More than a month later, the local congressional office in Tucson is shuttered and the phones ring unanswered. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to swear in Grijalva, a Democrat, while the government is shut down, leaving the residents of her sprawling southern Arizona district without a vote in Congress — or help back home.

“Here I am paying taxes to the federal government,” Wilson said from her Tucson office this week, “and not only is it closed but I don’t have a representative either.”

Grijalva spent much of the week in Washington unable to access government email and federal systems. While most congressional offices are buzzing with activity, her suite on the Hill remains mostly quiet and many desks sit empty. She doesn’t have the resources or authority, she said, to staff a district office or assist constituents who try to contact her. Without security privileges, she’s barred from bringing so much as a hammer into the Capitol for hanging pictures. It would be considered a weapon, she said.