Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said there has been no communication between her and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who is responsible for swearing her in as a member of Congress.
“I‘m essentially a tourist to D.C.” Grijalva told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday, amid the unexpected delay in filling her congressional seat.
Grijalva recalled Johnson saying to her that two other House members previously scheduled and arranged their swearing-in ceremonies, with friends and family in tow.Â
“Where do I sign up for that?” she said.
“Because there has been no direct communication with myself and the Speaker other than sort of flippant remarks to news reporters, statements that come out of his office basically saying I‘m in this limbo here where so many of my Democratic caucus colleagues are welcoming me as a member, but you can see very clearly I cannot,” she said.Â
Last month, Democrats requested that Johnson and House Republican leaders swear in Grijalva, whose expected signature on a bipartisan bill would force a vote for the release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
But Johnson refused, delaying any efforts to release files related to the Epstein case.
Johnson has canceled previously scheduled votes amid the government shutdown, and he declined to swear the Arizona Democrat in during a brief “pro forma” session last month. Johnson said he will swear Grijalva in when the House returns to regular session.
Grijalva spoke with the Arizona Democratic delegation at a press conference Wednesday. During the press conference, she suggested the delay in her swearing-in “is all about the [Jeffrey] Epstein files.”
“None of us thought that we would be in this point,” Grijalva said Wednesday. “I remember on election night that turned into a victory celebration, somebody came up to me and said, ‘You know he‘s not going to swear you in because of those Epstein files?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that‘s a little conspiracy theory. I don‘t think that‘s true.’ But here we are now, on Day 22 of waiting, with no apparent end in sight, when there are several opportunities that he‘s had to swear me in.”
“So if this has nothing to do with the Epstein files, then swear me in,” she added.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) said Tuesday she sent a letter to Johnson’s office demanding that Grijalva be sworn in or face legal consequences.
“We are keeping every option open to us, including litigation, to hold him accountable and make sure that Adelita is able to begin her work as Arizona’s newest member of Congress,” Mayes said in a statement.
Grijalva won a special election on Sept. 23 to succeed her father, former Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) after his death on March 13.
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