Republicans refuse to swear in newly elected Democrat, delaying success of Epstein petition

[Thiệu Ngô]

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Republican leaders refused requests from Democrats to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) on Tuesday, saying she will be sworn in when the House returns to regular session.

By Emily Brooks and Mike Lillis

The move deprives a petition of the last signature it needs to force a vote on a bill to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, a push that Republican leaders and President Trump oppose.

Grijalva, who was elected last week in a special contest to replace her father, the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), has already vowed to sign the discharge petition as soon as she’s sworn in, and the bipartisan lawmakers pushing to release the Epstein files had hoped to launch the process as quickly as possible.

Grijalva is in Washington this week along with a host of House Democrats who returned to the Capitol during a recess to pressure GOP leaders to negotiate a bipartisan government funding bill. Although there are no votes scheduled, the House floor opened up briefly at noon on Tuesday for a pro forma session, a routine procedure allowing one chamber to pause floor activities for long stretches without the consent of the other.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) presided over Tuesday’s pro forma session, gaveling out and refusing to recognize Democrats shouting on the floor as they attempted to force a vote on a Democratic proposal to keep the government open. He did not swear in Grijalva.

“Historically, you do it when the House is in session other than pro forma,” Griffith said after the session when asked about not swearing in Grijalva.

Grijalva noted that Florida Republicans were sworn in during a pro forma session earlier this year, on April 2, the day after their special elections. The House had been in session the day before.

“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,” Grijalva said.

She said she has not had any direct communication with the Speaker’s office on when she will be sworn in.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Grijalva said on the timing.

A spokesperson for the Speaker’s office, though, indicated that Grijalva will be sworn in when the House returns to regular session — currently scheduled for Oct. 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,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The House was previously scheduled to be in session on Monday and Tuesday, but Republican leaders canceled those voting days as they aim to pressure Senate Democrats to accept a GOP-crafted stopgap funding measure.

A shutdown would not prevent Grijalva from being sworn in. The full House was sworn in during a government shutdown when a new Congress started in January 2019.

Highlighting Grijalva’s arrival, the Democratic Women’s Caucus wrote a letter to Johnson on Tuesday morning urging her immediate swearing in.

“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,” wrote Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), who chairs the group.

“This instance should be no different.”

Johnson’s decision to refuse the Democrats’ entreaties has no bearing on the current shutdown debate, because it doesn’t change the House voting math for passing bills. The chamber currently has 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats, and the Republicans’ small cushion will be the same even if the Democrats add a seat. On any party-line vote, Republicans can afford just two defections, assuming all members are present and voting.

But Grijalva’s swearing-in would be a major development for the discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein files, led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). It is just one signature away from reaching 218 names, the number needed to bypass Republican leadership and force action on the House floor.

Just three Republicans in addition to Massie — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Nancy Mace (S.C.), and Lauren Boebert (Colo.) — have signed the petition. Republican leaders argue that the bill doesn’t adequately protect victims and that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is already investigating the Epstein matter.

Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), who was elected earlier this month to the seat that was held by the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), had successfully exerted similar pressure on GOP leadership by driving to the Capitol the day after he was elected and demanding to be sworn in so he could sign the discharge petition. Walkinshaw was sworn in on a day the House was voting, not in a pro forma session.