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Justin Doud\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n
Then-Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee speaks at a campaign event for fellow Democrat Colin Allred in Houston in July 2025.<\/p>\n
U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee said he is focused on his new role as a member of Congress<\/a> \u2014 and has not “even thought about the campaign” to continue serving the 18th Congressional District.<\/p>\n Menefee was elected Saturday and sworn in Monday<\/a>, giving the Houston congressional district representation in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in more than 330 days, following the March death of U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner.<\/a><\/p>\n Menefee will serve for at least the remainder of the year, completing the unexpired term vacated by Turner. Another election in November will determine the district’s representative for 2027 and 2028. Menefee will seek the Democratic nomination, though he faces a formidable challenger in the March primary in U.S. Rep. Al Green, the longtime representative for the 9th Congressional District whose home was drawn into the 18th District<\/a> over the summer as part of a mid-decade redistricting led by Texas Republicans.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Hello, Houston!<\/a> daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n In an interview Tuesday with Houston Public Media, Menefee said he was not concerned that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo had endorsed Green<\/a> for the Democratic nomination in the 18th District.<\/p>\n “The endorsement I\u2019m most interested in are the people who live in the 18th Congressional district, the voters,” he said.<\/p>\n Menefee, who previously served as Harris County attorney, also spoke about immigration policy, his vote on government funding, and how he sees his role in Congress over the next several months.<\/p>\n Here’s a transcript of the interview. It\u2019s been lightly edited for length and clarity:<\/p>\n Houston Public Media: What do you make of how the last few days have felt for you?<\/p>\n Christian Menefee: It\u2019s all been very surreal. In a district that had giants like Barbara Jordan, Mickey Leland, Craig Washington, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sylvester [Turner], Erica [Lee Carter], these giants in public service, to be able to step into the role that they once held has just been surreal. It\u2019s been mind-blowing. And frankly, I still feel like it hasn\u2019t hit me yet, but I\u2019ve just been happy to get to work as quick as possible for the people in the district.<\/p>\n HPM: You talk about it not hitting you yet. Do you have a bit of imposter syndrome when you list those names of predecessors?<\/p>\n Menefee: No. I have a great respect for them and respect for their work. But I know who I am. I know what I\u2019ve gotten done for people as county attorney. And I have no doubt that I am up to this job, and then I\u2019m going to do a good job for people, and then I\u2019m going to work hard to make life better for the people in the district. So, no imposter syndrome. But I understand that there are big shoes to fill, and I\u2019m confident that we\u2019re going to get it done.<\/p>\n HPM: When you spoke to the House yesterday, you spoke about the more than 330 days that your now-constituents have not had representation. What does it mean for you to be that voice for them now in Congress?<\/p>\n Menefee: It means the world to me. It is probably the most important job I\u2019ll do in my life. And I understand that it\u2019s not about me; it\u2019s about folks from so many communities across our district who may have had issues with Social Security, with Medicaid, and didn\u2019t have a congressional office to help them navigate that. It\u2019s about the folks in our district who are immigrants, who have seen [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] terrorize people in our communities and didn\u2019t know if they were going to have a vote on [Department of Homeland Security] funding. Those are the folks who I\u2019m doing this for. And to me, I understand the importance of the moment, and I\u2019m going to do everything I can to represent those folks well and make them proud.<\/p>\n HPM: You mentioned the vote for DHS funding. You\u2019ve already taken a key vote when it comes to funding the government partially. Explain your vote to me, and just tell me why on Day 1 you\u2019ve already made that decision.<\/p>\n Menefee: This is simple. If ICE is terrorizing communities and executing people on the streets, they should not be receiving more funding. I believe that we should be stripping ICE down to the studs, and what Republicans are trying to do is simply hand them a blank check without any reforms, without any changes, without doing anything that\u2019s going to make sure that our communities do not continue to be terrorized. I am more than confident that that is not what the people of the 18th Congressional District of Texas sent me to Congress to do. And so I was happy to cast a \u201cno\u201d vote to make sure that we don\u2019t keep funding an agency that has been radicalized by the president and that is terrorizing our communities.<\/p>\n RELATED: Texas state leaders target school walkouts as students rally for Houston teen detained by ICE<\/a><\/p>\n HPM: On the immigration front, what would you say the constituents of the 18th Congressional District sent you to do?<\/p>\n Menefee: We need wholesale immigration reform in this country. You can\u2019t just address enforcement. We all know that ICE is wrong for this country. I believe that it needs to be fully disbanded, and we need to try to go back to the days of immigration enforcement, where it wasn\u2019t focused on brutalizing people. But we should be having conversations about comprehensive immigration reform, which means addressing our asylum processes; it means addressing our visa system; it means fully funding our immigration processes so that people aren\u2019t waiting decades in order to find out whether they\u2019re going to be able to be a citizen or not. I think that the conversation has to be one conversation with all those components, and that\u2019s not happening right now. And I would be more than willing to sit down with members of Congress from any party and talk about how we can fix our broken immigration system.<\/p>\n HPM: Do you support the calls from Democrats for impeaching [DHS Secretary] Kristi Noem?<\/p>\n Menefee: Yes, 100%. I called on Congress to impeach Kristi Noem when I was running, and I had that same position today. I was proud to stand at a press conference today with many members of the Democratic Party here in Congress and support calls for impeachment of Kristi Noem, if she won\u2019t resign. But she needs to go. She\u2019s incompetent. Look at how she\u2019s run this agency: people being killed on the streets, kids being kidnapped, in order to try to use them as bait to harm folks in our communities. I think she needs to go. So, whether that\u2019s a resignation, whether that\u2019s getting fired by the president, whether it\u2019s impeachment, she needs to go.<\/p>\n RELATED: Liam Conejo Ramos is back home in Minneapolis<\/a><\/p>\n HPM: I\u2019m curious how you see your role in the Congress. Obviously, you\u2019d like to be there longer than just, you know, the next 10 months, but it\u2019s possible that you are just a congressman for those 10 months. How do you see the role that you have in the Democratic Party when it comes to the U.S. House of Representatives?<\/p>\n Menefee: My goal is to be a voice; is to be someone who can move bills; is to be someone who is taken seriously in the building by both Democrats and Republicans; and to be someone who\u2019s on the front lines of holding the president accountable. When I took over the county attorney\u2019s office, I was 32 years old, and I was in charge of an office of 300 people, many of whom had been practicing law longer than I had been alive. But I figured that out, and so I have no doubt that I can figure this building out as well.<\/p>\n
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