Arizona sues US House over delay in swearing in Democrat Grijalva

By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The state of Arizona on Tuesday sued the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives over the delayed swearing in of Democratic Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva.

Grijalva, 54, won a special election last month to fill the House seat that was left vacant when her father, Raul Grijalva, died in March. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he will swear her when the House returns, but has kept lawmakers out of Washington for more than a month, saying they will not return until the Senate passes a measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.

"This case is about whether someone duly elected to the House – who indisputably meets the constitutional qualifications of the office – may be denied her rightful office simply because the Speaker has decided to keep the House out of 'regular session," Arizona Attorney General Kristin Mayes wrote in the lawsuit.

Mayes argued that the U.S. Constitution does not grant Johnson the authority to "thwart the people's choice" of who should represent them for a significant portion of a two-year term.

As a result, according to the lawsuit, Arizona wants a judge to deem Grijalva a member of the House once she has taken the oath and have that oath administered by any person authorized to do so, if Johnson refuses.

Johnson called the lawsuit "patently absurd."

"We run the House. She has no jurisdiction," he told reporters on Tuesday. "We're following the precedent. She's looking for national publicity. Apparently, she's gotten some of it but good luck with that,"

There are currently 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats in the House, where there are three vacancies. Once Grijalva is sworn in, the already narrow split will move to 219 to 214 with two vacancies.

Grijalva has vowed, once sworn in, to provide the final signature needed on a lawmakers' petition to force a vote on a controversial bill ordering the release of all unclassified records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein held by President Donald Trump's administration.

Arizona in its lawsuit accused Johnson of delaying Grijalva's swearing in to prevent her from signing onto the bill, which is opposed by most House Republicans.

"Speaker Johnson cannot continue to disenfranchise an entire district and suppress their representation to shield this administration from accountability and block justice for the Epstein survivors," Grijalva said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward; editing by Scott Malone and Sam Holmes)