Speaker Mike Johnson does not plan to allow the Democrats’ newest congresswoman to be sworn in until his party agrees to end the government shutdown, despite telling CNN earlier Tuesday that he would swear her in “as soon as she wants.”
“We will swear in Rep. Elect (Adelita) Grijalva as soon as the House returns to session when Chuck Schumer, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego decide to open the government,” a leadership aide said Tuesday.
The move amounts to an extraordinary power play to deny a seat to a sitting member.
While the leadership aide maintained that “it is standard practice in the House to swear in members when the House is in legislative session,” Johnson swore in representatives of the Florida Republican Party. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine during a pro forma session earlier this year.
As the government shutdown has dragged on without the Senate being able to reach a deal to fund the government, the House has been holding brief “pro forma” sessions where the chamber quickly packs itself away from legislative business.
Johnson, asked earlier Tuesday why she had not sworn in Grijalva during a pro forma session when she was elected in September and whether it was connected to a push to vote on the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s case files, said: “No, it has nothing to do with that. We’ll gasp it when everyone gets back. It’s a ceremonial duty.”
“Look, we’ll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants. It has nothing to do with that. Me, we’re in pro forma session because there’s nothing to do.
Grijalva is expected to provide the final signature needed on a petition to force a full House vote on the release of additional materials in the Epstein case, but Johnson has insisted that the delay in his swearing-in is not related to that issue.
Johnson did not explain why he has chosen to delay his curse, even though he has handled other members differently.
“Speaker Johnson needs to stop dragging his feet and follow the same precedent he set in swearing in his Republican colleagues earlier this year. If you would just give me a date and time, I will be there,” Grijalva said in a statement to CNN.
The incoming congresswoman, who won a special election two weeks ago, has been asking Johnson to provide her with a date for her swearing-in, arguing in a letter to the speaker on Monday that the delay “is robbing the people of southern Arizona of essential constituent services.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, told reporters at the Capitol on Monday that it is “scandalous” that Grijalva had not yet been sworn in.
“This is outrageous. You have the White House undermining our democracy. Now you have the speaker of the House doing the same thing. I mean, this is a continuation of the Epstein cover-up,” he said.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Ellis Kim contributed to this report.
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(Tagstotranslate) Mike Johnson (T) House (T) Jeffrey Epstein (T) Pro forma session (T) Adelita Grijalva