Speaker Johnson said he’d swear in new House Democrat ‘as soon as she wants.’ Now Republicans are backtracking
Democrats won’t allow the newly elected congressman to be sworn in until his party agrees to end the government shutdown, although spokesman Mike Johnson told CNN earlier Tuesday he would be sworn in “at any time.”
“We will swear in the name of the Republican-Elect [Adelita] Grijalva said as soon as the House returned to session when Chuck Schumer, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego decided to open the government,” a leadership aide said Tuesday.
This move amounts to an extraordinary power play to prevent a seated member from sitting down.
Johnson swore in Florida GOP Reps. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine in a pro forma session earlier this year, with the aide claiming that “it is customary practice in the House to swear in members while the House is in legislative session.”
As the government shutdown drags on due to the Senate’s inability to reach an agreement to fund the government, the House holds short “pro forma” sessions, which quickly cause the chamber to be sidelined and not involved in legislative business.
Earlier Tuesday, Johnson asked why Grijalva wasn’t sworn in at the pro forma session in which he was elected in September and whether that was linked to pressure to vote on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files: “No, that has nothing to do with that. We’ll swear him in when everyone comes back. It’s a ceremonial duty.”
When pressed by CNN about why he’s waiting for the full House to return, the speaker said, “Look, I think we’ll schedule it when we want to. This has nothing to do with this. I, we’re in pro forma session because there’s nothing for the House to do. The House has done its job.”
Grijalva is expected to provide the final signature required on the petition for a full House vote on releasing more material in the Epstein case, but Johnson insisted the delay in the swearing-in ceremony was unrelated to that issue.
Johnson did not explain why he chose to delay her swearing-in despite treating other members differently.
“Speaker Johnson needs to stop dragging his feet and follow the same precedent he set when swearing at his Republican colleagues earlier this year. If he just gives me a date and time, I’ll be there,” Grijalva told CNN.
Incoming congressman, won a special election Two weeks ago, he asked Johnson to set a date for him to be sworn in, arguing in a letter to the speaker on Monday that the delay was “depriving the people of Southern Arizona of basic essential services.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, told reporters at the Capitol on Monday that it was “outrageous” that Grijalva had not yet been sworn in.
“This is outrageous. You had the White House undermine our democracy. Now the Speaker of the House of Representatives is doing the same thing. So this is all about the continuation of the Epstein cover-up,” he said.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Ellis Kim contributed to this report.
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