Ohio Republican Jim Jordan came unglued Tuesday night when grilled by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about why House Republicans are blocking the swearing-in of Democratic Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva.
Grijalva, who won last month’s special election in Arizona to replace her late father, Raul Grijalva, should be settling into her new seat. Instead, she’s stuck on the sidelines—thanks, it seems, to a combination of political stall tactics and increasingly shaky excuses from the GOP.
During his appearance on The Source, Jordan tried to argue that Grijalva can’t be sworn in because the House is currently in a “pro forma” session—a procedural placeholder that requires minimal attendance and supposedly prevents official business from being conducted.
“There’s two people on the floor, or, you know, whatever, there’s—but normally, it’s done in front of the full House, so that new member in a special election gets a, I think, in some ways, a kind of a neat experience, where they get to talk to the House, their first day, getting sworn in,” Jordan said.
But that explanation quickly unraveled when Collins reminded him that two Republican lawmakers—Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine—were both sworn in during a pro forma session earlier this year.
Jordan’s response? Pure damage control.
“I didn’t—I actually didn’t even know that, when they were sworn in,” he admitted. “But I always remember when it happens, the delegation is up front, and that person is sworn in.”
It only got more uncomfortable from there.
“Do you think it has anything to do with the discharge petition, and that she could be the 218th signature, for the Jeffrey Epstein files?” Collins asked, referring to the House effort to force a vote to release sealed Epstein documents.
At that point, Jordan went from fumbling to flailing.
“No, I think it’s—I think it’s—to make the clear point, we have voted to fund the government at levels, all the Democrats supported, and they now won’t support it, because they’re bringing up an issue that, frankly, was not even part of the campaign last year,” he said, dodging the Epstein reference entirely.
It’s not a good look. Grijalva is the first Latina Arizona has ever sent to Congress. She won her election fair and square. And now she’s being sidelined over procedural technicalities that apparently didn’t apply to Republican newcomers just months ago.
The timing is suspect. So is the reasoning. Republicans may not want to say it out loud, but if Grijalva’s signature is the one that unlocks the Epstein files, it’s no wonder they’re stalling.
The optics? Awful. The excuses? Worse.
And judging by Jordan’s twitchy, contradiction-riddled appearance on CNN, the pressure might finally be getting to them.
Watch the clip below.
Collins: Is it clear to you why Speaker Johnson has not sworn in the new member, Rep. Grijalva, yet?
Jordan: We’re not in session
Collins: So you're saying because it's a pro Forma session
Jordan: Yeah
Collins: But a couple months ago, he swore in Jimmy Patronis and Randy… pic.twitter.com/77aJmgNkS8
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 8, 2025
