A Democratic rep.-elect isn't being sworn in. Is it because she'd force an Epstein vote?

A Democrat from Arizona who won a special election for a seat in Congress on Sept. 23 is still waiting to be sworn in to the House of Representatives.

Adelita Grijalva says the first thing she’ll do is sign the paperwork that would let the House vote on a bill to compel President Donald Trump’s administration to release files on child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Most importantly for me is for the victims to have a voice, for victims to be able to get some justice, and for the perpetrators of crime — that they have to deal with the consequences of their actions,” Grijalva told USA TODAY in an interview.

But a spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office says she will need to wait for the government shutdown to end to get sworn in. “It is custom practice in the House to swear in members when the chamber is in session,” he said.

Democrats say the reason Johnson is refusing to swear in Grijalva is that she is the deciding signature on a petition that would force the vote on the Epstein files. Without her sworn in, the paperwork remains stalled.

“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., said Oct. 3 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.”

Johnson told News Nation on Oct. 8 that the delay in swearing in Grijalva “has absolutely nothing to do” with Epstein.

“This is a scheduling matter,” he said. “As soon as the Democrats vote to reopen the government, we will get back to the regular order and session of Congress, and that will be I’m sure among our first orders of business.”

Grijalva said she is “very frustrated and more frustrated and angry every day that passes.” She pointed to three other lawmakers who were sworn in within 24 hours of their special elections this year, and an entire class of lawmakers sworn in during the last shutdown.

“But for me, this Chicana from Arizona, all the rules have changed,” she said.

Grijalva waiting longer than her colleagues

Grijalva won the race to represent Arizona’s 7th Congressional District by nearly 40 points over her Republican opponent. She is the daughter of the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who held the same seat until his death in March.

The district includes the city of Tucson and a large part of Arizona’s southern border with Mexico. About 60% of the district is Hispanic, and 20% were born outside the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“He set a bar very high,” Grijalva said of her father. “So I want to be able to do my job the way he did his job for these constituents, and it’s just so frustrating. And every day that passes, I want to have my family there with me, my husband there with me, my mom.”

This is the longest time any representative-elect has waited to be sworn in by Johnson. In April, Johnson held a short session in order to swear in two Florida Republicans the day after they won their special elections. He also swore in Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Virginia, on Sept. 10, the day after he won his special election.

Johnson said in an interview with News Nation that the Florida Republicans was “a unique exception” that he only made “because they flew all their family and friends in for the ceremony.” When the interviewer asked if Grijalva flying in her family would get her sworn in, Johnson called the issue “a distraction.”

The last day for staff working for the late congressman’s office was Sept. 19, the Friday before the special election. Grijalva said her name is on a placard outside what will be her office in Washington, but she doesn’t have any keys and would need to have an escort let her into the office. She can’t hire staff.

She said that when constituents call her, she can refer their inquiries to the state’s senators, Mark Kelly and Rubén Gallego. The two men, also Democrats, had a heated exchange with Johnson outside his office on Oct. 8.

“Get your people in, and stop covering up for pedophiles,” Gallego said. “It’s very simple.”

“Nobody’s covering up for pedophiles, so knock it the (heck) off,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York.

‘Smoke and mirrors’ on the Epstein files

The Trump administration has refused to release all of the files on Epstein that are in the possession of the Department of Justice, and Johnson has not brought legislation to the House floor to vote on whether to release the Epstein files.

There’s a petition circulating among representatives that would force a vote to compel the administration to release the Epstein files. Supporters need 218 signatures — the majority of the chamber — but currently have 217. Grijalva promises to be No. 218.

“I believe now more, strongly than I did before, that there is something very incriminating in those files,” Grijalva said. She pointed to early comments by Republicans and Trump prior promising to release the Epstein files.

“I think once they had an opportunity take a gander at them, they decided better, and perhaps this isn’t the thing that needs to be out,” she said. “And there is a lot of smoke and mirrors, a lot of distractions, and people saying, ‘Nothing to see here.’”

If all 218 people who vote to bring the issue to the floor also vote in favor of the bill, it will pass. The Senate would then need to approve the measure, and Trump would need to sign it.

Johnson said on C-SPAN on Oct. 9 that he is in “full support” of an ongoing effort by the House Oversight Committee to prepare and release the Epstein files. “The only thing we want to make sure of is that we’re protecting the names of the innocent victims,” he said.

The last government shutdown, during late 2018 and early 2019, lasted 35 days.