A special election in Arizona on Tuesday is anticipated to deliver the decisive signature to the push for a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
The race in Arizona’s seventh Congressional District will decide who will fill the seat vacated by the late Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, who died from most cancers in March. Grijalva’s daughter, Adelita Grijalva, is wanting to comply with in her father’s footsteps. She is closely favored towards Republican Daniel Butierez, who ran for the seat towards the elder Grijalva in 2024, dropping the race by 26 factors.
A discharge petition circulated by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, wants 218 House members to signal on to drive management to maintain a vote to release the Epstein files. The pair notched their 217th signature earlier this month when Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw, recent off profitable a special election in Virginia’s eleventh District, was sworn in and signed the petition.
Both Grijalva and Butierez told the Arizona Daily Star final week they have been dedicated to signing the Epstein petition if elected. In a assertion to NCS, Grijalva mentioned the problem “has definitely come up” on the marketing campaign path.
“We are hearing from voters that they believe the survivors deserve justice, and Congress must fulfill its duty to check the executive branch and hold Trump accountable,” she mentioned in the assertion.
It’s a vote House GOP leaders have tried to keep away from for months. Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the House a day early in July earlier than Congress’ month-long summer time recess to keep away from votes associated to the files.
Speaking to NCS on the Capitol final week, Massie mentioned he thought the House may vote as quickly as mid-October on his Epstein bill, citing the Arizona special election because the catalyst for the 218th signature.
Once securing the wanted signatures, Massie has to wait at the least seven legislative days earlier than bringing the invoice to the ground, and House leaders may also take up to two legislative days earlier than they put it to a vote.
The House is out of session this week, delaying any rapid set off of the legislative calendar.
Discharge petitions historically have a bad track record of really forcing a vote on the ground, largely as a result of lawmakers in the bulk are cautious of taking a stand towards management. The Epstein concern, nonetheless, has animated some Republican members, with Trump allies like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina signing onto the petition.
While few Republicans have backed the trouble to drive a vote, a quantity have have expressed help for the underlying invoice. Still, it will face an uphill battle in the Senate if it cleared the House.
After the Arizona seat is crammed, there shall be two vacancies in the House due to Texas Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner’s dying in March and Tennessee Republican Rep. Mark Green’s departure in July. An all-party major for Turner’s seat is scheduled for November 4, nevertheless it may require a runoff, and the election for Green’s seat shall be held December 2.
Although one other potential Democratic win would additional chip away at Johnson’s skinny 219-213 majority, it will not change the truth that he at present can solely afford to lose two Republicans on party-line votes with full attendance.
Arizona’s seventh District, which stretches alongside the state’s southern border with Mexico and consists of elements of Tucson and the Phoenix space, is solidly Democratic and voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris by greater than 22 proportion factors in November.
Grijalva received the Democratic major in July over a area that included former state Rep. Daniel Hernandez and 25-year-old activist Deja Foxx.