- House Speaker Mike Johnson is accused of delaying Adelita Grijalva’s swearing-in to block the 218th vote needed to force release of Jeffrey Epstein files.
- The delay leaves Arizona’s 7th District unrepresented amid a shutdown, sparking bipartisan outrage, legal threats, and claims of partisan obstruction.
WASHINGTON—As the federal government teeters on the edge of a prolonged shutdown, a bitter standoff has erupted over the swearing-in of Arizona’s newest congresswoman-elect, Adelita Grijalva. Democrats and Republicans alike are accusing House Speaker Mike Johnson of dragging his feet not out of procedural niceties, but to thwart a long-sought vote on releasing the remaining Jeffrey Epstein files—a move that could expose more details about the late financier’s web of high-profile associates.
The controversy boiled over this week when Johnson dismissed Grijalva with a patronizing Southernism on national television, drawing sharp rebukes from across the aisle and even threats of a lawsuit from Arizona’s top prosecutor.
Grijalva, 54, cruised to victory in a special election on September 23, 2025, capturing nearly 70 percent of the vote in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District to succeed her late father, longtime Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who passed away in March after more than two decades in office.
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The district, stretching along the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Arizona, is a Democratic stronghold that President Donald Trump lost by 22 points in 2024.
Grijalva, a former Pima County supervisor and advocate for environmental causes and public education, pledged during her campaign to prioritize transparency on issues like the Epstein case—a promise that’s now at the heart of the delay.
Nearly a month later, Grijalva remains in limbo, unable to vote, access constituent services, or even set up a full congressional office.
“Every day that I am not sworn in is another day that my constituents are blocked from critical constituent services and excluded from debates happening right now that affect their lives,” she said during a press conference outside Johnson’s office on October 15.
Her district’s residents, many of whom rely on federal programs amid rising health care costs, are already feeling the pinch from the shutdown, which kicked off earlier this month after Democrats balked at a GOP funding bill lacking extensions for Obamacare subsidies.
Members of the GOP, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, have also criticized the Republican Party for failing to address skyrocketing health insurance premiums and playing politics with vulnerable families’ lives.
At the epicenter of the dispute is a bipartisan discharge petition spearheaded by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), aimed at forcing a floor vote on H. Res. 577—a resolution demanding the immediate release of all federal documents related to Epstein, including investigative files, flight logs, and records of government officials connected to him.
The petition, which bypasses leadership control, has garnered 217 signatures—spanning nine Democrats and 11 Republicans, including Trump allies like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.
Grijalva Delivers the Final Vote for Epstein Files Release, But Johnson Won’t Allow It
Grijalva has vowed to deliver the decisive 218th, potentially teeing up a vote as early as October 20 if she’s seated.
The push for full disclosure stems from months of simmering frustration over the Trump administration’s handling of Epstein’s case.
Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, has long fueled conspiracy theories about a so-called “client list” of powerful figures who allegedly partook in his abuses.
A July 2025 Justice Department memo dashed those hopes, concluding there was no such list and affirming Epstein’s death as suicide—prompting backlash from MAGA circles that had demanded transparency.
Attorney General Pam Bondi had teased more releases earlier in the year, but the DOJ’s pivot left many feeling stonewalled.
House Republicans, led by Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), have released over 33,000 pages of documents so far, including flight logs and a infamous “birthday book” with a lewd note seemingly from Trump.
Comer touted the effort in a September 3 statement, saying it fulfills “our commitment to provide the American people with radical transparency.”
Johnson, a staunch Trump ally who’s navigated his speakership through razor-thin majorities, has repeatedly insisted the delay in Grijalva’s swearing-in is routine.
“We’re going to give her the oath of office as soon as we get back to regular session,” he said, citing tradition and pointing to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 25-day wait to seat a Republican in 2021.
He brushed off Epstein links as “absurd,” blaming the shutdown on Senate Democrats and predicting it won’t resolve before anti-Trump protests this weekend, which he derided as a “Hate America rally.”
But Grijalva and her allies aren’t buying it. On October 15, she confronted Johnson directly outside his office, declaring, “Let’s just be really clear, if I were a Republican, I would have already been sworn, and that is not acceptable. They’re afraid of me signing and being the 218th signer to the Epstein petition.”
