After waiting an inexcusable 50 days to be sworn into the House by Speaker Mike Johnson, Arizona Congressional District (CD) Seven Representative Adelita Grijalva is, with the help of her staff, adjusting to the rigors of serving in Congress.
Representative Grijalva graciously met with Blog for Arizona to discuss her first nine months in office and the issues she is fighting for in her district.
The questions and her responses are below.
Please tell the readers how the first nine months of your House term have gone for you. Has it exceeded or gone below your expectations? Please explain.
“I don’t know that I had expectations of what it was going to be like, but based on how long it took me to get into office, I just had no idea what it was going to be like. And it has been a learning experience for sure. I did not have expectations, because as much as people assume that I must know Congress because my dad was there, I keep saying this: Like, if my dad were a pilot, he wouldn’t say, go in the cockpit and just fly. The learning curve was really significant. And I also didn’t get what most freshmen, like members of Congress, get, like an orientation. I didn’t get that. So, it’s been trial and error trying to figure out all of the things. And then I did bring a lot of people from District 7 who are not D.C. natives. So we were all learning together. I feel now we’re doing pretty well, but just the process of voting right now is really concerning because the GOP has the House, the Senate, and the White House and still can’t pass the rules. So my frustration is with my family, and I chose to make the sacrifice of running for Congress and flying back and forth, being gone from home minimally four days a week when we’re in session, and I knew that, and they knew that. But for us to go to D.C. and not be able to accomplish anything and not even vote because the rules can’t get passed is something that’s happening more and more often, and it should be really concerning because we have really big problems that we need to work on, ideally on a bipartisan basis.”
“But regardless, we need to be able to have a voice and talk about what these issues are and have a seat at the table when these decisions are being made. And sadly, we are not able to accomplish much.”
Is there anyone from your staff or even from your colleagues’ staff that was helpful for you in making the transition?
“My staff has been incredibly helpful. They really have. We’ve had a lot of learning to do together, and I think that they’ve done incredibly well. I will say, as far as my colleagues, my friends from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Ledger Fernandez, have been incredibly helpful to me, and just like checking in on me in general, they’ve been really great. I’ve made a lot of new friends. It’s very cool.”
What are at least two policy achievements from your time in Congress that you would like to describe?
“Well, almost nine months that I’ve been in office, I would say $15 million in community project funding for projects throughout the district has been, I think, a really important thing. These investments span city centers, rural communities, and tribal nations throughout southern Arizona. I’m just really proud of being able to accomplish those things.”
You voted for the bipartisan housing legislation that Mr. Trump hasn’t signed yet?
“Yeah. Yeah. Not funded yet. And, you know, is holding hostage for the Save America Act, which is not going to go anywhere, by the way, because there are some major, major problems with that bill. So my thought would be if we could really work on things that are going to move forward, that would be great. But I just don’t see that happening.”
Anything about that bill that you like to say helps your district residents?
“Yeah. Part of the issue I think that that we that we have right now is that there are so many needs throughout our communities. And so, while I would like to see stronger investments in a bipartisan housing bill, it does help some people. And so, I do appreciate that because that’s one of the things that I think we need to continue to do more of.”
What are at least two policy challenges from your tenure in the House that still persist? Please explain.
“Two policy challenges that still persist. Oh, again, so many issues that persist. I think the biggest thing for me is looking at where we’re hitting roadblocks and this administration’s push on expanding the border wall into areas on tribal land, not acknowledging tribal sovereignty. That’s a big issue. And the other is immigration and these detention facilities and immigration policies. Those are the two that have been, I think, the most problematic for me. But the list is huge. The Department of Education dismantling of the Department of Education is really, really, really has been very disturbing.”
To what extent do you feel Republican leadership in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches in D.C. is dysfunctional and reactionary and trying to turn the clock back to the Gilded Era? Please explain.
