It’s been 2 months since Celeste Maloy was sworn into Congress. Here’s what she’s been up to
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Rep. Celeste Maloy was sworn into Congress a little over two months ago, and she’s still getting used to life as a lawmaker.
It’s been a quick ramp-up, especially because of the shortened timeframe for her first term in office. In the weeks after winning a special election for her 2nd District seat in November — then getting sworn in as the newest congresswoman — Maloy hired and trained staffers, and traveled across her district, which spans from St. George to Tooele, to hear from constituents. And now, she’s running for reelection as well.
Maloy says she hasn’t allowed her never-ending to-do list to discourage her. “It’s been a really good experience,” she told the Deseret News. “I’m really excited to be here.”
The Republican representative began working as the chief legal counsel for former Rep. Chris Stewart in 2019. Four years later, when Stewart announced he was retiring, Maloy decided to run to replace him.
When asked if much has changed since she stepped into the spotlight, she said, “It’s a lot different.”
“The time I spent as a staffer was foundational for being able to do what I’m doing now,” she said. But, she explained, now it's her name and reputation on the line when she casts a vote or appears on television.
“I still have a hard time believing this is real life,” she said.
Rep. Celeste Maloy and her friends in Congress
Maloy admitted her day-to-day schedule is much more packed compared to when she was a staffer. While working for Stewart, she would spend her time working on policy on the weekdays.
“Now, I work on policy and vote during the week, and I campaign on the weekend,” she said. “My days are longer and my weekends are full.”
Maloy told me she has called Stewart a few times since being elected, including to discuss how grueling the job is.
“It’s a fairly exclusive club I’ve joined. There just aren’t very many people who’ve ever done this for a living,” she said. Maloy said she’s also spoken to former Rep. Rob Bishop, who represented Utah’s 1st District from 2003 to 2021. According to her, they both “understand the pressures” of serving as a member of the House of Representatives.
Although the position can be a “lonely” one, Maloy said she has leaned on the Utah delegation for help. For starters, Rep. John Curtis, a Republican representing Utah’s 3rd District, “has taken me under his wing,” she said.
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That isn’t surprising since Maloy and Curtis share a passion for protecting public lands and supporting responsible energy development.
Before serving under Stewart, Maloy worked on public lands issues as an attorney for Washington County. This followed more than a decade of working as a soil conservationist for the Department of Agriculture in Beaver County, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Now, besides serving as the vice chair of the Upper Basin on the Congressional Colorado River Caucus, Maloy is also on the House Small Business subcommittees for contracting and infrastructure, and rural development, energy, and supply chains.
Maloy is also on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, alongside Rep. Burgess Owens. She said Owens, who represents Utah’s 4th District, has Maloy “sit with his friends” during House floor votes.
Rep. Blake Moore, who represents Utah’s 1st District, was recently elected vice chair of the House Republican Conference, becoming a part of House leadership, “so having him there has been really helpful,” she said.
Maloy added that members of the freshmen class — made up of 34 Democrats and 40 Republicans, who took office on Jan. 3 — have also taken Maloy under their wing.
What are Maloy’s legislative priorities?
On negotiations over how to secure the border — which have been going on since before she was sworn in without a deal in sight — she said it was a clear example of “the status quo” not functioning well.
“When Democrats control the Senate and the White House, and Republicans control the House by a number of votes you can count on one hand, it’s not surprising that things aren’t moving,” she said. “Right now, the status quo isn’t working very well. So, I’m hopeful that that means we’re going to make some fundamental changes.”
“And I’m working on making sure that as things change, they’re changing in a way that’s good for the American people,” she added.
Maloy wants Congress to return to regular order, where it passes spending bills and offers transparency about the budgeting process to the American people. The Utah representative said the root cause of the gridlock in Washington, D.C., is the people who want “to have these really important conversations about how Congress should be doing its job.”
She said that while there’s a tendency for everyone to get “hung up on the big personalities,” she’s happy they’ve led the way for tough, but necessary, discussions on how Congress should function.
Apart from cheering on federal government reform, Maloy has also been reintroducing bills that Stewart introduced, and that Maloy contributed to while working for Stewart. For example, Maloy is a co-sponsor of the Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites from Foreign Adversaries Act, which restricts foreign land purchases, something Stewart previously championed.
Maloy said she wants to prioritize the legislation her district is asking for. So far, she has introduced four bills in Congress, including the HYDRO Act, which seeks to reduce electricity costs during a drought, and the True Cost Act, which would require the president to give Congress a detailed report on the financial impact of the deficit on each taxpayer.
Rep. Celeste Maloy’s reelection campaign
Even as Maloy is settling into her new role, she’s also gearing up for reelection.
In her last campaign, she invited her challengers to join her for 13 in-person debates in each of the 13 counties represented in the 2nd District. This time around, she has to juggle her congressional responsibilities alongside her campaign, which Maloy says, is going “really well” because the duties of a representative require her to travel to each part of her district anyway.
“They dovetail nicely,” she said. “I’m going to keep showing up for my constituents, being where they are, addressing the issues they want addressed. I think if I’m offering good customer service and a cheerful attitude, people are still going to resonate with that.”
She said she plans to fulfill the promises she made when running for election last year, which she hopes will keep voters energized to come out and support her again.
“I ran on being a district-focused member, being nerdy about policy and showing up and helping local elected officials,” Maloy said. “Now I’m in and I’m doing that.”
Correction: In an earlier version of this story, Rep. Celeste Maloy’s congressional district was misidentified in the photo caption.
