Washington โD.C. โ- House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing accusations of political obstruction as he delays the โswearing-in of โฃArizona Representative-elect Adelita grijalva, a Democrat representing Southern Arizona. The โdelay comes as Grijalva โขis poised to become the 218th โคsignature needed to force โฃa voteโ on a discharge petition demanding the release of the Epstein files.
Grijalva, who won a special โelection to fill the seat โvacated by Representative Raรบl Grijalva, stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the timing of the delay “isโฃ not a coincidence,” adn raisesโ “serious questions โคabout political motivations.” โShe added, “Every day that speaker Johnson delays โขis another day Southern Arizonans are left โwithout a voice in Congress and without essential in-district services.”
The house was scheduled for a pro forma โขsession โon Tuesday, but Johnson canceled it,โ prompting a letterโ from โDemocratic Whipโข Katherineโฃ Clark questioning the postponement. Clark wrote that any โdelay in โฃswearing in Grijalva “unnecessarily deprives her constituents of depiction and calls intoโ question if the motive behind the โคdelay is โto further avoid the release of the Epstein files.”
Representative โYassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., echoed Grijalva’sโ concerns, stating that Grijalva’s swearing-in would โคprovide the final signature needed โฃto bringโ the discharge petition to a vote before the entire House.
Speaker Johnson’s office maintains the delay is standard procedure.Aโ spokesperson โฃtold โFOX 10, “as is standard practice, with the House now having received theโข appropriate paperwork from the state, the Speaker’s office intendsโ to schedule a swearing in for the Representative-elect when the House returns to session.”
The next scheduled sessionโ is October 7, but Grijalva has expressed uncertainty about being sworn in at that time. The dischargeโข petition,โค if prosperous, would compel a vote onโข releasing theโ files related to Jeffrey Epstein.