Hill Gets Assignment, Griffin Gets Desk

At the risk of sounding a little cold-hearted – it’s out with the old, in with the new.

While Second District U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin was vacating his office, his successor, Rep.-elect French Hill, was receiving one of his committee assignments.

Hill was assigned Thursday to the Financial Services Committee by the House Republican Steering Committee, according to a press release from his campaign office. He was one of three Republican freshmen assigned to that committee. The others were Rep.-elect Mia Love of Utah and Rep.-elect Bruce Poliquin of Maine.

Arkansas’ current Second District congressman, Rep. Tim Griffin, vacated his office Friday as he is required to do so by late November by the House of Representatives. Griffin’s district offices will remain open until his term ends Jan. 2.

“It’s been a great honor to serve, and (I) certainly enjoyed my time there,” he said in an interview Friday. “It was sort of sad packing everything up, but, you know, (I’m) excited about the new opportunity.”

That new opportunity is serving as the next lieutenant governor, a post Griffin won Nov. 4.

Griffin’s D.C. operation will be a desk with one or two computers in a basement in the Longworth House Office Building being shared with other congressmen who are leaving office in January. Griffin said his remaining eight staff members in his D.C. office will be rotating in and out of that space as they transition into other jobs. He said he will not need to spend time there.

Griffin said he has had conversations with Arkansas’ new congressman – Hill more than Rep.-elect Bruce Westerman from the Fourth District. In fact, Griffin and Hill sat together on the flight back to Little Rock Thursday. Griffin said he’s tried to limit the amount of advice he gives so as not to “crowd people.”

What has he shared?

“Don’t spread yourself too thin because you’re going to have a tendency to want to say yes to every opportunity, and it’s very important to prioritize and make sure that your quality of work doesn’t suffer because you say yes to too many different things,” he said. “And, you know, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. You can physically kill yourself real quickly.”

He also tells new members to take care of their physical health because of the office’s demands.

“It’s a job that wants all of you all the time, and you can’t do that, obviously,” he said.