There is no more basic piece of our nation’s government than the U.S. House. It was designed by the Founding Fathers to be responsive to the American people.
That’s why it is so unsettling to watch U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson refuse to seat a duly elected member from Arizona. Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva won her special election by almost 40 percentage points on Sept.23.
And yet, she’s still waiting to take the oath of office.
“This delay is not procedural, it is intentional,” Grijalva said Wednesday as she rallied outside the Capitol with fellow Democrats.
“Her constituents deserve their voice in Congress,” said U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, who posed for pictures with Grijalva on the Capitol steps.
Why should voters in Georgia care about what happens to some random Democrat from Arizona? Because the refusal of Johnson to swear in Grijalva raises some uncomfortable questions about the future of our government.
“Does he get to pick and choose which members that he would swear in?” asked U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Arizona.
Usually, newly elected lawmakers go from their special election to the House floor without issue. When Georgia Republican Karen Handel won a seat in June of 2017, she took the oath six days later.
When Georgia Republican Paul Broun won a seat in July of 2007, he took the oath eight days later.
When Nathan Deal left Congress to focus on his run for governor in 2010, Republican Tom Graves won Deal’s seat and took the oath six days later.
You get the picture.
After first telling reporters that Grijalva could be sworn in “as soon as she wants,” Johnson has come up with all sorts of excuses for not doing so — mainly, that the House is not conducting legislative business because of the government shutdown.
But the lack of legislative business didn’t apply back on April 2, when Johnson swore in two new Republicans from Florida in a nonlegislative session.
Democrats say the GOP is blocking Grijalva to prevent her from signing a special petition to force action on a bill related to the release of the Department of Justice’s files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Speaker Johnson is covering up for pedophiles,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona.
Something else can’t be ignored. Three white men who won special elections to the House in 2025 all took their oath of office the very next day. Grijalva — the daughter of a veteran Mexican American congressman — has now been waiting over three weeks. She shouldn’t be treated any differently.
Republicans have talked about “turning down the temperature” in politics. Dragging their feet on Grijalva certainly doesn’t do that.
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and Congress from Washington, D.C., since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at jamiedupree.substack.com
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