House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is under fire from both Democrats and Republicans over allegations that he is deliberately delaying the swearing-in of an Arizona Democrat to block a push for the release of Jeffrey Epstein files.
Adelita Grijalva, who won her election on Sept. 23 but still hasn’t taken her seat in Congress, told MSNBC on Saturday, “We’re all hoping that Speaker Johnson is going to read the tea leaves and get to work, swear me in so we don’t have to go seek judicial support in him doing his job, but that’s where we are.”
The delay isn’t just a procedural hiccup. Grijalva and others say Johnson is holding her back to prevent the passage of a discharge petition that would force the Justice Department to release its records on Epstein, who died in 2019 awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The petition currently has 217 signatures — just one shy of forcing a House vote — and Grijalva has pledged to sign it.
Republicans are also criticizing Johnson. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) recently told CNN that Grijalva “should be sworn in,” highlighting growing bipartisan frustration. Grijalva put it plainly: “If I were Republican, I would have been sworn in already – I think everybody knows that. And we’ve had several Republicans come out and say, ‘it’s crazy, she should have been sworn in a long time ago.’”
Johnson says he will swear Grijalva in once the government reopens. But the House has held multiple “pro forma” sessions during the shutdown — which, according to Grijalva, would have been enough for her to be sworn in.
“There have been over 10 [House] pro forma sessions that I could have easily been sworn in,” she said. “Speaker Johnson painted himself into a corner with saying [he] won’t swear [me] in until [the government] re-opens, [and now] I’m stuck in this box that he created.”
Grijalva has filed a lawsuit to force Johnson’s hand, and a judge has been assigned to the case, with proceedings possibly expedited as early as next week. Yet she is skeptical Johnson would comply even if ordered by a court.
“I think that he’ll dig his heels in,” she said. “But let’s be real, this administration, it doesn’t really matter what court decisions come down, what the rule of law is, they get to make their own decisions, that’s sort of what their [modus operandi] has been, and so it is very frustrating.”
With the Epstein files controversy showing no signs of letting up, Johnson faces mounting pressure from both sides of the aisle. The question is whether he will relent or double down on what many are calling a “crazy” ploy.
