Monique Bolsajian has been promoted to deputy chief of staff and legislative director in the office of Rep. Gilbert Cisneros (D-CA-31), effective May 1. Bolsajian had already been serving as legislative director in the CA-31 congressional staff since January 2025.

What She'll Work On

As deputy chief of staff, Bolsajian takes on a broader portfolio spanning abortion, appropriations, economics and public finance, families, government operations, international affairs, science and technology, transportation, and women's issues.

Cisneros sits on three major committees, namely the House Armed Services Committee, the House Small Business Committee, and the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, along with several subcommittees across all three. That gives Bolsajian's legislative portfolio significant reach across defense, contracting, and veterans' policy.

The most advanced piece of legislation on Cisneros's docket is H.R. 4491, the SBA IT Modernization Reporting Act, which passed the House by voice vote in December 2025 and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. The bill requires the Small Business Administration to implement Government Accountability Office recommendations on modernizing its IT systems, with a focus on small business contracting certifications.

Other bills Cisneros has introduced include the Servicemember Retention and Education Advancement Act, which would direct the Defense Department to study expanding tuition assistance for active-duty service members, and the Brandon Act Training and Protocol Act, which would require the Pentagon to develop a comprehensive plan for military suicide prevention and mental health services. The Duty Status Reform Act, which would reorganize how the federal government activates reserve and National Guard members, is currently in committee consideration.

Bolsajian's Path to the Role

Bolsajian's congressional career began as an intern in Rep. Ted Lieu's (D-CA-36) office in the fall of 2020, followed by a brief stint as an intern on the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the start of 2021. She returned to Lieu's office as a staff assistant in March 2021 and worked her way through a series of progressively senior roles, including legislative correspondent, legislative aide, and legislative assistant, before departing in January 2025.

That move brought her to the Cisneros office as legislative director, a position she held for roughly 15 months before the promotion to deputy chief of staff. In total, Bolsajian has logged five and a half years of congressional service across two personal offices and one committee.

She holds a master's degree in defense and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College, completed between 2022 and 2025, which aligns with the defense-heavy legislative work she now oversees through Cisneros's Armed Services Committee assignments.

The Committees and What's Ahead

Rep. Cisneros's committee assignments cover the armed services, small businesses, and veteran's affairs.

The Armed Services Committee has held hearings this Congress on defense industrial base readiness, missile defense programmatic updates, nuclear forces, and military acquisition reform. Cisneros sits on the Military Personnel Subcommittee, the Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee, and the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, in addition to the full committee.

On the Small Business Committee, where Cisneros serves as a member, recent hearings have examined small business contracting opportunities, franchising as a pathway to entrepreneurship, and the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy. A hearing in April 2026 examined tax policy and working families, and a March 2026 hearing focused on national security threats to small businesses from Chinese government-linked entities.

The Veterans' Affairs Committee, where Cisneros serves on the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, the Health Subcommittee, and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, has held hearings this Congress on community care access and a markup covering more than two dozen veterans' benefits bills.

Cisneros's Broader Profile

Cisneros joined a group of Democratic veterans in calling for a stand-down of Immigration and Customs Enforcement interior operations following civilian deaths in Minnesota, and participated in a press conference opposing unilateral military action in Venezuela without congressional authorization. Both reflect a pattern of engagement on civil liberties and constitutional oversight questions that fall within Bolsajian's issue portfolio.

On the legislative side, Cisneros has also introduced the PROTECT Military Families Act, which would require the Department of Homeland Security to grant temporary legal status to foreign relatives of active-duty service members and veterans, and the Corporal Fernando Ruiz Baltazar Posthumous Citizenship Act, which would grant posthumous citizenship to noncitizens who served in the U.S. Armed Forces in the Philippines during World War II.

Bolsajian can be reached at [email protected] or 202-225-5256. The office is located at 2463 Rayburn House Office Building.

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