The next day, on Fox News’ America Reports, Johnson fired back with a line dripping in condescension: “Bless her heart. She’s a representative-elect. She doesn’t know how it works around here.”
Grijalva, who at 54 is actually a year older than the 53-year-old speaker, shot back through her press office, stating, “Spare us the patronizing ‘bless her heart’ comments. Speaker Johnson’s job is to swear in new members, as he did with his Republican colleagues within 24 hours of their elections. Now he’s stalling because he’s scared of accountability and of his puppet master Donald Trump. This delay isn’t about process. It’s about obstruction. #ReleaseTheFiles.”
The jab landed like a gut punch, amplifying calls for Johnson’s head. In a CNN interview that evening, Grijalva addressed it head-on: “How patronizing… Your job is to swear me in.”
Leaders Pile Up on Mike Johnson
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries piled on, telling reporters, “This is probably being done because she’s the 218th vote on releasing the Epstein files.”
Minority Whip Katherine Clark wrote to Johnson on September 30, warning that the holdup “calls into question if the motive behind the delay is to further avoid the release of the Epstein files.”
Arizona’s Democratic senators, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, joined the fray on October 8, cornering Johnson at the Capitol and demanding he seat Grijalva immediately. “Mike Johnson is delaying Adelita Grijalva’s swearing-in because she’d be the 218th vote to unseal the Epstein files,” Gallego posted on X the day before.
The League of United Latin American Citizens echoed the sentiment, stating on X that “the House is one vote away from forcing the release of the Epstein files, and Mike Johnson is blocking it.”
The pressure peaked Tuesday when Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes fired off a scathing letter to Johnson, condemning his “ever-shifting, unsatisfactory, and sometimes absurd” excuses and threatening court action.
“Arizona’s right to a full delegation, and the right of the residents of CD 7 to representation from the person they recently voted for, are not up for debate and may not be delayed or used as leverage in negotiations about unrelated legislation,” Mayes wrote.
She told reporters, “There’s no legitimate reason for him to refuse to swear her in right now—no other reason that I can think of, except that perhaps she’s the final vote to discharge the Epstein files. And it’s not fair for Mike Johnson to be holding the state of Arizona hostage because he doesn’t want to release the Epstein files.”
Mayes indicated her office is prepared to seek a declaratory judgment forcing the swearing-in, citing precedent that favors states’ representational rights.
This isn’t the first time Johnson has been accused of maneuvering to sideline the Epstein vote. Back in July, he abruptly adjourned the House a day early for summer recess to dodge a potential floor showdown, drawing fire from both parties.
“Mike Johnson just confirmed what we already know: House Republicans will do anything to protect the elite, powerful and well connected,” sniped a House Majority PAC spokeswoman at the time.
Even as Johnson called for more releases in mid-July—breaking briefly with Trump, who dismissed the saga as a “boring” “Democrat hoax”—he’s since aligned firmly against the discharge push, arguing it duplicates Comer’s probe and ignores Trump’s veto power.
Massie, undeterred, boasted on X over the weekend: “Why are we in recess? Because the day we go back into session, I have 218 votes for the discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lambasted Johnson for prioritizing “protecting the Epstein files” over averting the shutdown.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) chimed in on X: “The government is in full shutdown and the Republicans are refusing to call the House back into session… Because we have secured the final vote on releasing the Epstein Files and they don’t want it out.”
Moving Forward
For Epstein survivors, the stakes feel personal. Massie met with victims in September, and one, Haley Robson, has publicly urged Congress to act.
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), a co-sponsor, called on New York Republicans last week to provide a “deciding vote,” warning that opposition amounts to a “hostile act” toward the Trump administration—but stressing the need for justice.
Grijalva framed it similarly in a campaign statement: “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.”
As C-SPAN gears up for a Johnson-Jeffries debate on the shutdown—date TBD—the Epstein saga underscores deeper rifts in a divided Congress.
With health premiums set to spike for millions if subsidies lapse, and Grijalva’s constituents left in the lurch, the question lingers: Will procedural gamesmanship trump the voters’ will?
For now, Arizona’s newest voice—and potentially the nation’s transparency reckoning—waits in the wings.
Also Read: Republicans Face Growing Backlash as Voters Blame Them for Govt. Shutdown
