Eli Crane

Extremism: Republican U.S. Rep. Eli Crane of Northern Arizona’s Congressional District 2 introduced legislation to defund the National Endowment for Democracy, which supports pro-democracy groups around the world, and which Crane says is “a key contributor to global censorship campaigns, domestic propaganda, and regime change politics,” the Verde Independent’s Tony Capobianco writes. Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari announced her extreme heat legislative agenda, which includes a trio of bills dealing with urban heat mitigation, emergency preparedness and studying the economic impact of extreme heat. Finally Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton launched a new “extreme heat” caucus in Congress, per KJZZ’s Katherine Davis-Young. (June 5, 2025)

Birthday cards and backpedals: Although Republican U.S. Rep. Eli Crane once backed an effort to force the Trump administration to release the Epstein files, he hasn’t joined the latest push — a bill four other congressional Republicans have already signed onto, the Republic’s Laura Gersony reports. Arizona’s U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar also haven’t supported the effort, and Crane reposted a statement from Republican leaders that called Trump’s creepy birthday card to Epstein a case of "cherry-picking documents and politicizing information." (September 10, 2025)

Out of control: A bipartisan group of Arizona congressfolk wants an investigation into the Dragon Bravo Fire that destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge, per the Republic’s Stephanie Murray. The wildfire started from a lightning strike on the Fourth of July, but Arizona members of Congress including Democratic U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, and Republican Reps. Paul Gosar and Eli Crane, want to know why the fire was first treated as a controlled burn and not actively extinguished. The Associated Press has a rundown of the history of the iconic lodge burned in the fire. (July 16, 2025)

If at first you lose by 10 points…: Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is running for Congress again against Republican U.S. Rep. Eli Crane, who defeated Nez by nearly 10 percentage points last year, per the Navajo Times’ Donovan Quintero. (July 23, 2025)

The tomato wars: Republicans and farm groups are urging the Trump administration to block a 20% duty on Mexican-grown tomatoes that is set to come into effect next month, since the Commerce Department announced it wouldn’t extend the “Tomato Suspension Agreement” with Mexico that has been holding the tariff at bay. And while Florida tomato growers are stoked, Arizona Republican members of Congress, including Eli Crane, Andy Biggs and Juan Ciscomani, are urging Trump to reconsider, saying ending the agreement would “abandon a key achievement and principle of President Trump’s America First agenda,” Politico reports. Also, Florida tomatoes are gross, tomato book author William Alexander writes in the opinion pages of the New York Times. And allowing the agreement to expire would mean that a bunch of Mexican tomato farmers will want H-2A visas to work in Florida. “While the tariff will drive up the cost of both Mexican- and American-grown tomatoes, consumers won’t be the only losers. Arizona State University estimates that job losses among the warehouse operators, truckers and grocers who process and move tomatoes from the border throughout the United States could exceed 50,000 in Arizona and Texas alone,” Alexander writes. (June 24, 2025)

Another shutdown?: In the wake of shootings in Minneapolis, and with a deadline approaching to avoid a federal government shutdown, more U.S. Senate Democrats are saying they won’t support the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, States Newsroom reports. Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego joined the “no” group over the weekend, and now five of the eight Democrats who voted with the GOP to end the shutdown in November say they won’t support the DHS funding bill. Their position is complicated by the fact that DHS oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is tasked with helping millions of people deal with a massive snow storm this week. And Arizonans depend on FEMA, too. U.S. Republican Reps. Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert are asking FEMA to reconsider its denial of $33 million for Gila and Mohave counties, where floods overwhelmed communities last year, Peter Aleshire reports for the Payson Roundup. (January 27, 2026)

U.S. Rep. Eli Crane, a MAGA Republican and former Navy Seal, cautioned against a regime change war in Iran based on his experiences fighting similar wars in the Middle East (Laura Gersony / Republic)(March 5, 2026)

Freedom fighters wanted: Several members of the congressional Freedom Caucus are leaving office this year — including its former leader, Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs — forcing some head-hunting for its next crop of leaders, Politico reports, with a rundown of some of its potential future leaders. Not to mention, the caucus faces the possibility of being in the minority after this year’s election. “We’re losing a lot of talent — there’s no doubt about it,” Arizona Republican U.S. Rep. Eli Crane said. “So it’s just kind of like a next-man-up mentality.” (June 17, 2026)

The Moscow Connection: Republican U.S. Rep. Eli Crane is facing rebukes from members of both parties for being one of four Republicans and one Democrat to host a cadre of Russian lawmakers in Washington, Zach Bradshaw of Cronkite News reports. One GOP congressman compared the meeting to “a visit by the Third Reich” while Crane’s likely Democratic opponent in November, Jonathan Nez, highlighted a report from a top European Union diplomat that Russia has been passing intelligence to Iran. “While Arizona families struggle with rising costs at home, Eli Crane is busy giving private tours to Russian officials – one day after a report that Russia is helping Iran kill Americans in the Middle East,” Nez said. (April 1, 2026)

Always a local angle: The hallowed tradition of yelling at the president during the State of the Union address is partly rooted in Arizona, per the Washington Post. Back in 2023, Republican U.S. Rep. Eli Crane joined former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene as she called former President Joe Biden a liar for saying some Republicans wanted to sunset Social Security. (February 25, 2026)