Democrat Adelita Grijalva to be sworn in 7 weeks after winning House election

washington — Democrat Adelita Grijalva will be sworn in as a member of Congress when the House returns on Wednesday, seven weeks after winning a special election in Arizona.

House Speaker Mike Johnson will administer the oath of office to Grijalva at 4 p.m. Wednesday before the lower house votes on a funding bill to reopen the government, according to the House Speaker’s office.

“After waiting seven weeks, I almost can’t believe this is true,” Grijalva said. in question On Monday, he lamented that one of his first votes would be on a bill that “does nothing in terms of affordable health care for the American people.”

Grijalva was elected in a Sept. 23 special election to fill the seat of his late father, Raul Grijalva, but the House of Representatives has not been in session since Sept. 19, when it passed Republicans’ short-term measure to fund the government for seven weeks.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, repeatedly extended what was supposed to be a week-long break after the vote and ignored Democrats’ demands to swear in Grijalva, who would sign. petition to force a vote Open release files regarding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Johnson’s reasons for not swearing at Grijalva have changed over the past few weeks. During the first week of the shutdown, Johnson said he would fulfill his oath “at any time”. But Johnson also said this would happen as soon as Parliament returns, that the delay was due to a planning issue and that the decision to wait was “following precedent”.

The GOP leader noted that in 2021, it took 25 days for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, to swear in Republican Rep. Julia Letlow of Louisiana, who won a special election to replace her late husband during the pandemic.

Democrats argued that the two Florida Republicans were sworn in at a pro forma session on April 2, a day after winning a special election earlier this year.

Arizona attorney general filed a lawsuit Last month we were trying to expedite Grijalva’s inauguration.

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