Democratic Congresswoman-Elect, a Key Vote on Release of Epstein Files, To Finally Be Sworn in Wednesday

Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva, who was chosen by voters in Arizona’s seventh congressional district to represent them more than seven weeks ago, will finally be sworn into office on Wednesday. Speaker Mike Johnson has been delaying her swearing-in throughout the government shutdown, a move that Democrats say is an effort to stymie a grassroots effort to force a disclosure of the so-called Epstein files and protect the president. Ms. Grijalva was elected on September 23 in a deep-blue district to succeed her father, the late Congressman Raúl Grijalva. At the time of her election, Mr. Johnson had been keeping the House out of session to put pressure on Senate Democrats to pass his version of the clean government funding measure. Since the shutdown began, Mr. Johnson has continued to keep the House in recess. Ms. Grijalva says she will be supporting the effort led by Congressman Ro Khanna and Congressman Thomas Massie to force a disclosure of the Epstein files. On Monday Mr. Khanna said during an interview with the MediasTouch podcast that he is planning to host a “major press conference” next week about his effort. “There’s gonna be so much momentum,” Mr. Khanna said. The government shutdown has long been Mr. Johnson’s excuse for not swearing in Ms. Grijalva. “We will swear her in when everybody gets back,” Mr. Johnson said on October 7. Since then, he has said on multiple occasions that he would not administer her oath of office so long as the government remained shut down. Democrats, however, argued that Mr. Johnson had the power to swear her into office as soon as he wanted to. For procedural purposes, the House is brought in for what are known as “pro forma sessions” every few days. That session typically features one lawmaker presiding over the chamber to “open” the floor for just a few minutes. The purpose is to keep the House technically in session sporadically so that the president does not try to make recess appointments. During most of the pro forma sessions the House has held since its members left town in mid-September, Democrats have tried to seek recognition on the floor and request that Ms. Grijalva be sworn in. On every occasion, the presiding lawmaker — who is always chosen from among members of the majority party — has ignored them. Mr. Johnson swore two Republicans into office earlier this year during pro forma sessions one day after their special elections. On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson says Ms. Grijalva will finally take her oath and become a member of the United States Congress before the House votes on the Senate-passed continuing resolution to re-open the government. “As soon as we get back into legislative session … she will be administered the oath,” Mr. Johnson told CNN’s “The Lead.” When pressed by host Jake Tapper if she would get the chance to be sworn in before the actual vote — which is expected tomorrow afternoon — Mr. Johnson responded, “Right, yeah.”Democrats have claimed Mr. Johnson was only preventing Ms. Grijalva from taking office because she promised to be the final requisite vote on what is known as a “discharge petition” in the House. The petition process allows rank-and-file lawmakers to bring bills to the floor without the consent of leadership. If a House member can get a majority of his or her colleagues — 218 members, to be exact — to sign the petition, then the underlying bill must receive a vote within seven legislative days. Before the House now is a bipartisan discharge petition from Messrs. Massie and Khanna. The underlying bill is a resolution which — if passed by the House and Senate and then signed by the president — would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all files in the Justice Department’s possession related to Jeffrey Epstein. The petition from Messrs. Massie and Khanna currently has 217 votes. Ms. Grijalva says she will sign the petition the moment she takes office.“This can never happen again to another member-elect that is waiting in the wings because someone doesn’t want to do their job or because they’re playing politics,” Ms. Grijalva said Monday of being denied her seat in Congress for more than seven weeks. “

Democratic Congresswoman-Elect, a Key Vote on Release of Epstein Files, To Finally Be Sworn in Wednesday

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