House Republicans moved to block Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva from taking her seat this week. Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP leaders refused Democratic requests to swear her in during a brief Tuesday session.
The delay is more than symbolic. Grijalva had promised to sign the discharge petition to release Jeffrey Epstein’s files. That petition is now stuck one signature short.
Trump and Republican leaders oppose making the files public. Democrats had been counting on Grijalva to tip it over the line.
She traveled to Washington with other Democrats pressing GOP leaders on a funding deal. At noon on Tuesday, the House opened briefly for a pro forma session. But Republicans refused to swear her in.
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Rep. Morgan Griffith presided and quickly gaveled the session out while Democrats shouted from the floor. When asked, he defended the move. “Historically, you do it when the House is in session other than pro forma,” Griffith said.
Grijalva pointed to an earlier case where Florida Republicans were sworn in during a pro forma session. “There’s no reason why I couldn’t have been sworn in, and it’s very problematic, because we’re facing a government shutdown. We’re going to have constituents who have questions, and there is nobody there to answer questions,” she said.
On the question of when she might be sworn in, she admitted she has no answer. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
The Speaker’s office says the swearing-in will happen when the House returns on October 7. “As is standard practice, with the House now having received the appropriate paperwork from the state, the Speaker’s Office intends to schedule a swearing in for the Representative-elect when the House returns to session,” a spokesperson said.
Democrats argue this is not standard at all.
The Democratic Women’s Caucus sent Johnson a letter calling for immediate action. “It is common practice in the House of Representatives that Representatives-elect are sworn in immediately following their decisive election, with some being sworn in as little as 24 hours after they have won,” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández wrote. “This instance should be no different.”
Republican leaders canceled voting days this week to push Senate Democrats on a GOP funding plan. That decision left Grijalva sidelined, even though a shutdown would not legally stop her from being sworn in.
The move does not affect the math on funding votes. Republicans hold 219 seats to Democrats’ 213, and the margin will stay the same even when Grijalva is added. But the Epstein petition is a different story.
Led by Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, the petition needs 218 signatures. Grijalva would have been number 218.
So far, only three other Republicans, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert, have joined Massie in signing. GOP leaders argue the bill fails to protect victims and say the Oversight Committee is already investigating the Epstein case.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
