Mike Johnson to swear in Democrat who could force Epstein vote after weeks-long standoff | House of Representatives
U.S. House speaker Mike Johnson is expected to swear in Democratic representative-elect Adelita Grijalva on Wednesday afternoon, ending a seven-week standoff that has prevented the Arizona lawmaker from taking her congressional seat and clearing the way for a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Johnson’s office announced that Grijalva will take the oath of office at approximately 4 p.m. EST in the House of Representatives ahead of a vote to reopen the federal government. The ceremony took place 49 days after Grijalva won a special election in late September to replace his father, Raúl Grijalva, a longtime congressman who died in March.
Grijalva’s arrival does more than narrow the already slim Republican majority. Promised to be the 218th and final signing on the petition for eviction That would trigger an automatic House vote on legislation requiring the Justice Department to release additional files on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Already on Wednesday morning, House control Democrats released “never-before-seen” Epstein emails mentioning Trump; these include a 2011 message to Ghislaine Maxwell in which she wrote that Trump “spent hours at my house” with a sex trafficking victim and called Trump “a dog that doesn’t bark.”
A 2019 email to writer Michael Wolff states: “Of course [Trump] He knew about the girls when he told Ghislaine to stop.”
But lawmakers say many additional files on Epstein’s network and associates that a discharge petition could force the House to consider remain sealed for now.
The petition, filed in early September by Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie and California congressman Ro Khanna, needs just one more signature to force a vote under House rules. Although support came overwhelmingly from Democrats, Republican representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace also signed on.
Democrats accused Johnson of blocking Grijalva from being sworn in specifically to block the Epstein vote. Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego he said this Johnson was “covering up for pedophiles”.
If Epstein’s bill is approved in the House, it would still need Senate approval. But the vote itself will force lawmakers to make an uncomfortable choice between voters demanding transparency about Epstein’s powerful associates and an actively discouraging Donald Trump administration trying to avoid a deeper investigation.
Epstein, a financier with ties to several high-profile figures including Trump, died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
While some of his connections were detailed in previous documents, lawmakers argued that a key piece of information remained hidden in justice department files.
Johnson kept the House of Representatives out of session after Grijalva’s victory as part of a strategy to pressure Senate Democrats to vote to reopen the government during the shutdown. The Republican spokesman claimed he could not be sworn in as long as the chamber remained inactive. Grijalva won a week ago the shutdown has begun, and there is no such House rule prohibiting newly elected members from being sworn in during recess.
Democrats also broadly rejected Johnson’s statement. 180 signed letters He said he swore in two Florida Republicans earlier this year while the House was away. Arizona’s Democratic attorney general, Kris Mayes, filed a lawsuit Last month he was trying to force Johnson to seat Grijalva.
Johnson defended his actions by claiming he was following the precedent of former speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said she postponed similar ceremonies for Republicans. He insists his decision has nothing to do with avoiding an explosive vote on documents related to Epstein, but it ignores an intense pressure campaign by Trump allies trying to keep the president out of the spotlight because of his longstanding social ties to Epstein.
To talk CNN on TuesdayGrijalva said he planned to confront Johnson directly about the delay, calling the avoidance “undemocratic,” “unconstitutional” and “illegal.”
“This kind of obstruction cannot happen again,” he said.
