1 of 2 | Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes on Tuesday threatened legal action if U.S House Speaker Mike Johnson did not seat Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat recently elected in a special election. File Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes on Tuesday threatened to take U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to court over delays in swearing in Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat recently elected in a special election.
In a Sept. 23 special election, Grijalva was elected with nearly 70% of the vote to the southern Arizona-based seat that was long held by her late father, Raul Grijalva. Her victory meant that House Republicans would see their already thin majority further shrink to 219-214. However, Johnson has yet to swear in Grijalva, despite her clear victory.
“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 in her letter to Johnson. “The House of Representatives’ uniquely democratic function makes frustrating the will of the voters in selecting their representative particularly egregious.”
Johnson has kept the House in recess since the government shutdown last week to pressure Democrats to agree to a temporary funding measure. He has previously said he will swear in Grijalva after the government reopens.
Mayes also pointed to what she called a “particularly worrisome comment” by one of Johnson’s aides that linked Grijalva’s swearing in to the budget fight, which she wrote suggested that “the House is trying to use Arizona’s constitutional right to representation in the House as a bargaining chip.”
“You and your staff have provided ever-shifting, unsatisfactory and sometimes absurd stories as to why Ms. Grijalva has not been sworn in,” Mayes wrote, noting that the speaker had sworn in five other House members elected in special elections.
Grijalva has said she would support a measure Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., have introducted to force a vote to make public records related to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who was a former friend to President Donald Trump before the two had a falling out.
Johnson, R-La., responded on Tuesday, calling the push to release the Epstein files “another partisan, manufactured thing” that could further harm victims if pursued too quickly.
He also pointed out that Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., was elected in a special election in 2021 but had to wait 25 days for then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to administer the oath of office.
“No Democrats jumped up and down and screamed about that, nor do I recall any Republicans,” Johnson said. “Because everybody understood this is the process of the House.”
