Sweeney, D-Gloucester, asked.

Not under his watch.

The authority “needs to go away and a new agency needs to be created” or it has to be folded into an existing state entity, Sweeney said.

The bleak forecast for the SDA’s future comes less than a week after Delgado-Polanco told lawmakers they have all but run out of money.

The authority, which is charged with building and maintaining schools in the Garden State’s poorest areas, only has enough funds left to put toward emergency repairs and pay its staff of about 200 employees, Delgado-Polanco said at a legislative state budget hearing.

The SDA managed about $12 billion at one point. Currently, it has only $60 million.

Delgado-Polanco has been accused of unceremoniously firing state workers when she took control of the agency to help make room for family and friends. She has denied the claims and referred to them as “distractions.”

Murphy, who has ordered a review of all state authorities’ hiring practices in response to the SDA controversy, has so far stuck by his political ally, who supported him during his gubernatorial run and is the current vice chairperson of the state Democratic Committee.

Asked Monday about how he could still have confidence in her, Murphy deflected the question and instead pointed to his ongoing investigation into the matter.

“Even before this hit the press this is something that we were investigating and we are continuing to do that,” the governor said.

But Sweeney — who often clashes with Murphy and waited until the governor left the public event to speak more forcefully — said an “investigation shouldn’t take that long.”

The Senate president also said Delgado-Polanco can expect tougher questions from lawmakers when she returns to the Statehouse in Trenton for another budget hearing on April 30.

Last week, Delgado-Polanco refused to discuss any of the accusations by former employees, citing an internal “review by counsel" on the matters.

Sweeney said that won’t be a satisfactory response to questions next time.

“Don’t count on that,” he said about letting Delgado-Polanco decline questions. Sweeney added if “she can’t answer the questions” then she’ll be told to “come back when (she) can.”

About a month after Delgado-Polanco was tapped to run the agency in August, 26 staffers, many of whom had worked at the SDA under Democratic and Republican governors, were fired or retired.

By October, 33 new hires, including many people with ties to Delgado-Polanco, were brought on to fill some of the positions opened by the firings and a host of new jobs titles that were created under the new CEO.

Fourteen of the new hires were brought on at salaries that top six figures and reach as high as $170,000. At least 10 of those top earners either worked with Delgado-Polanco in the past or at companies represented by unions Delgado-Polanco worked for, or had other close ties to her.

Delgado-Polanco earns $225,000 a year. That’s $50,000 more than Murphy.

One of the new hires is the mother of Delgado-Polanco’s grandson and another, who resigned after a sexual harassment claim from a previous job surfaced, is her second cousin.

Delgado-Polanco has argued the people she hired are all qualified for their positions.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.