{"id":265469,"date":"2025-10-22T10:25:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T15:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=265469"},"modified":"2025-10-22T10:33:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T15:33:10","slug":"cronkite-news-arizona-sues-over-failure-to-seat-new-member-of-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/10\/22\/cronkite-news-arizona-sues-over-failure-to-seat-new-member-of-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Arizona sues over failure to seat new member of Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Adelita<\/a>
Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Tucson, speaks with news media at the U.S. Capitol on October 15, 2025. Photo by Grace Berry \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n
Arizona sues over House Speaker\u2019s refusal to seat Adelita Grijalva<\/div>\r\n
By Nick Karmia<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

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WASHINGTON — Four weeks after Adelita Grijalva won a special congressional election, the state of Arizona sued the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to force Speaker Mike Johnson to swear her in.<\/p>\r\n

The lawsuit<\/a> accuses him of illegally refusing to seat the Tucson Democrat \u2013 who won her late father\u2019s seat by a landslide on September 23 \u2013 silencing Arizona voters and depriving the state of its full voice in Congress.<\/p>\r\n

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the lawsuit a few hours after Grijalva made her second attempt<\/a> to take the oath by showing up on the House floor without the speaker\u2019s invitation.<\/p>\r\n

\"countdown<\/div>\r\n

\u201cSpeaker Johnson has not identified any valid reason for refusing to promptly seat Ms. Grijalva,\u201d the lawsuit says, asserting that his motive is to delay a vote on releasing the Epstein files and \u201cstrengthen his hand\u201d in the budget stalemate that triggered the ongoing government shutdown.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cConstitutional rights cannot be used as a bargaining chip,\u201d the lawsuit says.<\/p>\r\n

Grijalva won nearly 70% of the vote to succeed her father, 12-term Rep. Ra\u00fal Grijalva, who died<\/a> in March.<\/p>\r\n

Johnson\u2019s office did not immediately respond to the lawsuit, which was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He shrugged off the suit when approached by an MSNBC reporter.<\/p>\r\n

“I think it\u2019s patently absurd. We run the House. She has no jurisdiction. We\u2019re following the precedent. She\u2019s looking for national publicity. Apparently she\u2019s gotten some of it, but good luck with that,” he said.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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BREAKING: Arizona Attorney General @krismayes tells @abc15 she is \u201cwithin minutes\u201d of filing lawsuit demanding Speaker Mike Johnson swear in CD-7 Representative-Elect Adelita Grijalva. Grijalva was elected one month ago but Johnson has not yet sworn her in.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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The speaker has refused to swear in Grijalva until Senate Democrats accept a GOP spending plan to end the shutdown.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

He has kept the House out of session since September 19, other than a few brief pro forma sessions at which no business is conducted, including the one on Tuesday.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis case is about whether someone duly elected to the House \u2026 may be denied her rightful office simply because the Speaker has decided to keep the House out of `regular session,\u2019\u201d the lawsuit says. \u201cIf the Speaker were granted that authority, he could thwart the peoples\u2019 choice of who should represent them in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

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Speaker Johnson on Arizona suing the House to seat Rep.-elect Grijalva: \u201cI think it\u2019s patently absurd. We run the House. She has no jurisdiction. We\u2019re following the precedent. She\u2019s looking for national publicity, apparently she\u2019s gotten some of it, but good luck with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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There is no rule that precludes a swearing-in during a shutdown, a pro forma session or even during a recess.<\/p>\r\n

Typically, only the speaker administers the oath, though he can designate the duty to another House member.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSpeaker Mike Johnson is actively stripping the people of Arizona of one of their seats in Congress and disenfranchising the voters of Arizona\u2019s 7th Congressional District in the process,\u201d Mayes said in a statement, accusing Johnson of treating Arizonans \u201cas second-class citizens in their own democracy.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Grijalva said the delay goes \u201cfar beyond petty partisan politics \u2013 it\u2019s an unlawful breach of our Constitution and the democratic process.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Grijalva has said she intends to sign a petition forcing a vote on release of the full investigative files involving convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Her signature is the last one needed to circumvent Johnson\u2019s refusal to put the issue on the House floor. She accused him of delaying her oath to \u201cshield this administration from accountability and block justice for the Epstein survivors.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The Chronology<\/div>\r\n

