Rep.-Elect Grijalva Faces Longest Delay in Swearing in of Any Special House Election Winner in Decades as Johnson Hides from Epstein Files Arrow

After over a month since she was elected to the House by a 40+ point margin, House Speaker Mike Johnson still refuses to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who has now had the longest wait to be sworn in of any special House election winner in decades. Johnson can't keep his story straight - saying at one point that he would "schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants" - and has offered excuse after excuse for not swearing her in, including blaming Donald Trump's government shutdown.

Grijalva promised to be the tie-breaking vote to force the release of the Epstein Files - which Trump and his White House have tried to hide for months - and would finally bring transparency to the American people and justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. But Johnson refuses to bring House Republicans back from their weeks-long vacation, and he continues to use the government shutdown as an excuse to avoid swearing her in - depriving over 800,000 Arizonans of representation in Congress.

In response, DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer released the following statement:

"Mike Johnson has exhausted all of his excuses for refusing to swear in Rep.-elect Grijalva, and his motives are clear as day: Johnson is doing everything in his power to hide the truth about Jeffery Epstein's crimes and continue Donald Trump's government cover-up of the Epstein Files. He is even more comfortable welcoming back convicted felon George Santos than a duly elected representative. The American people have had enough of the delaying, stalling, and deceit - they deserve answers, and Arizona's 7th District deserves representation in Congress. Swear her in."

Johnson has repeatedly argued that he is simply following precedent by not swearing Grijalva in, yet two Republicans were sworn in less than 24 hours after their elections earlier this year. What's worse, Johnson has even taken to publicly chastising Grijalva for not working with her constituents, despite her lacking access to the resources needed to staff an office. Without security privileges, Grijalva can't even access her office after business hours. It's past time for Johnson to drop the excuses, bring members back to work, and swear in Grijalva.