Mike Johnson Struggles to Explain Delay in Swearing In Democratic Rep

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday said he will schedule the long-awaited swearing-in of Democratic Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva “as soon as she wants.” That’s not true, as that day has already come and gone.

After handily winning a special election in Arizona two weeks ago, Grijalva is poised to give Democrats some more power in the House—and also, notably, supply the deciding signature on a discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein files.

But Johnson has stalled Grijalva’s swearing-in thus far, even calling the House in recess (seemingly in order to pressure Senate Democrats to cave on the shutdown). Many Democrats—Grijalva included—have chalked the delay up to an attempt to prevent the release of the Epstein files.

Johnson on Tuesday pushed back against that idea, telling CNN reporter Manu Raju, “It has nothing to do with that at all,” and that he would “swear her in when everybody gets back.” But, as Raju noted, there’s no need to wait for a full regular session; Grijalva could be sworn in during one of the brief, minutes-long pro forma House sessions regularly taking place during the recess.

After all, Johnson swore in Republican Representatives Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine during a pro forma session in April. At a pro forma session last week, Democratic lawmakers shouted at the presiding member (Johnson was not in attendance) to swear in the newly elected Democrat, but their pleas fell on deaf ears, and the session was quickly gaveled out.

So why not swear Grijalva in during a pro forma? Throwing up his hands, Johnson replied Tuesday: “Uh, look. We’ll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants.”

This was clearly a cop-out, considering Grijalva has, in fact, publicly called for her swearing-in repeatedly over the past two weeks. A few examples: In an interview published three days after her election, Grijalva spoke out against Johnson for dragging his feet. Three days after that, she wrote on social media that “there’s no reason why Speaker Johnson cannot swear me in tomorrow during the pro forma session,” citing the cases of Patronis and Fine.

On Monday, she put it even more directly: “Swear me in NOW,” she posted on X, tagging Johnson’s profile.