House Democrats on Thursday sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pressing him to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., on Friday, The Hill reported.
The letter was signed by 180 Democrats. They are demanding that Grijalva be sworn in at the next pro forma session, which is set for Friday afternoon.
Grijalva won the special election to fill the seat of her late father, Rep. Raul Grijalva, by nearly 40 points last month.
"Historically, in such decisive special elections, Representatives-elect are sworn in as soon as possible," the letter read. "Representative-elect Grijalva's swearing-in ceremony should not be treated differently."
Democrats wanted Adelita Grijalva sworn in Tuesday. What the letter failed to mention, however, is that on Tuesday, Johnson was trying to prevent a partial government shutdown. The shutdown will likely be in its fourth day come Friday afternoon.
Adelita Grijalva has been on Capitol Hill all week, according to the report.
"We're facing a government shutdown," Grijalva told reporters Tuesday. "We're going to have constituents who have questions, and there is nobody there to answer questions."
Some Democrats are accusing Johnson of stonewalling given that Adelita Grijalva has said she will sign the discharge petition to release all files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case; her signature would be the 218th, forcing it to the House floor for a vote.
"Any delay in swearing in Representative-elect Grijalva unnecessarily deprives her constituents of representation and calls into question if the motive behind the delay is to further avoid the release of the Epstein files," House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., wrote in a letter to Johnson.
"Continuing to delay Representative-elect Grijalva's ceremony has left her constituents without representation during the government shutdown. Just like her many colleagues before her, Representative-elect Grijalva deserves to be sworn in as soon as possible," Thursday's letter concluded.
Johnson told CBS that Grijalva's swearing-in will be next week, according to the report.
"The House is not on the floor doing business this week, but we will do it immediately early next week as soon as everyone returns to town," Johnson said. "We have to have everybody here, and we'll swear her in.
"I congratulate her on her win. She is replacing her father who had a long history here, and she'll be a productive member of Congress," he continued. "We look forward to that."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.