U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Tucson is stepping down as the ranking Democrat on the Housing Natural Resources Committee, sidestepping a fight for the post with a California lawmaker.
In a prepared statement Monday, Grijalva said "it is the right moment to pass the torch'' as Congress begins a new session.
Grijalva cited issues related to his cancer diagnosis, which he first disclosed in April. He specified to the Arizona Daily Star in July that it is lung cancer. The 76-year-old Grijalva, who easily won reelection in November, has said it will be his last term. While undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, he was largely absent from the Capitol from mid-February until last month.
Grijalva, whose district runs from the west side of Tucson through Nogales and Douglas and into parts of Yuma, made no mention Monday of the bid announced last month by U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman to challenge him for the ranking member status.
The California Democrat, in angling for the post, said the return of Republican Donald Trump to the White House will have implications for the environment, energy production and federal land management.
“Effective committee work led by our ranking members will be critical to limiting the damage from Trump’s Project 2025 agenda,’’ Huffman, 60, said in a written statement.
He said it will be necessary to advance the Democrats’ agenda and to draw “contrasts that enable Democrats to reclaim the House majority in 2026 or sooner.’’
Grijalva did acknowledge, at least indirectly, the political change in Washington.
“I will continue to focus on improving my health, strengthening my mobility, and serving my district in what is likely to be a time of unprecedented challenge for our community,’’ he said.
He plans to serve his full term as a rank-and-file member of the committee, a spokeswoman said.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., leaves a meeting of House Democrats on Capitol Hill on Nov. 19, 2024, in Washington.
Grijalva, who has represented Tucson in Congress since 2002, first became the committee’s ranking Democrat in 2015. Four years later, when Democrats took control of the House, he became chairman, a position he held until the Republicans reclaimed control after the 2022 election.
During that period of Democratic control he helped shepherd through two key pieces of President Joe Biden’s agenda: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. They have been hailed at the largest investments in climate and clean energy in U.S. history.
Grijalva also is known for picking at least one fight with Trump, at least indirectly.
In 2022, Grijalva, as chairman of the panel, asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, an appointee of Trump during his first term, had used his position to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to change its position and agree to give permits to El Dorado Holdings to build the proposed Villages at Vigneto on a 12,000-acre site in the Benson area.
Grijalva said at the time that it appeared to be a case of “pay-to-play.’’ The committee’s own investigation showed that developer Mike Ingram and others had given nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the Trump Victory Fund and the Republican National Committee, he said.
U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is seen outside the House Democratic leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 19.
The congressman credited the reporting of Tony Davis of the Arizona Daily Star, who interviewed a now-retired federal official who said he bowed to political pressure from a superior. Steve Spangle, who was a top official at the Fish and Wildlife Service in Phoenix, said the pressure caused him to reverse his position about the need for a detailed biological analysis of the effect of putting 28,000 homes on endangered species at the site. He told Davis, “I got rolled.’’
The Justice Department never disclosed what happened to that criminal investigation. But the project, opposed by various environmental groups, remains unbuilt.
Grijalva, in his statement Monday, acknowledged he had not planned to give up his position. He thanked colleagues, tribal nations and environmental groups for supporting him.
For his part, Huffman praised Grijalva as a “friend and ally’’ on the committee.
“Working alongside him, I’ve seen his grit, determination, and passion for protecting our nation’s treasured natural resources, and his iron-clad commitment to lifting up frontline and indigenous communities,’’ the California lawmaker said.
“Future generations will benefit from all that he has fought for and accomplished during his remarkable career,’’ the statement said. “Rep. Grijalva leaves big shoes to fill, and I will now dedicate myself to building on his legacy of principled and productive leadership as Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee.’’
Other accomplishments during Grijalva’s leadership listed on the Democratic committee members’ website include:
- Approval of the Environmental Justice for All Act which, among other things, requires consideration of the cumulative impacts of pollution in a given area.
- Passing the Great American Outdoors Act, which permanently authorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
- Holding hearings on issues to Native Americans, including on missing and murdered Indigenous women, Indian boarding schools and tribal co-management of public lands.
Most recently, Grijalva has been asking the U.S. Air Force to take another look at its plans for new low-level training flights — some supersonic — above several large swaths of Arizona.
Grijalva, in an October letter to the Air Force, said there is a “lack of transparency’’ in how it prepared its draft environmental impact statement.
