House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday dismissed Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ threat to sue him over his refusal to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, calling it a “publicity stunt.”
Ms. Mayes said Thursday on CNN that she’s “not messing around” and has lawyers drafting litigation after Mr. Johnson failed to respond to her demand that he swear in Ms. Grijalva “without further delay.”
Ms. Grijalva won a Sept. 23 special election to replace her late father, Raul Grijalva, who died in March. After Arizona formally certified the election results on Tuesday, Ms. Mayes sent Mr. Johnson a letter demanding he seat Ms. Grijalva immediately or provide a reasonable explanation for the delay.
“The law is very clear that no speaker of the House has the right to deny a state the seating of a member of Congress,” Ms. Mayes said in the CNN interview, noting that lawyers in her office had begun drafting the litigation. “We’re at a point now where we’re going to have to take him to court.”
Mr. Johnson’s remarks at a press conference on Friday suggested he wasn’t taking the threat seriously.
“It’s a publicity stunt by a Democrat attorney general in Arizona who sees a national moment and wants to call me out,” he said. “She has nothing whatsoever to do with what’s happening in Congress.”
The speaker reiterated that he plans to administer the oath of office to Ms. Grijalva as soon as the House returns to its regular legislative session. He doesn’t have a specific return date, as he’s keeping the House in recess until the Senate clears a House-passed stopgap spending bill to reopen the government.
The House has been in recess since Sept. 19, but the chamber must hold pro forma sessions every three days. Democrats have been trying to get Mr. Johnson to swear in Ms. Grijalva during one of those sessions, but he has refused.
The speaker said he wants to maintain the precedent of swearing in members during a normal legislative session. Democrats point out that he swore in two Republicans who won special elections in Florida during an April 2 pro forma session. Mr. Johnson said that it was previously planned as a full session day and held the swearing-in only because the members’ families were already in Washington.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said if the speaker didn’t swear in Ms. Grijalva during Friday’s pro forma session, there would be “swift and decisive legal action,” per Ms. Mayes’ warning.
Ms. Grijalva, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Mayes and other Democrats have all said they believe the speaker is trying to keep Ms. Grijalva from becoming the 218th and final signature on a discharge petition to force a vote on requiring the Justice Department to release its Epstein files. The speaker has repeatedly denied that accusation.
Mr. Johnson said he holds no ill will toward Ms. Grijalva and “no one is impeding her” from serving her constituents before she’s officially sworn in.
“You have an office. She’s hired 16 employees. They keep going by and knocking on the door and pretending it’s locked,” he said. “If it’s locked, it’s because Rep. Grijalva is choosing not to represent her constituents. She can be handling their calls, directing them appropriately and doing lots of important work right now. I don’t know if she is.”
Ms. Grijalva posted on social media Thursday that she got the keys to her office but hasn’t been given a House email address or passcodes to access government computers. She’s been using her personal computer for Zooms, she said in a video explaining the limitations she’s facing while not sworn in.
“Yes, I have access to an office,” Ms. Grijalva said. “But it’s kind of like someone saying here’s a car and it doesn’t have an engine, gas or tires.”
