Seven weeks after profitable a particular election, Democrat Adelita Grijalva was lastly sworn into Congress on Wednesday, ending a standoff that left greater than 800,000 Arizonans with out illustration and drew fury from Democrats.
Home Speaker Mike Johnson administered the oath simply earlier than debate started on a funding invoice to reopen the federal government. Grijalva mentioned it hardly felt actual after such a protracted wait, noting on Monday that one in all her first votes can be on a measure “that does nothing for affordable health care for the American people.”
Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona
Grijalva received her Sept. 23 particular election to succeed her late father, longtime Rep. Raúl Grijalva. However the Home had not been in session since Sept. 19, when it handed the GOP’s short-term spending invoice. Johnson repeatedly prolonged what was purported to be a weeklong recess and disregarded Democratic calls to swear her in throughout professional forma classes.
The delay carried main political stakes. Grijalva’s signature completes a petition to pressure a ground vote on releasing the Epstein recordsdata—a transfer Republican leaders have lengthy tried to dam.
“This is unprecedented. It’s undemocratic. It’s unconstitutional. It’s illegal,” she mentioned Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The Weeknight.” “Nobody, no member-elect, should ever be in the situation again where 813,000 people are silenced because one person wants to play politics with their swearing-in.”
Behind the scenes, Grijalva mentioned there was plenty of “chess playing,” whereas Johnson publicly blamed the federal government shutdown for the delay. She dismissed that excuse.
“There was no reason I should be in this position,” Grijalva instructed MSNBC. “The fact that the Senate hadn’t passed the CR [continuing resolution] has nothing to do with me.”
Democrats privately accused Johnson of attempting to purchase time to peel away GOP assist for the Epstein measure. Grijalva agreed, saying she believed her swearing-in was delayed “to give Speaker Johnson more time to try to convince one of those four Republicans to take their name off” of the petition.
As soon as she signed the petition on Wednesday, it hit the 218-member threshold wanted to bypass management and pressure a vote—a direct problem to Johnson’s management of the ground.
A cartoon by Clay Bennett.
Grijalva known as the measure a “vote of values,” saying it checks whether or not lawmakers are keen to face as much as energy.
“Are you going to protect people who committed pedophilia and raped children and women?” she requested. “Or are you going to say, undeniably, that’s abhorrent and we’re not going to stand by anyone who committed those kinds of crimes?”
Over the course of the standoff, Johnson saved altering his story. At first, he mentioned he would swear in Grijalva “as soon as she wants.”
Later, he blamed scheduling points and leaned on what he known as precedent, pointing to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 25-day delay in swearing in GOP Rep. Julia Letlow of Louisiana in 2021. However Democrats countered that two Florida Republicans had been sworn in throughout a professional forma session in April, simply at some point after their particular elections.
Arizona Lawyer Normal Kris Mayes even sued final month to pressure Johnson’s hand, arguing that his inaction violated the state’s constitutional proper to illustration.
After weeks of deflection, Johnson has lastly relented. Grijalva took the oath, reclaiming Arizona’s seventh District seat and restoring Democrats’ full power within the Home.
Ultimately, the standoff ended precisely the place it started: with Johnson giving in.