March 13: Twelve-term Rep. Ra\u00fal Grijalva dies <\/a>at age 77 after a battle with cancer. Adelita Grijalva launches her bid to succeed her father two weeks later. She sails through the July 15 Democratic primary.<\/p>\r\n

September 19: The House approves a stopgap plan to avert a government shutdown. The speaker then dismisses the House except for occasional pro forma sessions at which no business is conducted.<\/p>\r\n

September 23: Adelita Grijalva wins the special election with nearly<\/a> <\/a>70%<\/a> of the vote.<\/p>\r\n

September 30: Grijalva, now a representative-elect, appears on the House floor during a pro forma session hoping to take the oath of office. Republicans adjourn in less than three minutes despite chants of \u201cSwear her in!\u201d from Democrats.<\/p>\r\n

October 1: Government shutdown begins. It would become the second longest in U.S. history after a 35-day impasse in 2018 and 2019.<\/p>\r\n

October 6: House Speaker Mike Johnson rejects criticism that he is treating Grijalva differently from two Florida Republicans he swore in during pro forma sessions. He made a \u201cunique exception\u201d because their ceremonies were scheduled during full sessions that were cut short unexpectedly, he says<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

October 7: Johnson tells reporters<\/a> he\u2019s willing to swear in Grijalva \u201cas soon as she wants,\u201d though he and aides quickly walk that back, reiterating his condition that Democrats must first approve the GOP plan to end the shutdown.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

October 8:<\/a> Arizona Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly engage in a heated exchange with Johnson outside his office.<\/a> Gallego accuses him of delaying the swearing-in because Grijalva will sign a petition forcing a vote to release the Epstein files. \u201cStop covering up for the pedophiles,\u201d Gallego says. Calling that \u201ctotally absurd,\u201d Johnson blames the Grijalva delay on them and their fellow Senate Democrats.<\/p>\r\n

October 14: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threatens<\/a> legal action if Johnson doesn\u2019t swear in Grijalva \u201cwithout further delay.\u201d She gives him three days to comply. That same day, she, Gov. Katie Hobbs and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes certify the September 23 special election.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

October 15: Grijalva appears with Arizona\u2019s senators and other allies at the Capitol to condemn the ongoing delay. \u201cIs it because she\u2019s a Democratic Latina?\u201d said a leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.<\/p>\r\n

October 16: Johnson defends the delay by citing what he calls the \u201cPelosi precedent.\u201d Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., waited 25 days to be sworn in after a March 2021 special election. Letlow replaced her husband, who had died of COVID-19 before taking office.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

In the lawsuit, Mayes notes that Speaker Nancy Pelosi consulted with Letlow and they picked a date the incoming lawmaker requested.<\/p>\r\n

October 17: The deadline Mayes set passes without a swearing-in or legal action against the speaker. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sends Johnson an open letter demanding he relent.<\/p>\r\n

October 18: Day 25 since Grijalva\u2019s election, matching the pandemic-era delay for Letlow.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

October 21: Grijalva\u2019s second attempt to be sworn in during a pro forma session fails.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhile we\u2019re getting a lot of attention for not being sworn in, I\u2019d rather get the attention for doing my job,\u201d she told reporters moments later.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Johnson spoke to reporters beforehand.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe are not in legislative session,\u201d he said. \u201cThe chronology is important. Rep. Grijalva won her race \u2026 after we had already gone out of session. So I will administer the oath to her, I hope, on the first day we come back (into) legislative session. I’m willing and anxious to do that.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Later that afternoon, Mayes announced the lawsuit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\nFor more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>

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