PHOENIX – Despite an ongoing – and now record-setting — delay in being sworn in, U.S. Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva said she is finding ways to connect with her Arizona constituents.
Wednesday was the 36th day since voters in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District overwhelmingly selected Grijalva to fill her father’s seat in a Sept. 23 special election.
The previous modern-day record was 35 days for California Democrat Jimmy Gomez, who reportedly requested a delay due to a “family conflict” after his June 2017 special election victory.
Grijalva’s delay is not of her doing. The Democrat has been pushing to be sworn in since winning with more than twice as many votes as her closest competitor, Republican Daniel Butierez.
Why won’t House Speaker Mike Johnson swear in Adelita Grijalva?
Despite the overwhelming margin, House Speaker Mike Johnson initially said he was waiting for the results to be officially canvassed on Oct. 14. He later said he won’t swear Grijalva in while the House is out of session during the government shutdown, which started Oct. 1.
The speaker didn’t have the same reluctance after two Florida Republicans won congressional seats earlier this year. He swore in Reps. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine during a pro forma session less than 24 hours after their special elections even though the House was out of session.
The record-breaking delay has prompted speculation from members of both parties that Johnson is worried about Grijalva providing the final signature needed to trigger a vote on releasing the Justice Department files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case. Johnson has denied the Epstein files have anything to do with it.
The upshot is that the Arizona CD7 seat has been vacant since March 13, when Raúl Grijalva died at age 77 after a long battle with cancer.
Is Adelita Grijalva working while waiting to be sworn in?
“Speaker Johnson may be blocking my swearing-in, but he can’t stop me from showing up for the people of southern Arizona,” Grijalva said in a press release Wednesday. “Every day that goes by without representation is another day our veterans, seniors and working families are left without a voice in Congress.”
Although she has no budget or official powers, Grijalva has been doing outreach in her district, including a town hall with veterans about the shutdown and a meeting with seniors to hear concerns about the potential loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Grijalva does have the keys to her office in Washington, but she doesn’t have access to the printer or computers there. In the meantime, she’s been using her personal laptop for video calls.
“Yes, I have access to an office. But it’s kind of like somebody saying, ‘Here’s a car,’ and it doesn’t have an engine, gas or tires,” Grijalva said in a video posted to social media last week.
Some Republicans join call to get Adelita Grijalva sworn in
Democrats have been pushing Johnson to swear Grijalva in for weeks. It got to the point that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sued Johnson over the delay last week.
Several Republicans are even backing Grijalva publicly, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Kevin Kiley of California. Retired Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks blasted Johnson in an op-ed published by AL.com on Tuesday.
“I’m a Republican. The House speaker is a Republican. Adelita Grijalva is a Democrat. But what is right is right, and what the Republican House speaker is doing to Democrat Adelita Grijalva is wrong. Period,” Brooks wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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