Well.

In less than three months since taking office, U.S.

Senator George Helmy has introduced or co-sponsored 30 bills, voted on five resolutions, and 20 federal judicial nominees.

He served on three Senate committees, stumped for VP Harris on the campaign trail, and made a trip to the Middle East.

Even his Republican counterparts have said he'll hit the ground running in Washington, making the most of his brief tenure serving as a caretaker of the position left vacant by convicted former Senator Bob Menendez.

But that'll all come to an end on Sunday, when Helmy officially steps down from the interim role he was appointed to by Governor Murphy and Senator elect Andy Kim.

More permanently transition into the seat.

So what's his big takeaway?

Senator Helmy joins me now.

Senator.

Help me.

It's really good to talk to you.

I imagine that this whole experience has felt pretty surreal.

You have been extremely busy so much so that, Republican counterparts have even commented on it.

What would you say has been the biggest focus for you?

I mean, you really hit the ground running.

Brianna, first of all, thank you for having me, back on and truly thank you for the work that you do.

It's critical to, to our state.

And frankly, it's such a pillar of our of our democracy.

So I just start by tremendous amount of gratitude.

Surreal is one word and just an incredible honor.

Is the other.

But to your to your question about, like, hitting the ground running, I think it's why the governor thought I was the best choice to fill this short term appointment is I just know the issues of the state.

I've been a staffer for two former senators.

I'm the longest serving chief of staff in the state.

So I knew the issues.

I knew what we were fighting for already with the congressional delegation, and we've been able to hit the ground running.

And as I have in my entire public service career, I know the best route for getting things done is to reach across the aisle, and, and take meetings and explain the issues and why they're important to working families.

And I've been very fortunate, not only on the youth mental health, which has been my domestic priority, but a number of our funding priorities and appropriations requests to really see bipartisan support, on those issues.

And I'm very hopeful that a senator elect, Kim, takes office soon.

We're going to see those new Jersey priorities come to fruition.

Yeah.

I mean, you gave some pretty glowing you both had pretty glowing remarks about the relationship that you've forged.

What have the conversations been like?

I know you said that you've really kept the lines open to help him with the transition.

What has it looked like so far?

Yeah, I mean, the good news is, you know, while we're a very populated state, new Jersey really isn't that big.

I've known Andy for a good part of ten years, as he will tell you.

You know, I was one of the first meetings he took when he was even considering running for Congress again against then Congressman MacArthur in a very conservative district.

So I've known him for a long time, and I've always admired his public service.

And we've always been engaged on public policy issues.

So, again, you know, the minute I was appointed, I reached out to him, just so I told what I wanted to talk about, whether it be foreign policy and humanitarian issues in the Middle East, the humanitarian issues in South Sudan, but also clearly a real focus on the issues that have been impacting new Jersey, whether it be health care, our appropriations request, clean drinking water.

And these are issues that he, you know, frankly, is even more versed on than I am.

Given his his tenure, in the legislature, he'll be coming in to a very different white House, a Republican controlled Congress.

I mean, being there, being in the halls, there's a lot of talk about Congress not getting things done about the polarization.

I mean, would you categorize it that way?

What's been your experience?

One of the most surprising things.

And frankly, the thing that gives me the most optimism is to, you know, me well, I even before I got started, I reached out to as many Republicans and Democrats.

I would have a cup of coffee with me before and during my term.

And for the most part, these are men and women who put America first and their, Partizan affiliation second, and want to get things done where you may disagree on 90% of the stuff, you can put that aside and say, hey, well, there's 10% of the stuff we can work on.

Let me ask you quickly.

You managed to squeeze in a trip to Jordan.

You gave a pretty passionate speech on the Senate floor about the crisis in the Middle East.

Are you concerned at all with the direction that U.S. policy has been trending and may likely trend under a new white House with regard to support for Israel, given what you say you witnessed with the humanitarian crisis.

Yeah.

And thank you for asking that.

I'm the first Coptic Orthodox to ever serve in the United States Senate.

I'm the only Arab American in the entire institution right now.

And there will be no Arab American, coming, coming into the next Senate.

So that focus on the humanitarian crisis was very personal to make.

And clearly, we have a huge Arab population, in new Jersey that was demanding action.

And we are beyond witnessing one of the greatest decimation of human life, in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.

And I think we've seen in some time we're still seeing nearly 50,000 dead in Palestine.

And an inability to really address the humanitarian crisis for noncombatants.

It was important for me to go out there and hear from our embassy here, from the NGOs that are doing the work, the nonprofits, the UN, USAID, and to meet with the Jordanian leadership.

We have winters coming.

Children are freezing, children are starving.

And it is incumbent on us to hold our allies accountable.

For the for for, compliance with international norms and international laws.

I just came from my last Senate Foreign Relations Committee where the conversation was about, you know, Ben Cardin's leadership on human rights and corruption and our need to hold, whether it be Russia or Israel or anybody else accountable, for, for doing better on these issues.

Senator Helmy, thanks so much for your time and good luck.

Wonderful being with you.

Thank you again for having me, Briana.