Before leaving for an earlier-than-expected winter Congressional break, thanks to House Speaker Mike Johnson adjourning Congress early again rather than take a vote on extending ACA health care subsidies for over several million Americans, Arizona Congressional District Three Representative Yassamin Ansari released the below social media video.
In the video, Representative Ansari said:
“I’m Yassamin Ansari, and it is the honor of my life to represent Phoenix, Glendale, and Guadalupe. This year was my first as a U.S Representative, and it was an extremely hard year for Arizona families. But as the youngest woman in Congress, I wasn’t planning to sit back and wait my turn. I jumped straight into the fight. This year, I held 13 town hall meetings and 12 mobile office hours, reaching tens of thousands of Arizonans. We attended 165 community events and met with roughly 42,000 Phoenicians. We closed 394 cases and returned over $500,000 to constituents here. Here in D.C, I introduced 20 bills and submitted over 400 appropriations requests. In committee, I fought back against oil execs, Jeffrey Epstein defenders, and corrupt billionaires dead set on protecting Donald Trump and his corrupt authoritarian agenda, who enrich him and his family at the expense of everyday Americans. This fall, during the longest government shutdown in history, I brought the fight directly to Speaker Mike Johnson. In a year full of mass deportations, wrongful detainments, and heinous treatment of immigrants, I traveled to detention centers, advocated for Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, and held ‘Know Your Rights’ trainings so that my constituents know how to handle ICE immigration courts and their constitutional rights to due process My team and I led key legislation on housing and utility affordability, regulating artificial intelligence, and health care. We hosted a read-in of Trump’s so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill, all 1000 pages right here on this lawn, to show the American People just how full of corruption it was. Arizonans want a fighter, and I’m fighting for them. It is the honor of my life to represent you in Congress. We’ll see you in 2026.”
Representative Ansari graciously interviewed with Blog for Arizona to expand and go in more depth on how she saw how 2025 went and what her goals are when she returns to the House in 2026.
The questions and her answers are below.
Please tell us your overall feelings about how 2025 went for you, the Congress, the people in your district, in Arizona, and the country.
“I’m excited to chat with you today about my first year in Congress. As you know, it was my first year as a U.S Representative, and it was also an extremely hard year for families in my district and across the state. From the very beginning. I knew that immigration would be one of the top issues I focused on. My team and I have been in our community working tirelessly to mitigate the devastating effects of Donald Trump’s mass immigration enforcement and mass deportation policies. We’ve held ‘Know your Rights’ trainings, town halls, and roundtables to hear directly from constituents and provide them with information to protect themselves and their families. As a member of Congress, I have the power to provide oversight on detention centers, so I have visited the Eloy Detention Center three times so far, hearing heartbreaking stories of inhumane treatment directly from dozens of female detainees. Despite the challenges, we’ve had some important victories. We’ve successfully helped constituents secure green cards, and for Yari (Arbella “Yari” Rodríguez Márquez,) who is one of my constituents who is detained and suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia, we fought for her to see an outside oncologist after a month of demanding it from my office. She was finally provided a visit, and we are continuing to follow up and advocate heavily for her. There’s a lot more work to be done.”
“I’m looking forward to continuing to work in 2026 on the issues that matter most to Arizona’s Third District, especially an affordability agenda to make housing, health care, and energy bills more affordable.”
How is Yari’s present condition?
“She’s very, very sick. My district director, Maria Lopez, visited her on December 19 again in person, which was something she was able to do because of the recent court decision that said that ICE is not allowed legally to demand seven days of heads up, and so she visited her. We’re trying to get her full medical records now and hopefully get our treatment plan soon.”
Earlier today, December 29, Representative Ansari appeared outside the Phoenix ICE office demanding the release of Arbella “Yari” Rodríguez Márquez due to her deteriorating condition.
What are at least three achievements you are proudest of seeing through during 2025?
“First, is the accessibility of my office. We held 13 Town Halls and 12 mobile office hours, connecting with tens of thousands of Arizonans. We also launched a Community Ambassador Program that is volunteer-driven, and that enabled us to participate in over 165 community events and meet with approximately 42,000 Phoenicians. Second, my office was able to close over 400 cases, and we returned over $784,000 to our constituency. Third, I introduced 20 bills on issues ranging from affordability to regulating artificial intelligence to immigration and submitted over 400 funding requests.”
How many of those funding requests were approved?
Many are still underway because the appropriations process is still ongoing, but one that has been finalized has funding that will be going to the City of Tolleson.”
What have been at least three continuing challenges during 2025 that you and your office have had to address and may continue dealing with in 2026?
