3 weeks post-election, US House Speaker won’t swear in Grijalva—even after results are officially certified

It’s been 23 days since Adelita Grijalva was elected to Congress, but she still hasn’t been sworn into office. 

In March of this year, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a longtime Arizona congressman and Adelita’s father, died of cancer and left his seat vacant. Southern Arizonans have been without representation ever since.

On Sept. 23, Grijalva won a special election to represent Arizona’s Seventh Congressional District with nearly 70% of the vote, making history as the first Latina to represent the state in Congress. However, she hasn’t been sworn into office more than three weeks on. 

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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) initially delayed Grijalva’s swearing-in to Oct. 7, when the House was set to return to regular session. Then he further pushed the date to Oct. 14 after deciding not to reconvene the House amid the government shutdown. 

Now, Johnson has said he will not swear in Grijalva until the government reopens, indefinitely delaying her taking office. 

Arizona’s Democratic congressional delegation and the Mayors of eight cities in southern Arizona that Grijalva represents have called on Johnson to swear in the congresswoman-elect.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes officially canvassed, and ultimately certified the special election on Tuesday—and the House has received the official certificate of election. 

READ MORE: Democrat Adelita Grijalva wins special election for Arizona congressional seat

Hobbs and Mayes both urged House leadership to swear Grijalva in and provide the district with representation. 

“I would suggest that Washington politicians should follow our lead and swear in the duly elected Congresswoman so that her constituents finally have representation in Washington,” Hobbs said during the canvass.

Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego confronted Johnson outside his office last week, calling out his flimsy excuses for refusing to swear in Grijalva. 

Arizona’s Republican congressional delegation, David Schweikert, Eli Crane, Juan Ciscomani, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and Abe Hamadeh have stayed silent.

What has Johnson said?

The House will not be in session until the government shutdown ends, according to Johnson, and it remains in an indefinite recess in the meantime.

Earlier this year, the House swore in two Republicans and one Democratic representative within 24 hours of their elections—before their results were certified by their state elections officials, and during pro forma sessions when legislative bodies meet but no business was conducted. 

On Tuesday, Mayes sent a letter threatening legal action against Johnson for failing to seat Grijalva.

“You and your staff have provided ever-shifting, unsatisfactory, and sometimes absurd stories as to why Ms. Grijalva has not been sworn in,” Mayes wrote. “In a particularly worrisome comment, an aide connected the swearing-in and admission to the ongoing budget fight, suggesting that the House is trying to use Arizona’s constitutional right to representation in the House as a bargaining chip.”

Grijalva said she will “be in close contact with [Mayes] as we explore legal options if the Speaker continues to drag his feet.”

Johnson’s decision to delay the swearing-in sets a scary precedent, Grijalva told The Copper Courier.

Without a presence in the district, especially during a time of government shutdown, constituents are not getting the help they need, Grijalva said. 

Grijalva has no staff, no office, and she cannot communicate directly with any departments in the federal government. 

“I keep getting invited to participate in all of the things for the Democratic caucus, but it’s very clear that I am not, I’m not part of the club yet,” Grijalva told The Copper Courier. “This is literally taxation without representation.”

On Tuesday, Grijalva arrived back in Washington, and marched to Johnson’s office with a number of her Democratic colleagues to once again demand her swearing-in. 

“Whether you voted for me or not, whether you’re in my district or not, [this] should really concern you as someone that lives in this nation, for one person to be able to nullify and suppress the voice of [800,000] people,” Grijalva said. 

Is Johnson preventing Grijalva from taking office to cover up the Epstein files?

Johnson faces a growing number of accusations that he is refusing to swear-in Grijalva in order to stop the release of the Epstein files. 

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), has been gathering petition signatures to trigger a vote on legislation that would force the Department of Justice to release all federal files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

He needs one more vote to trigger the release, and Grijalva has pledged to add her signature to the bipartisan discharge petition.

Her signature would be the last one needed to put the  discharge petition to release the Epstein files over the 218-vote threshold, bypassing Republican leadership’s attempts to keep the documents out of the hands of the public.

“Let’s be clear, Speaker Johnson knows that I will be the 218th signature on the discharge petition for the Epstein files, he is doing everything in his power to shield this administration from accountability that is not leadership, that is obstruction,” Grijalva said in a Wednesday morning press conference in Washington.

By delaying Grijalva’s swearing in ceremony, Johnson is buying more time to try and change the minds of the four GOP lawmakers who signed the petition to force a vote releasing the Epstein files. 

“The only thing that’s been consistent the whole time is that Speaker Johnson is trying to cover up for pedophiles … and in the process, Arizona does not have a congresswoman right now,” Gallego said in the Wednesday morning press conference.

Meanwhile, over 800,000 constituents, including several tribal nations, in Congressional District 7 are left without a voice in Washington. 

“I don’t need bells and whistles. I don’t need pomp and circumstance. I just need to get to work for southern Arizona,” Grijalva said in the Wednesday morning press conference.