WASHINGTON — Democrats are ramping up pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson to seat Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, staging a protest at his office, holding news conferences and threatening a lawsuit to try to get him to swear in the newest Democratic member of Congress.
Grijalva won the Arizona House seat of her father, the late progressive leader Rep. Raul Grijalva, in a Sept. 23 special election. But the House has not been in session since her election as part of the stalemate over the government shutdown.
While Grijalva has been in and around the Capitol complex waiting to take the oath, Johnson, R-La., has said for the past two weeks he won’t swear her in until the government reopens.
Once she is seated, Grijalva would bring the House to 219 Republicans and 214 Democrats. She is also expected to be the final signature needed to force a House vote to release the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files.
Now, Democrats are trying new, more aggressive tactics to force Johnson to reverse course.
On Tuesday night, Grijalva and members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus marched to Johnson’s office, chanting “Swear her in!” A U.S. Capitol Police officer briefly tried to stop lawmakers and could be seen on video getting into a short verbal altercation with Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif. She claimed that the officer grabbed her, but a video only shows her pushing past an officer into the speaker’s foyer. Capitol Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In remarks outside Johnson’s office, Grijalva said she has heard “not one word” from the speaker.
“I am a woman of color from Arizona, and 700,000 people deserve to have their voice heard, …” Grijlava said. “Let’s just be really clear, if I were a Republican, I would have already been sworn, and that is not acceptable. They’re afraid of me signing and being the 218th signer to the Epstein petition.”
Johnson was not in the Capitol during the protest. But Arizona’s two Democratic senators — Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly — verbally sparred with Johnson in the same spot just last week over his refusal to immediately seat Grijalva.
Tuesday night’s protest came on the same day that top Arizona state officials certified the results of Grijalva’s election victory. And on Tuesday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, sent a letter to Johnson threatening to sue if he did not seat Grijalva or set a date to do so.
“Failing to seat Ms. Grijalva immediately or to otherwise provide a reasonable explanation as to when she will be seated will prompt legal action,” Mayes wrote.
She added: “You and your staff have provided ever-shifting, unsatisfactory, and sometimes absurd stories as to why Ms. Grijalva has not been sworn in. 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.”
When asked about Mayes’ letter, Johnson said in a short statement, “The House will follow customary practice by swearing in Rep-elect Grijalva when the House is in legislative session.”
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Johnson accused Democrats of “playing political games” and disrespecting police by protesting at his office.
“They stormed my office. Maybe you saw some of the video online that they themselves shared. … They berated a Capitol Police officer, screamed at him. He was just merely standing his post. It shows, again, their disdain for law enforcement, as we see all around the country … and it shows their desperation.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Grijalva and other Democrats have pointed out that Johnson, in April, swore in two Florida Republicans — Rep. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine — shortly after their special elections, while the House was out of town.
Johnson has argued it was because the pair of Floridians had family in Washington at the time, so he did it as a courtesy to accommodate visiting family members. He also told reporters Tuesday he wants to ensure Grijalva has “all the pomp and circumstance” of having a full chamber in session to witness her being sworn in.
And the speaker has repeatedly said the delay has nothing to do with the effort to force a vote on the Epstein files.
Following the Tuesday protest, Democrats in both the Arizona delegation and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Wednesday stood in front of the Capitol and again demanded he administer the oath of office.
“I don’t need bells and whistles,” Grijalva said, rejecting the speaker’s explanation. “I don’t need pomp and circumstance. I just need to get to work for southern Arizona.”
Kelly, the Arizona senator, noted he and his family live in Grijalva’s district, which extends along the southern border from Yuma to Tucson.
“We currently do not have representation in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Kelly said, “and that is wrong.”
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