(WASHINGTON) –Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva was officially sworn in to the House on Wednesday — seven weeks after she won a special election, and just before the House is set to up Senate-passed legislation to reopen the government.
House Speaker Mike Johnson administered the oath of office, which prompted loud applause from Democrats.
Grijalva spoke on the House floor and immediately after that signed the discharge petition that would force a floor vote on compelling the Department of Justice to release the complete files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Justice cannot wait another day,” she said.
Grijalva pointed to the new emails released by House Democrats earlier Wednesday in which Epstein made mentions of President Donald Trump.
“Our democracy only works when everyone has a voice,” Grijalva said.
“This includes the millions of people across the country who have experienced violence and exploitation, including Liz Stein and Jessica Michaels, both survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, they are here in the gallery with us this evening,” she said. “Thank you for being here.”
Grijalva called on lawmakers on Capitol Hill to do more to counter Trump.
“It’s past time for Congress to restore its role as a check and balance on this administration and fight for we, the American people,” she said. “We need to fight for our immigrant communities and veterans. We need to stand up for our public schools, children and educators. We need to respect tribal sovereignty and our environment, we need to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights, because that’s what the American people expect us to do: fight for them. That is why I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files.”
Grijalva’s election win was four days after Johnson dismissed lawmakers following House passage of the clean continuing resolution to fund the government in mid-September.
While the question has followed the speaker throughout the shutdown, Johnson had shrugged off the delay in Grijalva’s swearing-in, arguing that his decision was not about Grijalva’s intent to become the decisive signature on a discharge petition.
The state of Arizona sued the House of Representatives over the speaker’s decision to not swear in Grijalva during the government shutdown and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed their opposition to Johnson’s decision.
When could a vote on the Epstein files discharge petition occur?
After Grijalva signed the discharge petition, a procedural maneuver to bypass House leadership on forcing floor votes on legislation, it reached the necessary 218-vote threshold for a vote to be forced in the lower chamber.
The petition, led by Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, now needs to “ripen” — meaning it will receive floor consideration after seven legislative days, according to House Rules. After that, any member who signed the petition can call up the measure and notify of an intention to offer a discharge motion on the floor.
So the earliest the House will hold a vote on the discharge petition is in early December after the chamber’s Thanksgiving recess.
Speaker Johnson was opposed to the effort, pointing to the work being done by the House Oversight Committee on Epstein.
The committee has released thousands of records related to Epstein, provided by the Department of Justice. Some of documents released by the committee include public court filings and transcripts from his associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, previously released flight logs from Epstein’s plane, already-public Bureau of Prisons communications the night of Epstein’s death and various other public court papers from Epstein’s criminal case in Florida. Maxwell has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking young girls and women.
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