Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Sen. Rubén Gallego, D-Ariz., clashed Wednesday with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accusing the president of delaying to avoid swearing in an elected Arizona representative because she would cast the deciding vote on a bill that could release Jeffery’s files. Epstein, but Johnson denied this allegation and instead blamed the ongoing government shutdown.
Key data
Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., won the September special election to replace her father, former Rep. Raúl Grijalva, after he died while receiving cancer treatment in March, but Johnson has delayed calling a pro forma session to swear the Arizona Democrat into office while the government remains shut down.
Grijalva is expected to cast the deciding vote to approve a discharge petition that would force the House to vote on the release of Epstein’s files, and Gallego accused the speaker of “preventing” him from taking office, later adding “you don’t want to be in Epstein’s discharge.”
In an exchange in front of reporters on Wednesday, Johnson called Gallego’s accusation “totally absurd” and instead pressured senators to vote to reopen the government.
The House is not currently in session, although Johnson has the power to call a pro forma session (which the Senate Glossary defines as “A brief meeting of the Senate or House, often only a few minutes in duration, during which business is not usually conducted”) to swear in Grijalva.
Info:
Newly released documents show Musk planned trip to Epstein’s private island
Crucial ideals
“President Johnson continues to make excuses, but in the meantime southern Arizona still has no voice in Washington,” Grijalva said in a video statement Wednesday, asking voters to pressure the president to be sworn in.
What are Democrats trying to pass?
Democrats in Congress are trying to pass a discharge petition, a tool that would force a floor vote on a bill that would release files related to the government’s investigations and prosecutions of the disgraced financier. The effort was led by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and the petition needs the support of a majority of members to pass. Only four Republicans have signed the petition: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Massie. The petition, which all House Democrats have backed, only needs one more vote to pass the threshold, and Grijalva has indicated he would support it.
What did Johnson say?
On Tuesday, Johnson told reporters that the House would swear in Grijalva “whenever she wants,” insisting that the delay “has nothing to do” with the vote on the Epstein files. “We are happy that she has been elected, she will take her father’s place, it is fantastic,” he declared on Wednesday. “We have a long tradition here and a process for swearing in a member,” Johnson told Kelly and Gallego. “We will do it as soon as we get back to work, but we need the light to come back on.” Johnson said the accusation that she was delaying the process because of the impending vote on Epstein was “totally absurd” and cited the House Oversight Committee’s ongoing review of documents related to the case that the president has endorsed in the past. Johnson stated that the Oversight Committee was “doing the job, they’re doing it with subpoena power, and you don’t need an act of Congress for that to happen because they’re already working on it.”
Can the House swear in its members out of session?
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives swore in two Florida Republicans, Reps. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine, during a pro forma session after they won special elections to replace representatives who joined the Trump administration. Johnson called this case an exception. “They were here one day, they had their families here, they had a day scheduled for the oath of office, and the House was called out of session that day,” Johnson said. “They had all their family and friends here, so we went ahead and continued with the process.” The speaker said the House would schedule a date for Grijalva to take the oath of office after the shutdown ended. “Representative-elect Grijalva has not yet had a date scheduled because she was elected after the House was out of session,” he said Wednesday.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
Follow information about the world in our international section
