WASHINGTON — Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was sworn into the House on Wednesday, 50 days after winning a special election to represent Arizona’s 7th congressional district.
Grijalva added the key 218th signature on a bipartisan discharge petition to force a House vote on releasing files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files,” Grijalva said on the House floor Wednesday afternoon. “Justice cannot wait another day.”
The chamber returned to session Wednesday for the first time since Sept. 19. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) kept the House out of session through the 43-day government shutdown that ended later that night.
Johnson previously said he would not swear in Grijalva during the shutdown. Democrats said the delay was to prevent Grijalva from signing the discharge petition, pointing to instances in which the Speaker swore in other representatives 24 hours after they were elected.
“There is no justification to deny Arizonans of their representation, and Speaker Johnson literally twisted himself into knots trying to explain it,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said. “But we all know the real reason. Donald Trump and Republican leadership are hell-bent on keeping the Epstein files hidden from the American people.”
Grijalva was sworn in the same day Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released new emails from Epstein that mentioned President Donald Trump, including one from 2019 in which Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls.”
Johnson said he plans to hold a House vote on the Epstein legislation next week. If the bill passes, it moves to the Senate, where Senate Republicans will likely face public pressure over how they vote. Nearly three-quarters of Americans support releasing the Epstein files, based on a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll conducted last month.
Two Epstein survivors were present in the House chamber during Grijalva’s first speech as congresswoman.
“This is an abuse of power,” Grijalva said as Johnson stood on the dais behind her. “One individual should not be able to unilaterally obstruct the swearing in of a duly elected member of Congress for political reasons.”
During the ceremonial photo-op outside the chamber that followed, Grijalva was asked why it took so long to swear her in. The congresswoman motioned to Johnson and said, “That would not be my question.”
“Look, I really like this lady,” Johnson said in response. “She’s going to be an excellent member of Congress. She’s a great person.”
He added that Grijalva “fills her father’s shoes,” referring to former Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who represented Arizona’s 7th congressional district for over two decades before his death in March.
Grijalva becomes the first Latina congresswoman to represent Arizona in the House — a point Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) reiterated as Democratic Women’s Caucus members posed with Grijalva outside the chamber.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), who embraced her new colleague after the photo, told Medill News Service the two met years ago through Raúl Grijalva.
“I told her that her dad has been with her the entire time,” Crockett said.
Like her late father, Grijalva is a progressive Democrat. She said she plans to advocate for environmental justice, public education and legislation to “ensure” the immediate seating of future representatives-elect.
Her whirlwind first day in Congress ended with a vote alongside her colleagues on the Senate-passed bill to open the government, which passed the House 222-209 that evening.
“It’s a little surreal, I have to say,” she said. “People keep asking me how I feel. And honestly, maybe I’ll have a better answer tomorrow.”
