The excuses and poor reasons have been numerous.
Democrats will not reopen the government.
The House is not in session.
We will swear her in whenever she wants. Oh wait, I did not mean that.
She can still serve her constituents even though she is not officially a representative and her staff still does not have all her office equipment and access.
The reason we swore the two Republican special election victors earlier in the year was because they were bringing their families to town. Oh wait, we will still not swear her in if her family shows up.
We are not holding up her swearing in to protect Donald Trump’s exposure to the revelation of the Epstein List.
For Arizona Congressional District (CD) Seven Representative-Elect Adelita Grijalva and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes: Enough is Enough. It is time to swear in Adelita Grijalva who has been waiting nearly a month to officially serve her constituents.
See you in court.
Representative-Elect Grijalva and Attorney General Mayes have followed through on their promise to sue Speaker Mike Johnson for not swearing in the Arizona CD Seven victor.
In their joint complaint asking for relief, Grijalva and Mayes legal teams stated:
“…Ms. Grijalva has for weeks requested that Speaker Johnson administer the oath to her and seat her, consistent with 2 U.S.C. § 25, House precedents, and his uniform practice, but he has refused to do so until a time of his choosing, which he now says will be when the House comes back into regular session, even though he initially said he would do it as soon as Ms. Grijalva wanted.”
“The Constitution does not specify who must administer the oath, only that Representatives must take it.”
“The Speaker may not use his statutory obligation to administer the oath under 2 U.S.C. § 25 to arbitrarily delay seating a member when there is no dispute as to the election or qualifications and no practical reason why he is unable to administer the oath.”
“Speaker Johnson has been in the Capitol during this time and has not identified any reason that he (or a designee) is unable to administer the oath to Ms. Grijalva.”
“Speaker Johnson has not identified any valid reason for refusing to promptly seat Ms. Grijalva.”
“Instead, on information and belief, Speaker Johnson wishes to delay seating Ms. Grijalva to prevent her from signing a discharge petition that would force a vote on the release of the Epstein files and/or to strengthen his hand in the ongoing budget and appropriations negotiations.”
“Defendants’ refusal to promptly seat Ms. Grijalva, and to treat her as a member of the House, injures her by denying her the ability to exercise the authority of a member of the House—e.g., to sign petitions, sponsor bills, obtain and provide information to her constituents about federal programs and matters pending before federal agencies, and advocate with federal agencies, all on behalf of her constituents.”
“Defendants’ refusal to promptly seat Ms. Grijalva, and to treat her as a member of the House, likewise injures the State of Arizona, which is denied the number of Representatives provided for by law.”
“The State and Ms. Grijalva therefore request that this Court enter a declaratory judgment that (1) Ms. Grijalva shall be deemed a Member of the House of Representatives once she has taken the oath prescribed by law, see 5 U.S.C. § 3331; and (2) if Speaker Johnson has not administered the oath, the oath may be administered to Ms. Grijalva by any person authorized by law to administer oaths.”
In a joint press release, Representative Grijalva stated:
“Speaker Johnson’s obstruction has gone far beyond petty partisan politics – it’s an unlawful breach of our Constitution and the democratic process. The voters of Southern Arizona made their choice, yet for four weeks, he has refused to seat a duly elected Member of Congress – denying Southern Arizona its constitutional representation. I’m proud to join Attorney General Mayes in standing up for the more than 800,000 Arizonans who have been stripped of their voice in Congress. Speaker Johnson cannot continue to disenfranchise an entire district and suppress their representation to shield this administration from accountability and block justice for the Epstein survivors.”
Attorney General Mayes offered:
“Speaker Mike Johnson is actively stripping the people of Arizona of one of their seats in Congress and disenfranchising the voters of Arizona’s seventh Congressional district in the process. By blocking Adelita Grijalva from taking her rightful oath of office, he is subjecting Arizona’s seventh Congressional district to taxation without representation. I will not allow Arizonans to be silenced or treated as second-class citizens in their own Democracy.”
Mayes also wrote in an op-ed for MSNBC:
“…For weeks, the speaker has stonewalled, delayed and twisted himself into knots trying to justify what is, at its core, a brazen act of voter disenfranchisement. First, he claimed Grijalva could be sworn in “as soon as she wants.” Then he insisted he couldn’t swear her in while the House was not in session, which is laughable given that earlier this year, he swore in two representatives elected in special elections during pro-forma sessions.”
“Why the different treatment? Johnson claims that it was because the two members had families in town. But the truth is, those two members were Republicans — and Adelita Grijalva is a Democrat. Her seating would give the Democratic minority one more vote. Specifically, she would be the deciding signature on the discharge petition to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. That means Johnson’s refusal isn’t just political pettiness — it’s an attempt to prevent and delay the American public from learning the truth about one of the most prolific sexual predators in modern history.“
“When Arizona voters from Yuma to Tucson cast their ballots, they were promised representation in the Congress. Instead, their voices have been silenced, and their votes placed on hold, by a speaker who is using them as a “bargaining chip in the ongoing government shutdown.”
“Nobody believes for one moment that if Grijalva’s Republican opponent had won, that person wouldn’t already be a sitting member of Congress. But because the voters of southern Arizona elected a Democrat, Johnson has chosen obstruction over fulfilling his duty as speaker of the House…”
“…Arizona will not beg for its full representation in Congress. We will not sit quietly while 813,000 Arizonans are treated as second-class citizens. Arizona’s right to full representation in Congress is not up for debate, and it is not a pawn for Johnson to use as leverage in his shutdown fight with Democrats.”
“Adelita Grijalva won her election. The people spoke. The results were certified. The paperwork is done. The only thing missing is the oath, an oath that Speaker Johnson has no right to withhold.”
One should, like Attorney General Mayes, ask the question. If Representative Grijalva’s Republican opponent had prevailed in the special election last month, would Mike Johnson be taking his sweet time swearing that person in.
Probably not.
It is time for Mr. Trump’s Bible thumbing hypocrite and legislative rubber stamp to cut the delaying crap, stop protecting pedophiles, and swear in Representative-Elect Grijalva.
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