Congressional Hispanic Caucus protests GOP delay swearing in Rep.-elect Grijalva
Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., joined by Democrats and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, outside the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 15, 2025. (Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won her election last month and will become Arizona’s first elected Latina, said the House speaker’s delay in swearing her in was “intentional.”
“This delay is not procedural,” she said, joined by members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has repeatedly argued that he’s holding off on swearing in the Arizona Democrat elected last month to fill the seat of her late father, Raúl Grijalva, who died earlier this year, until Senate Democrats vote to reopen the government. The shutdown now has continued for 15 days.
“She won her election after the House was out of session,” said Johnson, who has kept the House out while the shutdown extends. “That hasn’t been scheduled because we haven’t had that session yet. As soon as (Sen.) Chuck Schumer opens the government…we’ll have that as soon as we get back to business.”
Epstein petition
Johnson has previously sworn in three members when the House was not in session — two Republicans and one Democrat.
But Democrats charge that Johnson is holding off on swearing in Grijalva because she would give Democrats and a handful of Republicans the final vote to compel the Department of Justice to release documents regarding the late sex offender and wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, who frequently socialized with the president. Republicans control the House by a slim 219-213 majority.
“Speaker Johnson knows that I will be the 218th signature on the discharge petition,” Grijalva said, referring to a bipartisan petition to force a vote on the measure. “He is doing everything in his power to shield this administration from accountability.”
Democrats earlier this month tried to get recognition during the House pro forma session to swear in Grijalva, but Republicans presiding over the chamber ignored those efforts.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has also threatened Johnson with legal action if Grijalva is not sworn in.
The chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York, said Democrats are “looking at all possible options.”
“But we are demanding from Speaker Johnson to seat her immediately so that the folks that she represents, the people that she represents, continue to get the services that they deserve to get,” he said.
Senators from Arizona speak out
Arizona’s Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego said they have pressed for Johnson to swear in Grijalva and have demanded answers.
Kelly, who lives in Grijalva’s district, said those constituents don’t have representation in Congress.
“And that is wrong,” he said.
Gallego was blunt about the reason for Grijalva’s delay.
“Speaker Johnson is protecting pedophiles,” he said. “He has one more day to protect all those pedophiles, whether it’s involving Donald Trump or any of his rich, elite friends.”
Last month, through a subpoena, House Democrats revealed a lewd image and inscription they alleged was a birthday note that President Donald Trump provided for Epstein’s 50th-birthday book compiled by the financier’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
The subpoena stems from records in the government’s 2019 federal sex trafficking case against Epstein, which was brought to light after a year-long investigation by the Miami Herald that tracked down more than 60 women, most of whom were underage at the time, who detailed their sexual abuse.