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📂 Category: Adelita Grijalva,congress,epstein files,House of Representatives,Mike Johnson
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WASHINGTON (AP) — As the House returns Wednesday for the first time in months, Democrat Adelita Grijalva will be sworn in as its newest member, more than seven weeks after she won a special election in Arizona to fill the seat last held by her late father.
The event is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET. Watch in the player above.
Grijalva’s swearing-in is expected to be among the first actions by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Los Angeles, who had previously declined her seat until the House reconvenes after reaching an agreement to end the government shutdown. The official ceremony is scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. EST, shortly before voting begins in the House of Representatives.
Read more: Who is Adelita Grijalva and why has she not been sworn in to Congress yet?
For Grijalva, this is an end to a weeks-long delay, which she and other Democrats said was intended to prevent her from signing a petition that would eventually lead to a vote to release the files related to Jeffrey Epstein. In an interview with The Associated Press, she said the thought of finally being sworn in was “emotional” and “pretty much like a roller coaster.”
“We’ve been waiting for this for so long that it’s still surreal,” she added.
Busy first day
Grijalva’s arrival will begin a busy day on Capitol Hill with hundreds of House members returning, their trips likely complicated by travel delays caused by the shutdown.
Lawmakers who win special elections are typically sworn in on days when legislative business is conducted. But with the House of Representatives out of session since September 19, Johnson said he would be sworn in when everyone returned. He swore in two Republican members this year when the chamber was not in legislative session.
He watches: Johnson says delaying Rep. Grijalva’s swearing-in “has nothing to do” with Epstein’s request
“I don’t think he views anything he does, in this case, as anything personal,” Grijalva said. “It feels personal, because my name is literally attached. And I also know that if I were a Republican, I would have been sworn in seven weeks ago.”
She will begin her term in the House of Representatives by voting on legislation passed by the Senate to reopen the government. Grijalva and most Democrats are expected to oppose it because it does not extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year. Republicans could still pass the bill with their narrow majority.
Signature No. 218 on the discharge petition for the Epstein case
Grijalva will be the necessary final signatory on an acquittal petition tied to legislation that would require the Justice Department to release all unclassified documents and communications related to Epstein and his sex trafficking operation.
Read more: A poll shows that most Americans want the Epstein files released
The Epstein Transparency Act, co-sponsored by Representatives Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, is supported by all Democrats and three Republicans: Representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
Grijalva can add her signature to the petition once she is sworn in. But her move won’t mean a vote right away, because of House rules.
Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said he expects the Epstein bill to be voted on in early December.
Read more: Read Jeffrey Epstein’s newly released emails about Trump
Arizona’s first Latina congresswoman
Rep. Raul Grijalva, Adelita’s father, died in March after more than two decades in the House, where he built a reputation as a staunch progressive.
Adelita Grijalva has long been active in local politics. She served on the Tucson Unified School District Board of Directors before joining the Pima County Board of Supervisors, where she became the second woman to lead the board.
She easily won the September 23 special election to serve out the remainder of her father’s term, representing a majority-Hispanic district in which Democrats hold a voter registration advantage over Republicans by about 2-to-1. Grijalva said the win was emotional.
“I would rather have my parents than have an office,” she said.
She told the AP that environmental justice, tribal sovereignty and public education are among her priorities, reflecting the work her father championed.
“I know the bar is very high, and the expectations are high for what we will be able to do once we are sworn in,” she said.
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