House Natural Resources top Democrat Raúl Grijalva plans to return to Capitol Hill in November for the postelection lame-duck session following a cancer scare.
But some committee members have privately grumbled about Grijalva’s extended absence since earlier this year and wonder about his ability to remain ranking member or become chair, lawmakers and aides told POLITICO’s E&E News.
The Arizona progressive Democrat has said his next term would be his last, setting up a vacancy atop committee Democrats for the first time since 2015 — one that fellow progressive Jared Huffman of California is eager to fill. Grijalva is vowing to hold on to his post next Congress and is defending his ability to serve.
“I’ve been on that committee for 22 years, OK? So it’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing,” Grijalva said. “I hope to retain it. I hope I prove myself to my colleagues that I can do that job and that I have the capacity to do that job.”
