Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) and Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva (D) sued on Tuesday to force House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to finally swear her in formally.
Grijalva was elected to replace her late father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D), on September 23, and still hasn’t been sworn in nearly a month later. While running, she vowed to be the last member needed to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files.
The lawsuit tracks Speaker Johnson’s “inconsistent” reasoning for refusing to seat Grijalva. After initially saying he would swear her in “as soon as she wants,” he quickly pivoted to saying he wouldn’t do it until the House is back in session, linking it to the government shutdown.
The suit also takes a jab at one of Johnson’s short-lived excuses for delaying the ceremony; he pointed to the delay in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) swearing in of Rep. Julia Letlow (R-VA), which happened about a month after her election. The suit points out that Pelosi had contacted Letlow to ascertain her preferred date.
“But, on information and belief, then-Speaker Pelosi communicated with Dr. Letlow immediately after the election, and the swearing in was scheduled at a time convenient for all parties,” said a footnote. “Ms. Grijalva would be delighted if Speaker Johnson would contact her to commit to a mutually agreeable time, as Speaker Pelosi did for Dr. Letlow.”
Mayes and Grijalva request a declaratory judgment from the court saying that if Johnson won’t administer the oath, it can be administered “by any person authorized by law to administer oaths under the law of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the State of Arizona.”
For the past few weeks, Grijalva was not sworn in during several pro forma sessions in the House, despite an intense push from Democrats. House Democrats tried to raise the issue multiple times on the House floor, but Republicans refused to recognize them.
Johnson swore in two Republicans during a pro forma session earlier this year.
Earlier this month, Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) confronted Johnson in front of his office about the delay.
Gallego accused Johnson of wanting to “cover up for pedophiles on the Epstein list” during the heated exchange. Johnson pushed back, saying it “has nothing to do” with Epstein.
“This is an excuse so she doesn’t sign on to that,” Gallego said.
“This is absurd,” Johnson responded, adding: “This is a publicity stunt.”
Read the lawsuit here.
For a fundamentalist, Johnson is a really bad liar.
The smirking weasel is enjoying himself. This trolling is just another example of “we have the power” and “it s*cks to be you” MAGA GOP governance.
When the Democrats retake the House in 2026 they need to remind the GOP of another saying: Payback is a …
On the Borowitz Report Speaker Johnson chose to be put in a coma to avoid swearing in Grijalva
Here is a quote from that report:
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Calling it “the nuclear option,” House Speaker Mike Johnson opted on Tuesday to enter a medically induced coma to avoid swearing in newly elected Democratic congresswoman Adelita Grijalva.
Johnson spoke to reporters at Walter Reed Army Medical Center moments before doctors administered pentobarbital through an intravenous tube connected to his left hand.
“I’m doing this as a last resort,” he said. “I was really hoping that people would forget about the Epstein files or that the Rapture would happen, but no such luck.”
A Republican colleague who visited Johnson’s bedside hours after he fell into the coma said that the Speaker “seemed like his usual self.”
2 things: 1st, the latest site revision is horrible! Everytime TPM remodels the site they seem to make it more difficult to use. I suspect they are using the supermarket style, in which you have walk around in circles inside to find anything you are looking for (Hoping you will decide to buy (or read, in this case…) other things along the way).
2nd, the failure to seat Grijalva just doesn’t make any sense. The petitioners are dug in so the request to release the Epstein report is going to go through eventually anyway. He is just keeping the story alive through his petty refusal. I remember when House Speakers were like giants. Mike Johnson seems to be a really small man…