Democrat Adelita Grijalva cruised to a landslide victory a few weeks ago, winning her congressional special election by roughly 40 points. Once sworn in, she’ll be Arizona’s first Latina congresswoman, succeeding her father, the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva, and she’ll narrow the GOP majority in the House: Republicans will hold 219 seats to the Democrats’ 214, with two vacancies remaining.
What’s more, upon arriving on Capitol Hill, she has also said she intends to sign a pending discharge petition to force disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein files, currently being held back by Donald Trump’s Justice Department. Proponents of the effort are currently one member short of 218 signatures, but Grijalva’s support would trigger a process House Speaker Mike Johnson would be largely powerless to stop.
There’s one key problem, however: Johnson still isn’t willing to let her take the oath of office.
The Arizona secretary of state’s office formally certified Grijalva’s election victory this week, and with this in mind, the Arizona Democrat is making fresh demands. The New York Times reported:
[O]n Wednesday morning, a group of Arizona lawmakers gathered in front of the Capitol and accused Mr. Johnson of protecting pedophiles, obstructing the will of voters and taking an unprecedented political action in refusing to perform the simple ministerial duty of swearing in an elected member of Congress. ‘This delay is not procedural, it is intentional,’ said Ms. Grijalva. … ‘He is doing everything in his power to shield this administration from accountability. That is not leadership, that is obstruction.’
The Arizonan is getting plenty of backup. Members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus chanted “Swear her in!” outside of Johnson’s office this week, which coincided with correspondence from Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who directed the House speaker to allow Grijalva to begin her duties.
Mayes, a Democrat, also warned Johnson that she’s prepared to take the matter to court if he continues to resist.
For his part, the House speaker told reporters that Grijalva’s swearing-in hasn’t been scheduled because the chamber hasn’t been in session. That might seem like a compelling excuse, were it not for the fact that Johnson, earlier this year, swore in two Florida Republicans — Reps. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine — when the House wasn’t formally in session, just one day after their respective special election victories. All of which makes it that much easier to believe that the House speaker is principally concerned about the discharge petition on the Epstein files, his protestations notwithstanding. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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