Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva are suing the House of Representatives over Speaker Mike Johnson’s failure to seat the new member.
“.@AZAGMayes and I are going to court to ensure that 800,000+ Arizonans in AZ-07 are no longer silenced,” Grijalva wrote in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “@SpeakerJohnson’s obstruction has gone far beyond petty partisan politics — it’s an unlawful breach of our Constitution and the democratic process.”
In a complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., Mayes and Grijalva argue the House is depriving Arizona of representation in Congress and impeding Grijalva from exercising her authority as a lawmaker.
They call on a judge to allow another qualified person to swear in Grijalva if Johnson continues to stall.
Grijalva was elected to represent Arizona’s 7th Congressional District on Sept. 23, but has yet to be sworn in by Johnson.
Johnson has said he won’t swear in Grijalva until the House is back in regular legislative session, even though he previously swore in two Republican House members when the lower chamber was out of session.
Johnson also has the ability to bring the House back into session, but has chosen to keep it shuttered to put pressure on Democrats to end the government shutdown.
Once sworn in, Grijalva is expected to be the pivotal 218th vote for a petition that would force a vote on a bill pressing the Justice Department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Democrats have argued that Johnson is slow-walking her swearing-in to head off that vote, an accusation he’s denied.
Since she isn’t seated, Grijalva says, she doesn’t have a budget and isn’t able to do basic tasks like provide effective constituent services.
Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that the lawsuit is “patently absurd” and a publicity stunt.
A Johnson spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.