The United States House of Representatives has been eerily quiet for over a week, and the halls of Congress are echoing with more than just the usual political tension. As the federal government’s shutdown drags into its second week, a new controversy has erupted, centering on the delayed swearing-in of Arizona’s newly elected congresswoman, Adelita Grijalva, and the fate of the highly anticipated release of Jeffrey Epstein-related files.
The drama began after Grijalva’s landslide victory in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District on September 23, 2025. Normally, a new member would be sworn in within a day—just as two Florida Republicans and a Virginia Democrat were earlier this year. But Grijalva, a Democrat, remains in limbo, her oath of office repeatedly postponed. The official explanation? The House is out of session until October 13, sent home by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) as part of a standoff with Senate Democrats over government funding.
But to many on Capitol Hill, the timing feels suspicious. As reported by The Hill and CNN, several Democrats—and even some Republicans—have accused Johnson of using the shutdown as cover to prevent Grijalva from casting a crucial vote. Specifically, her signature is the last needed on a discharge petition that would force a House vote to compel the Department of Justice to release approximately 100,000 pages of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The government is in full shutdown and the Republicans are refusing to call the House back into session,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) posted on X. “Want to know why? Because we have secured the final vote on releasing the Epstein Files and they don’t want it out.”
It’s a claim echoed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a rare Republican ally in the bipartisan push led by him and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Massie charged on X that Speaker Johnson is “doing everything he can, including delaying the swearing in of the most recently elected member of Congress and spreading misinformation about the legislation, to block a vote in Congress on legislation to release the Epstein files.”
Johnson, for his part, has rejected these accusations as “absurd.” According to CNN, he insists the delay has “nothing to do” with the Epstein files, pointing instead to the House’s ongoing investigation and the need to protect survivors’ privacy. “The House Oversight Committee is already conducting a bipartisan investigation. They’re doing the work. They’re doing it methodically. They’re doing it with subpoena power, and you don’t need an act of Congress for that to happen because they’re already on it,” Johnson told reporters.
Still, the tension boiled over this Wednesday, when Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego (both Democrats) staged a press gaggle outside Johnson’s office. Kelly accused Johnson of keeping House Republicans on “an extended summer vacation” and refusing to negotiate on health care measures that Democrats demand as a condition for reopening the government. Gallego went further, accusing Johnson of wanting to “cover up for pedophiles on the Epstein list.”
Johnson, emerging from his office, shot back: “We’re going to do [the swearing-in] as soon as we get back to work, but we need the lights turned back on, so we encourage both of you to go open the government.” He dismissed the Democrats’ claims as a “publicity stunt,” adding, “This is absurd.”
The exchange, captured on video by Fox News and NOTUS, quickly grew heated. At one point, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) jumped in, telling Gallego, “Nobody’s covering up for pedophiles, so knock it the hell off.” The confrontation underlined just how deep the partisan rift has grown—not only over the shutdown but also over the lingering shadow of the Epstein case.
At the heart of the matter is the discharge petition. If Grijalva were sworn in, she could provide the final signature needed to force a floor vote on Massie and Khanna’s resolution, which would direct the Justice Department to release all Epstein-related files in its possession. Survivors and advocates have rallied in support of the measure, arguing that full transparency is long overdue.
But Johnson remains steadfast in his opposition, citing survivor privacy and the ongoing Oversight Committee investigation. He has also pointed to procedural reasons for the delay, noting that Grijalva was elected after the House had already left town and that her swearing-in date was never scheduled. “That was the exception we did because the family was here,” Johnson said, referencing the swift swearing-in of the Florida Republicans. “Ms. Grijalva...has not yet had a scheduled date because she was elected after the House was out of session. So, I am anxious to administer the oath to her.”
Meanwhile, the Senate has its own demands. Democrats there are refusing to provide the votes needed to fund the government unless Republicans agree to extend expiring health care subsidies—a move they say is necessary to prevent Americans’ premiums from skyrocketing. Kelly made the issue personal for Johnson, warning that health care premiums could spike in the Speaker’s own Louisiana district. “We have to fix this,” Kelly urged, but Johnson was unmoved, insisting policy negotiations would only resume after the government reopens.
All the while, Grijalva remains in a frustrating holding pattern. “I’m a mom of three kids. I made flight plans for my kids to get to D.C. so we could be there together,” she told journalist Don Lemon. “This is a very special moment as a mom and a wife. I want to share that with my family, and that was supposed to happen on the 7th, and then he canceled all of the votes, and now has made public statements that they will not be in session again.”
Advocacy groups have also weighed in. Athena Salman, director of Arizona campaigns at Reproductive Freedom for All, called the delay “partisan politics in its most grotesque form.” She pointed out that Grijalva’s colleagues in other states were sworn in within 24 hours of their victories, while Grijalva, who won by nearly 40 points, has been left waiting with “no date identified at all.”
The standoff has even drawn the attention of former President Donald Trump, who dismissed the Epstein matter as “a hoax” and denied involvement in a suggestive drawing found among Epstein’s possessions. Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel faced their own grilling before the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Bondi deflecting questions about the Epstein files and redirecting criticism toward Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman’s past associations with Epstein.
For now, the House remains in recess, the government remains shut down, and the fate of both the Epstein files and Grijalva’s swearing-in hangs in the balance. The partisan spectacle has left many Americans wondering if the nation’s lawmakers can ever get back to business as usual—or if the Capitol’s bitter divides will only deepen in the weeks to come.
