In the latest escalation of political tensions on Capitol Hill, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has taken the extraordinary step of suing the U.S. House of Representatives for its refusal to swear in Adelita Grijalva, the Democratic representative-elect for Arizona’s seventh district. The lawsuit, filed on October 22, 2025, in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., comes after weeks of delay following Grijalva’s victory in a special election to fill the seat left vacant by her late father, former Rep. Raul Grijalva, who passed away earlier this year.
Ordinarily, the transition from election to office would have been swift, but the House has not convened since September 19 due to an ongoing government shutdown. House Majority Speaker Mike Johnson has steadfastly refused to call the chamber back into session, leaving Arizona’s seventh district—home to more than 800,000 constituents—without representation in Congress. According to CBS News, Mayes’s lawsuit seeks a ruling that Grijalva should be recognized as a member of the House “once she has taken the oath prescribed by law.”
Mayes minced no words in a statement reported by NBC News: “Speaker Mike Johnson is actively stripping the people of Arizona of one of their seats in Congress and disenfranchising the voters of Arizona’s seventh Congressional district in the process. By blocking Adelita Grijalva from taking her rightful oath of office, he is subjecting Arizona’s seventh Congressional district to taxation without representation. I will not allow Arizonans to be silenced or treated as second-class citizens in their own democracy.”
The lawsuit further argues that if Johnson continues to block Grijalva’s swearing-in, she should be allowed to take the oath from “any person authorized by law to administer oaths under the law of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the State of Arizona.”
Speaker Johnson, for his part, dismissed the lawsuit as “patently absurd.” As quoted by reporters on October 22, Johnson said, “We run the House. She has no jurisdiction. We’re following the precedent. She’s looking for national publicity. Apparently, she’s gotten some of it, but good luck with that.”
Grijalva, standing alongside House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries at a news conference in the Capitol, voiced her frustration with the delay. “There is so much that cannot be done until I am sworn in,” she said. “While we’re getting a lot of attention for not being sworn in, I’d rather get the attention for doing my job.” Jeffries echoed her concerns, calling the delay “a disgrace” and adding, “It’s disrespectful of her; it’s disrespectful to the 812,000 who elected her; it’s disrespectful to the great state of Arizona; and it’s disrespectful to the House of Representatives.”
This standoff is more than a personal or procedural dispute—it has profound implications for the balance of power in the House. As reported by multiple outlets, Grijalva’s swearing-in would reduce the Republican majority to a razor-thin 219-215 margin, assuming Democrats also win a pending special election in Texas. Such a narrow gap means Speaker Johnson could afford to lose only one Republican vote on any measure, dramatically raising the stakes for every legislative decision.
Some critics and political observers believe that Johnson’s reluctance to seat Grijalva goes beyond the shutdown. According to reporting from CBS News and The Guardian, there is speculation that Grijalva could be the decisive signature on a discharge petition to force a vote on the release of the long-sought Jeffrey Epstein files. The files, which detail the late financier’s sex-trafficking operations and implicate prominent world and U.S. leaders, have been the subject of intense scrutiny and calls for transparency.
On October 22, Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee, publicly demanded that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department turn over all Epstein-related files. Garcia’s call followed the release of a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre, a survivor of Epstein’s crimes, whose testimony directly contradicts the agency’s assertion that the files did not warrant further investigation. “Virginia Giuffre’s allegations are heartbreaking and horrific, including testimony that prominent world and US leaders perpetrated sexual assault and sex trafficking of girls and young women,” Garcia said. “In light of this, the DOJ must comply with our subpoena and provide our Committee with the full Epstein files immediately, because the American people demand the truth, the survivors deserve justice, and we must end this White House cover-up.”
Garcia went further in a letter to Bondi, accusing her of “going to extreme lengths to conceal the truth from the American people, apparently in cooperation with President Trump.” The controversy over the Epstein files has become a flashpoint in the broader battle between House Republicans and Democrats, with accusations of a cover-up and partisan maneuvering flying from both sides.
Adding to the sense of hypocrisy, Johnson has been criticized for previously calling a pro forma session to swear in two Republican representatives from Florida within 24 hours of their special election victories in April. At the time, Johnson justified the move by noting that the representatives and their families were already in Washington, D.C. But as many have pointed out—including the author of a recent NewsOne analysis—Adelita Grijalva was also in D.C. for her news conference with Jeffries. “Considering that Adelita Grijalva was in D.C. for the news conference with Jeffries, couldn’t he have just called another pro forma session to swear her in? I mean, by Johnson’s own precedent, that would’ve made the most sense, right?” the piece asked pointedly.
This latest episode has fueled a wave of frustration among Democrats and voting rights advocates, who argue that the delay amounts to disenfranchisement and undermines the democratic process. Meanwhile, Republicans have largely stood by Johnson, insisting that the shutdown and procedural rules justify the delay and accusing Democrats of seeking political advantage by making the issue a public spectacle.
Beyond the immediate dispute, the situation has energized activists and protest groups nationwide. As reported by The Guardian, left-leaning organizations are building rapid response networks and planning further actions to pressure Congress and the administration on issues ranging from transparency to civil rights. The standoff over Grijalva’s seat and the Epstein files has become a rallying point for those concerned about government accountability and the erosion of democratic norms.
For now, the people of Arizona’s seventh district remain in limbo, waiting for their new representative to take her seat and begin the work she was elected to do. Whether through the courts, political pressure, or a resolution to the shutdown, the outcome of this battle will have ripple effects far beyond Arizona, shaping the balance of power and the tone of American politics as the nation heads into another contentious election year.
