WASHINGTON — More than seven weeks after her special election victory, Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva stood on the House floor and took the oath of office Wednesday, marking the end of a bitter standoff with GOP Speaker Mike Johnson, who had refused to seat her during the record government shutdown.
Johnson swore Grijalva in as the House opened Wednesday afternoon to applause from both sides of the aisle. “Congratulations, you are now a member of Congress,” he said.
Grijalva’s swearing-in shrinks the GOP majority to 219-214, where just three Republican defections can derail any piece of legislation Johnson brings to the floor.
Grijalva’s Sept. 23 landslide victory to replace her late father, the progressive leader Rep. Raul Grijalva, generated few national headlines. But in recent weeks, Democrats publicly clashed with Johnson — in news conferences, staged protests and a face-to-face impromptu meeting outside his office — as they tried to pressure him to administer the oath of office to Grijalva. Arizona’s state attorney general sued the House to try to force Johnson to take action.
During the 43-day shutdown — the longest in American history — Democrats claimed that Johnson was refusing to seat Grijalva to prevent the release of the Justice Department’s files from its Jeffrey Epstein investigation. The Epstein matter has plagued President Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill, as many in his MAGA base clamor for more transparency concerning the investigation.
Grijalva represents the 218th signature on a bipartisan discharge petition, which would allow rank-and-file lawmakers to bypass Johnson and his leadership team and force a floor vote to release files. She has said that signing the petition will be one of her first acts as a member of Congress.
Doing so will force the House to hold a vote in the coming weeks to compel the Justice Department to release all of the files related to its investigation into Epstein. But the bill is unlikely to pass the Senate or be signed into law by Trump, who has personally urged Republicans to block the discharge push.
Johnson has said the delay in swearing in Grijalva had nothing to do with the Epstein petition. The GOP-led House Oversight Committee is already investigating the Epstein matter, Johnson said, and has been releasing troves of records from both the government and the Epstein estate, including a new batch of 20,000 pages on Wednesday.
Johnson held firm, using Grijalva’s swearing-in as leverage in the shutdown fight and vowing only to swear in the congresswoman-elect once enough Senate Democrats agreed to reopen the government.
A handful of Democrats did just that, joining all but one Republican in the upper chamber on Monday in voting to fund the government. The House will vote later Wednesday on the package, which includes three full-year federal spending bills and extends funding for the rest of the government through January.
There could be an awkward encounter after Grijalva is sworn in in the House chamber, where her father served for more than two decades. As is customary, Johnson has invited Grijalva to a ceremonial swearing-in where he will take a photo with the new congresswoman and her family.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
