Democratic Arizona lawmakers and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus gathered outside the Capitol on Wednesday to demand Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) be sworn into office immediately after weeks of delays.
“It’s this Congressional purgatory,” Grijalva said. “Everyone keeps treating me like I’m a member of Congress, which I appreciate, but I’m not, very clearly. Everyone keeps asking for where that amazing little button is, and that represents 812,000 people. It’s not okay. It’s not okay, and I’m not going to let myself just take it.”
Grijalva won a special election in September in Arizona’s Seventh Congressional District. The seat was left vacant after her father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), passed away in the spring.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Grijalva would be sworn in once the House returned to session, but he has kept the House out of session since the government shutdown started two weeks ago.
Democratic lawmakers suggested Johnson purposefully delayed swearing in Grijalva to prevent the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) sponsored a petition to order the DOJ to release all related files. It is one signature short, and Grijalva has said she would be the 218th lawmaker needed to force a House floor vote on the matter.
“There is zero question in my mind that a huge, huge part of this is around buying time around the Epstein issue,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) said.
Earlier this year, Johnson swore in two Republican congressmen from Florida within 24 hours of their special elections.
When asked why he is not holding a similar pro forma session for Grijalva, Johnson said there were special circumstances for his Republican colleagues because their families had traveled to D.C. for the ceremony.
Johnson also said Grijalva needed “pomp and circumstance” to be sworn in, which the representative-elect denied Wednesday morning.
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) said giving the speaker the power to decide when to swear in elected officials sets a dangerous precedent.
“You could imagine the consequences of that — take it to its logical extreme — that a speaker can decide which members of the Democratic caucus get sworn in, or a Democratic Speaker decides which members of the Republican caucus get sworn in,” Stanton said. “That’s a very dangerous thing for American democracy.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threatened legal action Tuesday against Johnson if he continued to delay swearing in Grijalva, after election results were officially certified. Grijalva won nearly 70% of the votes.
The representative-elect said she will continue applying public pressure and is looking at possible legal avenues, sending letters to Johnson and even knocking on his office door. Waiting to officially become a member of Congress is a “horrible nightmare,” she said.
“This is just another blow to southern Arizona,” Grijalva said. “Personally, to me, to not be able to do my job is — incredibly frustrating is an understatement.”
