The State of Arizona is officially suing the House of Representatives over Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to not swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election one month ago to succeed her father, the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva, in Arizona’s 7th District.
“This case is about whether someone duly elected to the House — who indisputably meets the constitutional qualifications of the office — may be denied her rightful office simply because the Speaker has decided to keep the House out of ‘regular session,’” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed in the District of Columbia.
“If the Speaker were granted that authority, he could thwart the peoples’ choice of who should represent them in Congress by denying them representation for a significant portion of the two-year term provided by the Constitution,” Mayes continued.
The Arizona attorney general argued that “the Constitution does not specify who must administer the oath, only that Representatives must take it” — so she is asking the court to declare that anyone other than the speaker can swear Grijalva in.
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Last week, Mayes sent a letter to Johnson warning him of impending legal action for refusing to swear in Grijalva while the speaker has kept the House out of session during the government shutdown. She argued Johnson was breaking the precedent he set in April, when he swore in Reps. Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis during a pro forma session.
“The effect of your failure to follow usual practice is that Arizona is down a representative from the number to which it is constitutionally entitled,” Mayes wrote in her letter. “The House and its leadership have acted ultra vires and in violation of the Constitution.”
Democrats have accused Johnson of not swearing Grijalva in because of the congresswoman-elect’s commitment to sign Rep. Thomas Massie’s discharge petition to compel the Justice Department to release documents pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein.
Meanwhile, Johnson told reporters Monday, ahead of the lawsuit being filed, that members who are elected while the House is not in session get sworn in when lawmakers return to the Capitol, mentioning that Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat, was elected during an August recess and not sworn in until the following month. (Ryan said the circumstances under his election were not comparable to Grijalva’s, and accused Johnson of cancelling votes to not swear her in to avoid the release of the Epstein documents.)
Johnson also dismissed any legal action taken against him by Mayes, saying, “Yet another Democrat politician for Arizona is trying to get national publicity.”
“There’s no justification for the failure to swear her in,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told NOTUS on Monday. “It’s understandable that the Arizona attorney general is contemplating a lawsuit in order to make sure that the state actually receives full representation.”
In her lawsuit, Mayes said Johnson had “not identified any valid reason for refusing to promptly seat Ms. Grijalva.”
“Instead, on information and belief, Speaker Johnson wishes to delay seating Ms. Grijalva to prevent her from signing a discharge petition that would force a vote on the release of the Epstein files and/or to strengthen his hand in the ongoing budget and appropriations negotiations,” she argued.
Ultimately, Mayes wrote, “Constitutional rights cannot be used as a bargaining chip.”
Ahead of the lawsuit being filed, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told NOTUS on Monday that “there’s no justification for the failure to swear her in.”
“It’s understandable that the Arizona attorney general is contemplating a lawsuit in order to make sure that the state actually receives full representation,” he continued.
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