“Well, we saw this on full display: Trump’s self-aggrandizing America 250 celebrations with Christian Nationalists, with, emboldened by Trump marching in our nation’s capital. The Trump administration, Congressional Republicans, and the Supreme Court are setting the clock back on so many issues. Voting rights, reproductive freedom, immigration, public education, workers’ rights, climate change, LGBT, LGBTQ plus rights, and civil rights. And I think that, I mean, that’s the short list of things that they’ve done.”
You and other House Democrats like your colleagues Representatives Ansari and Stanton have rigorously spoken out for an affordability agenda, compassion and tolerance towards immigrants, and accountability towards Mr. Trump and Republican corruption like grifting the American taxpayer and protecting known pedophiles. Moving forward, what are these three policies you will pursue for the rest of 2026?
“I support an affordability agenda like a working families agenda, which includes, amongst other things, addressing the child care crisis by providing federal funding to states and local municipalities to quickly provide universal access to high-quality and affordable child care in every community. It’s something that we did at Pima County. And I saw the impact firsthand.”
“The other is lowering gas prices through the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act. That requires that the largest companies pay a tax rebate check back to consumers. That is half the difference between the current price per barrel of oil and the average price per barrel of oil.”
“Then lowering grocery costs. That’s going to be a big one. It’s getting inflation under control and price-fixing companies that engage in anti-competitive behaviors and price discrimination and gouging.”
“Housing is another one. I voted in favor of the bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which has sweeping bipartisan support. And astonishingly, I think that that’s one of the reasons why we have to keep an eye on it, because this is likely going to go into law on Friday anyway (it did). So I will be keeping a close eye on implementation to make sure that my constituents and our constituents benefit from those provisions.”
“In addition, of course, to protecting sacred tribal land.”
I know you’ve been an outspoken opponent of what’s going on at the detention centers. Anything you want to touch on with those places?
“Well, you know, the detention centers I have visited five times since I was sworn in, and I’ve completed five oversight visits since being elected. This includes the Florence Detention Center, the Florence staging facility, the short-term holding in Eloy, AROCC, which is in Mesa, and Dilley in Texas, and a holding site here in Tucson. So, I’ve also used my bully pulpit to successfully advocate for people in detention like Karla Toledo and Julia Benitez. And we’ll continue to do that.”
What’s Ms. Toledo’s status right now?
“They are charging her again, recycling the old charge. I think really what it is is this administration has a real problem with the truth being found out. And so Carla is a huge black eye for this administration, and they’re going to continue to do everything they can.”
Is there anyone on your office staff you would like to recognize for their contributions since you came to the House?
“We have so many that it’s hard to like to point out, but I do think our constituent services are doing amazing work every day. There are three of them. Josie Medina is my director of constituent services. Then I have Bryan Osuna and Anakarina Rodriguez. Both of them are doing just all of them are doing outstanding work. Nicholas McCullough, who was in my office in Pima County, and I’ve known him since he was 13 because he volunteered with Teen Court.”
“We’ve been around each other a very long time, has been able to get my crazy schedule into some semblance of order. And a lot of offices have two different people that are doing his one job. I think he does a great job.”
“We’ve had a chief of staff transition. Marisol Flores Aguirre was great in getting this Tucson office up and running. And she did a wonderful job. And Carlos Martinez, who is a Nogales native as my chief of staff now and has been with me in DC. They’re all doing a legislative team. I mean, everyone is just really doing outstanding work.”
Is there anything not covered in the above questions that you like to read to know about your first nine months in office? Please explain.
“It was pretty cool that on my first day in Congress, I was the 218th signer on the Epstein File Discharge Petition to force a vote on releasing those files. And I have already introduced ten bills, including the No Delay in Representation Act, which is an immediate response to the political blockade on my swearing-in. Additionally, I have co-sponsored hundreds of good proposals and introduced several amendments to address issues in our district.”
“And just quick stats: legislative stats and district stats over 315 bills. We’ve co-sponsored over 452 policy letters, co-signed over 340 meetings conducted, and over 25 community events hosted in the last almost nine months. So, I think we’re doing pretty great work.”
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