“You know, this year was marked by Donald Trump’s mass deportations, wrongful detainments, and the inhumane treatment of immigrants. On July 4th, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, which is a very cruel law that will destabilize communities for generations. The bill funds a dramatic expansion of the U.S. immigration detention system, which is already plagued by inhumane conditions and deaths. The law immediately gives the Department of Homeland Security $45 billion to detain immigrant adults and families available through September 30th, 2029. This sum more than quadruples Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s annual detention budget, adding approximately $11.25 billion each year. These funds will enrich private prison companies whose Executives have expressed glee at the Trump Administration’s mass deportation agenda.”
“The legislation will also take health care coverage away from millions of people and dramatically raise health care costs for millions more. It cuts $1.1 trillion from Medicaid. Um, and the ACA Marketplace, according to the Congressional Budget Office estimates. So. We are deeply concerned about what that means for hospitals, community health centers, and about 40,000 of my constituents who rely on Medicaid.”
“Last week, Republicans also failed to pass a bill that includes extending Affordable Care Act tax credits, even though the discharge petition on the House floor received the number of signatures that it needed. Mike Johnson refused to bring this to a vote and canceled a day of votes early yet again. That means more than 20 million Americans who currently obtain coverage through the ACA are looking at steep premium increases on January 1st. As we head into the new year, Democrats will continue to work to hold Republicans accountable for the chaos they’ve caused, and when we win back the majority, we’ll have bills ready to pass that will improve the lives of the American people.”
About a month ago, you and the Oversight Democrats created a dashboard to monitor ICE transgressions. Would you like to comment on that?
“Yes. It’s a very powerful, important tool that we launched, because there will be a day when officials in the Trump Administration must and will be held accountable for their crimes and their violations of due process rights and their inhumane treatment and immigrants. We’ve had many people submit to the dashboard. It’s available on the Oversight Dems website, and it’s essentially serving as a repository to track the immense amount of abuse taking place across the country.”
Are you worried Mr. Trump will issue a blanket pardon to all of them?
Could he? I mean, he’s obviously always looking and pardoning folks left and right. But no, we can absolutely hold these individuals accountable when they’re committing crimes.
To what extent would you say Republican leadership in Congress has been dysfunctional?
“Republican leadership has been a joke. Mike Johnson is a horrific leader. He only exists to serve at the pleasure of the President. He’s completely abdicated the responsibility that Congress has to be a check on Presidential power, and also to offer policies. I’ve been deeply disappointed, and it’s beyond partisanship. I mean, his own caucus has made a very clear. They don’t trust his leadership. I think their caucus has been in disarray for many months now, and I think we’re going to see that exacerbate in the new year as well.”
What are two policy goals that you would like to continue or introduce in 2026?
““I’m really excited. I was named the Chair of the Progressive Caucus’s task force on lowering costs. Starting at the outset of next year, I’ll be leading my colleagues in our first shadow hearing, which will be on housing affordability. The hearing will bring experts and members of Congress into conversations on new ways that we can bring down housing costs, including building more affordable public and market-rate housing, addressing corporate and landlord greed, and expanding federal assistance for low-income families. I am also excited about a Women’s Healthcare agenda that I’ve been working on. I’ll be rolling out in the New Year as well.”
Will there be a shadow public hearing for former Special Counsel Jack Smith?
“There are many Shadow hearings in the works through my committees that I’m working on. I have not heard, but on the Oversight Committee, we did our first shadow hearing last month in Los Angeles on ICE and immigration. We’re going to be doing one in Virginia on federal workers and one in Florida as well in the new year.”
Is there anyone in your office you would like to recognize for their contributions in making 2025 successful in your office?
“I couldn’t pick just one. The truth is, there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes or running a Congressional Office that I am just so proud of my team. I mean, our casework team here in the district has helped so many of our constituents with federal agencies. We have an amazing policy team drafting legislation. Our communication team is making sure the people in our district know what’s going on and what we’re up to and communicating that work. And then there’s the operations team that keeps things running and makes sure that we’re responsive and well-coordinated, and effective. I’m really just proud of the whole team. I feel very, very lucky to have such a passionate, driven team.”
Is there anything not covered in the first six questions that you would like the readers to know about what happened in Congress in 2025, and in your District? Please explain.
“I would say my office is here as a resource. I always want to remind people that if you’re a resident of Arizona’s Third District and you’re having difficulties, or you can’t get a timely answer, or feel like you’ve been treated unfairly by a federal agency, our office may be able to help. Please call us. Our phone number is 602-956-2285.”
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