Arizona leaders certified Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva's win Tuesday and demanded she be sworn in.
Southern Arizona voters elected Grijalva in a special election on Sept. 23, but she still hasn’t been sworn in by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
During the canvass of the election results on Tuesday, Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes accused Johnson of playing political games. She said litigation is on the table if he doesn’t swear Grijalva in without further delay.
“Despite the fact that the voters have made their voices clear, Speaker Mike Johnson has delayed and stonewalled Representative Grijalva’s swearing-in. He and his staff have given shifting and at times absurd reasons for failing to administer the oath of office,” Mayes said.
Mayes argues that holding off on swearing in Grijalva is a violation of federal law. She cited a 1969 court case, Powell, 395 U.S. at 522, which determined: “[T]he Constitution leaves the House without authority to exclude any person, duly elected by [her] constituents, who meets all the requirements for membership expressly prescribed in the Constitution.”
“We ask that within two days of the date of this letter, you provide this Office with your assurance of when and where that will take place, which must be immediate and prior to the date the House comes back into regular session. Should you fail to provide such assurance, we will be forced to seek judicial relief to protect Arizona and the residents of its Seventh Congressional District,” Mayes wrote in a letter to Johnson on Tuesday.
Grijalva has pledged to be the key signature on a petition to force the release of the Epstein files.
Arizona Democrats have repeatedly accused Johnson of delaying her swearing-in to avoid that vote.
Grijalva called Johnson out for swearing in two Republican congressmen within a day of their special elections in brief congressional sessions called pro forma sessions, which can be held during a recess.
“Any further delay reveals his true motive: Speaker Johnson is stalling because he knows I will be the 218th signature on the discharge petition to release the Epstein files,” Grijalva said in a statement. “The cost of his obstruction is the silencing of over 800,000 Southern Arizonans who deserve to have a voice in Congress. It is also robbing them of the essential constituent services they count on every day, especially during this Republican government shutdown.”
For his part, Johnson has denied that accusation.
During a heated exchange with Arizona Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, Johnson defended his decision to swear in other Republican lawmakers. He said he made an exception for them because the congressmen-elect’s families had come to Washington, D.C.
But he didn’t say he’d swear in Grijalva if her family made the trip.
On Oct. 2, Johnson pledged to swear in Grijalva “next week,” but he reneged on that commitment the next day, instead extending a congressional recess.
Johnson has said he won’t swear in Grijalva until the House comes back in session and said the House won’t come back in session until Democrats agree to reopen the federal government.
The government is currently in a shutdown amid a budget fight between Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats primarily want to extend health care tax credits and block proposed Medicaid cuts.
The Republicans’ proposed budget doesn’t have those things and doesn’t have enough support to pass the Senate, which has caused the standoff.
In comments on Tuesday, Johnson reiterated that he plans to call lawmakers back into session and swear in Grijalva when the government shutdown ends.
“It's really no surprise that yet another Democrat politician from Arizona is trying a publicity stunt. I have explained this a thousand times: We are going to swear in Rep. Grijalva as soon as we get back to legislative session,” Johnson said. “My advice to all the Democrats in Arizona is to tell their two senators, Kelly and Grijalva, er, Gallego, to do their job and open the government and we can move forward with our business.”
But Mayes said no one knows when the shutdown will actually end.
“You know, Republicans don't seem to want to even talk to Democrats,” she said. “So is he saying six months from now, the seventh congressional district might have representation?”
And Mayes argued Johnson doesn’t have the authority to indefinitely delay now that Grijalva’s victory was officially certified by the state.
“The law is clear. There's several cases that make it clear that once a representative is elected and their election is certified, they must be seated,” she argued.
In the meantime, the district’s nearly 800,000 voters have no representative in Congress. Grijalva has no access to her office or other resources needed to aid constituents dealing with recent flash flooding, and Mayes said some residents in the district are actually seeking help through the Grijalva campaign webpage.
“There is absolutely no excuse for Mike Johnson to not swear her in, and we will likely, if this doesn't get resolved very quickly, be seeking a declaratory action from a federal judge and trying to get her sworn in,” Mayes said.
On Tuesday, Mayes said she will make good on that threat if Johnson doesn’t swear in Grijalva within two days.
