Grijalva thanks Mo Brooks for fiery op-ed blasting Johnson over delays

Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva’s (D-Ariz.) quest to be sworn in to the House has at least one Republican backer: former Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks.

Brooks, who represented Alabama’s 5th Congressional District from 2011-23, criticized Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for delaying Grijalva’s swearing-in ceremony in an op-ed for AL.com. The former lawmaker argued Johnson “has no legitimate excuse” for the holdup and is operating on the basis of “pure, raw, powerplay politics.”

“I’m a Republican. The House Speaker is a Republican. Adelita Grijalva is a Democrat,” Brooks noted. “But what is right is right, and what the Republican House Speaker is doing to Democrat Adelita Grijalva is wrong. Period.”

Grijalva thanked Brooks in a Monday post on social media.

On Sept. 23, Grijalva won a special election in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District to fill the seat vacated by the death of her father, former Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D). A member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors until this past April, she won nearly 69 percent of the vote in the general election.

She has yet to take her post, more than a month after he victory.

The House has met in formal or pro forma session 10 times since Grijalva won the election, but Johnson said he does not plan to swear her in until the lower chamber comes back when the government shutdown ends.

Grijalva, who has been on Capitol Hill in recent weeks, has repeatedly asked to be sworn in immediately. The Arizonan also noted in her push that Republican Reps. Jimmy Patronis (Fla.) and Randy Fine (Fla.), along with Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw (Va.), were sworn in the day after their special election victories earlier this year. 

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) filed a lawsuit against the House last week, asking a federal judge to declare Grijalva a member of the chamber and allow someone “authorized by law” to swear her in, if Johnson refuses to do so.

Grijalva has suggested the delay is due to her pledge to sign a discharge petition compelling the Department of Justice to release its files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The petition is currently one vote shy of reaching the House floor.

Brooks argued similarly, saying Johnson is delaying Grijalva’s swearing-in to “prevent her” from signing the petition and to “to strengthen his hand in the ongoing budget and appropriations negotiations” amid the government shutdown. 

“As of now, more than 800,000 citizens of America and Arizona are being denied their right to representation in the U.S. House by the Speaker for demonstrably illegitimate reasons. That is wrong,” Brooks wrote in his essay. “Hence, the Republican House Speaker violates his oath of office by refusing to obey the Constitution and swear in Grijalva.”

Johnson has refuted the Epstein claim, saying the delay has “nothing to do” with the petition.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Speaker directed The Hill to Johnson’s comments last week, when he told CNBC he will “administer the oath to [Grijalva] as soon as we get back to regular session here.”

During that interview, he also referenced the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation into the Justice Department’s prosecution of Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

On Oct. 17, the committee released documents relating to the probe, including the transcript of its interview with former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta — who questioned Epstein during his time as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.