WASHINGTON — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday, following through with threats to pursue legal action if the top House Republican continued stonewalling the swearing-in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva.
Mayes filed the lawsuit just after 2:40 p.m. local time, accusing Johnson of unlawfully delaying Grijalva’s entry into the House to block the release of the Epstein files and to give Republicans leverage in the ongoing shutdown fight. The lawsuit comes more than one month after Grijalva won the special election for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District to replace her father, who died while in office earlier this year.
“Speaker Mike Johnson is actively stripping the people of Arizona of one of their seats in Congress and disenfranchising the voters of Arizona’s seventh Congressional district in the process,” Mayes said in a statement. “By blocking Adelita Grijalva from taking her rightful oath of office, he is subjecting Arizona’s Seventh Congressional district to taxation without representation. I will not allow Arizonans to be silenced or treated as second-class citizens in their own democracy.”
Mayes directed her team to begin drafting litigation late last week, claiming Johnson is violating the law by denying a duly elected lawmaker the right to be sworn into office. Instead, Mayes argued that the speaker was delaying her swearing-in because Grijalva has committed to sign a discharge petition that would force a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files in full.
It’s not yet clear what legal repercussions the lawsuit holds as Johnson has repeatedly argued Mayes does not have jurisdiction over what the House does. Johnson has also maintained he will swear Grijalva in once the government is reopened and the House returns to session.
“It’s a publicity stunt by a Democrat attorney general in Arizona who sees a national moment and wants to call me out,” Johnson said of the lawsuit last week. “She has nothing whatsoever to do with what’s happening in Congress.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., seemed bullish about the legal action. He sent a letter to Johnson on Thursday demanding he swear Grijalva into office when the House holds a pro forma session on Friday afternoon — later telling reporters that prompt legal action would follow if he didn’t do so.
“It’s shameful that she has not been sworn in because Speaker Johnson and House Republicans apparently want to continue to hide the Jeffrey Epstein files from the American people,” Jeffries said. “This has gone on now for weeks.”
Johnson pushed back against those comments, criticizing Jeffries by saying he “thought Hakeem was a better attorney than that.” Jeffries previously served as corporate lawyer and in-house legal counsel before being elected to Congress.
Instead, Johnson said that Grijalva could begin serving her constituents even without being formally sworn in. Grijalva told reporters earlier this week she had received the keys to her office, but the phone lines and internet connection were not yet working.
“If her Democrat colleagues and leadership have not informed her, you can be serving your constituents right now. You have an office,” Johnson said. “She can be handling their calls, directing them appropriately, and doing lots of important work right now. I don’t know if she is.”
Grijalva refuted Johnson’s comments while addressing reporters from the Capitol on Tuesday, arguing her legislative budget can’t be approved during a shutdown so she can’t lease an office in her district, can’t get reimbursed for travel expenses, or provide constituent services.
“There’s so much that cannot be done until I am sworn in,” she said.