Arizona’s newest member of Congress will serve on the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva’s committee assignments were announced by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday. Grijalva was sworn in to Congress last week after a seven-week delay.
Grijalva told AZPM she was “really excited” for the assignments, which she had requested from party leadership.
The CD7 representative has an extensive background in education policy. She served on the Tucson Unified School District’s board from 2002 until 2025.
On the education committee, Grijalva said she would work to “keep at bay” Republican policies. A January bill introduced to her committee seeks to terminate the Department of Education, something President Donald Trump has also called for in an executive order.
In terms of writing new legislation, Grijalva said she was interested in expanding federal services for preschools and middle schools, areas she said “need a little more support.”
Grijalva has a personal connection to the House Natural Resources Committee. Her father, late CD7 Representative Raúl Grijalva, was the highest-ranked Democrat on the committee from 2015 until 2025 and chaired it between 2019 and 2023.
The committee is the starting point for legislation concerning federal lands and Native American affairs. Arizona’s 7th Congressional District covers swaths of federal land, including Coronado National Forest and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The large Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation is also in the district.
Grijalva said she was concerned about the bipartisan SPEED Act, which reforms the environmental review processes mandated for many federal actions.
She said she’d like to revive discussion of an environmental justice bill sponsored by her father that seeks to address the effects of federal actions on the health and environment on non-white and low-income communities.
