Speaker Johnson Emphasizes Government Shutdown in Delaying Grijalva's Oath

House Speaker Mike Johnson explained why newly elected Representative Adelita Grijalva has not yet been sworn into office in an interview with C-Span Washington Journal.

Adelita Grijalva won a special election last month to replace her late father, Raúl Grijalva, who previously represented Arizona in Congress. 

Upon arriving at the nation's capital, she expected to be sworn in by Speaker Mike Johnson, but returned to Southern Arizona without taking the oath two days later.

"Adelita Grijalva. She was elected in a special election to fill her father's seat. That's a great achievement. We applaud her," Johnson congratulated. "I look forward to administering the oath of office to her to make her an official member of the house as soon as we get back to regular session." 

"Right now, Chuck Schumer holds the cards on when that can happen because he is the one that shut down the government and that is the problem," he warned.

Previous Swearing-In Ceremonies

Johnson was asked why he administered oaths to two newly elected Florida representatives during a pro-forma session, when not all members were present, but would not do the same for Grijalva.

"Those two Floridians had rescheduled a date further out of office so they had all their family and friends and supporters fly into town. Everybody was here. The house unexpectedly went out of session and so as a courtesy to them and their families we went ahead and administered the oath to an empty chamber," Johnson replied.

"The difference between them and Rep. elect Grijalva is her election was secured after the house was out of session, so there was no pre-scheduled day," he continued. "We don't have family and friends in town. In fact there's no one here it's like a ghost town so we're gonna administer her oath as soon as she gets back."

The Epstein Petition

Before heading to Washington, Grijalva announced plans to sign a discharge petition that would force a vote on releasing government files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The petition requires 218 signatures and currently has 217. Grijalva's signature would provide the final signature needed.

Speaker Johnson opposes releasing the files, though some Republicans have joined all House Democrats in supporting the petition. 

Some have questioned that Grijalva's delayed swearing-in may be connected to the petition, but Johnson directly addressed this concern, stating the delay has “zero to do with Epstein."