Arizona attorney general sues House over Johnson’s delay in swearing in Adelita Grijalva

Washington — Arizona’s attorney general is taking legal action against the House of Representatives over Speaker Mike Johnson’s delay in swearing in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who would be the decisive signature on a petition to force a vote on releasing files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.  

Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., against the House of Representatives, demanding that Grijalva be sworn in after she won a special election last month.

In the lawsuit, Mayes asked the court to issue a judgment stating that Grijalva would be a member of the House of Representatives “once she has taken the oath prescribed by law” and that if Johnson hasn’t administered the oath, that it be administered to her “by any person authorized by law to administer oaths under the law of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the State of Arizona.” 

Speaking to reporters Tuesday before leaving the Capitol, Johnson called the lawsuit “patently absurd.”

“We run the House,” Johnson said. “She has no jurisdiction. We’re following the precedent. She’s looking for national publicity. Apparently, she’s gotten some of it, but good luck with that.”

Grijalva was elected on Sept. 23 to fill the seat of her late father, Raul Grijalva, but the House has not been in session since Sept. 19, when it passed Republicans’ short-term measure to fund the government for seven weeks. Johnson has repeatedly extended what was supposed to be a weeklong break after the vote and the House has yet to return amid the ongoing government shutdown. 

Johnson has said Grijalva will take the oath of office as soon as the House returns. He later said the delay was the result of a scheduling issue, explaining that the two Republicans quickly took their oath of office because they had already been scheduled to be sworn in, and their families were in Washington. 

But supporters of the bipartisan Epstein petition have interpreted the delay to swear her in as a move to avoid a vote — for now — to release the files. Grijalva has said she would add her name to the petition, bringing it to the 218-signature threshold it needs to force a vote. 

In recent days, Democrats have marched to Johnson’s office and have tried to earn recognition during the pro forma sessions to call for her to be sworn in. They unsuccessfully tried again during Friday’s brief session. 

“Every day that I am not sworn in is another day that my constituents are blocked from critical constituent services and excluded from debates happening right now that affect their lives,” Grijalva said last week.