Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday that he’ll soon swear in Arizona’s newest congresswoman, Adelita Grijalva.
Southern Arizona voters elected Grijalva in a landslide in a special election last week. Since then, Grijalva and other Democrats have criticized Johnson for not quickly swearing her in amid a congressional budget standoff that’s now led to a government shutdown.
In an interview with CBS Mornings, Johnson said he’ll swear in Grijalva next week.
“We will do it immediately early next week as soon as everyone returns to town. We have to have everybody here and we’ll, we’ll swear her in and I congratulate her on her win. She is replacing her father who had a long history here and she'll be a productive member of Congress,” Johnson said.
Johnson has kept the House out of session amid the budget crisis.
Some Democrats have accused Johnson of stalling Grijalva’s swearing in to avoid a vote she could help trigger on the release of investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers in the House need 218 petition signatures to sidestep Johnson and force a vote to to release the files. Grijalva could provide the last signature they need.
Grijalva has pledged to sign the petition.
Johnson was asked whether his delay in swearing in Grijalva has anything to do with the Epstein files, but he did not say.
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