Overview
- Adelita Grijalva won the Sept. 23 special election for Arizona’s 7th District but remains unsworn despite the House meeting in formal or pro forma session multiple times, leaving the district without a seated member since March.
- Speaker Mike Johnson says he will administer the oath when the House resumes regular business and the shutdown ends, a stance Democrats dispute by pointing to earlier pro forma swearing-ins this year.
- Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed an Oct. 22 federal lawsuit to have Grijalva seated, and Grijalva separately sued, invoking Powell v. McCormack and seeking a declaratory judgment allowing an authorized official to administer the oath.
- Republican figures have urged immediate seating, with Rep. Kevin Kiley backing prompt action and former Rep. Mo Brooks calling the delay a raw power play in an op-ed.
- Grijalva and supporters argue the hold-up is to block her potential 218th signature on a discharge petition to force release of Jeffrey Epstein files, which they say has 217 signatures; Johnson denies any connection.