Leger Fernandez, Teresa

Teresa Leger Fernández represents New Mexico's 3rd congressional district and serves as Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs. In this minority party role, she leads Democratic opposition and priorities within the subcommittee, which oversees federal policy affecting Native American tribes, tribal lands, and insular territories. As ranking member, she shapes the subcommittee's investigative agenda and legislative priorities, though the majority party controls which bills advance. She also holds membership on the broader Natural Resources Committee and serves on the House Rules Committee.

Fernández brings three decades of specialized legal expertise directly relevant to her committee work. After law school, she returned to New Mexico to practice community development, tribal advocacy, civil rights, and social justice law through her firm, Leger Law and Strategy, LLC. She served as a White House fellow during the Clinton administration and later on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation under President Obama, where she worked as a liaison between the White House Office and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This background in tribal advocacy and federal policy positions her as a leading voice on Native American issues within Congress.

Her legislative work reflects her committee focus and expertise. Among her sponsored bills are measures addressing tribal lands, including amendments to the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act affecting water rights in New Mexico, and the Small Cemetery Conveyance Act. Beyond her committee assignments, she has championed democratic participation reforms, having led the successful implementation of ranked-choice voting in Santa Fe's municipal elections in 2017. Her legislative profile centers on advancing tribal interests, public lands stewardship, and community-based solutions to longstanding federal policy challenges.