Arizona Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who is ready to be sworn in on Wednesday, mentioned she will confront House Speaker Mike Johnson after ready almost 50 days to be seated as a member of Congress.
“I won’t be able to like sort of move on if I don’t address it personally and we’ll see what kind of reaction he has,” Grijalva, a Democrat, instructed NCS’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” Tuesday.
“I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to say,” Grijalva added however mentioned she will stress that Johnson refusing to swear her in for over a month is “undemocratic.”
“It’s unconstitutional. It’s illegal. Should never happen — this kind of obstruction cannot happen again,” Grijalva mentioned.
Grijalva gained a special election on September 23 to change her father, longtime Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who died in March.
The House has been out of session since September 19 and Johnson refused to swear in Grijalva within the chamber’s absence amid the federal government shutdown.
Last month, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit looking for to power Johnson to seat Grijalva however Johnson maintained that he’s “following the Pelosi precedent,” noting that when Republicans had gained comparable particular elections, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi waited till lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill following intervals of recess.
House lawmakers will lastly return to Washington, DC, on Wednesday for a vote on reopening the federal government.
NCS has reported that and not using a consultant in Congress, residents of Arizona’s seventh Congressional district have been frustrated. When looking for assist, they’ve been met with a shuttered congressional workplace in Tucson and unanswered cellphone calls.
“813,000 southern Arizonans haven’t had support during this shutdown because of Speaker Johnson’s a lack of transparency and willingness to do his job,” Grijalva instructed Collins.
Once sworn in, Grijalva is anticipated to be the decisive 218th member to assist a discharge petition and power a House vote on releasing all data associated to the late financier and convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Grijalva has asserted that her swearing in has been delayed as an try to block a vote on the Epstein information. Johnson has denied the allegation.
Grijalva mentioned Tuesday that they’re “hoping” to expedite a vote on the Epstein information.
“I feel like at this point we’re done sort of tap dancing around what it, the implications of those files really mean,” Grijalva instructed Collins. “And anyone who is implicated needs to deal with the legal consequences for breaking the law and committing horrific crimes against children and women.”
When requested if there’s an opportunity that Johnson or the White House tries to cease a vote on the information, Grijalva mentioned, “absolutely.”
“Speaker Johnson has already tried to stop the vote. He sent Congress home a week early in order to avoid a vote,” Grijalva mentioned. “So, absolutely, I think we need to be prepared to call out any obstruction in releasing the files.”
NCS’s Steve Contorno, Ashley Killough and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.