Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday following a continuous refusal by Johnson to seat Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva., D-Ariz.
The 17-page lawsuit filed in Washington on Monday seeks to compel Johnson to swear in Grijalva, or for another official in the House to do so. Mayes warns that allowing Johnson to avoid seating Grijalva would “thwart” the will of voters.
“This case is about whether someone duly elected to the House who indisputably meets the constitutional qualifications of the office,” Mayers wrote in the filing, “may be denied her rightful office simply because the Speaker has decided to keep the House out of ‘regular session.’”
“Constitutional rights cannot be used as a bargaining chip,” Mayes wrote.
Mayes threatened Johnson with “prompt legal action” last week, accusing the speaker of playing “political games” for failing to seat Grijalva. Johnson called the lawsuit “patently absurd” when speaking with reporters Tuesday.
“We run the House. She has no jurisdiction,” Johnson said of Mayes. “We’re following the precedent. She’s looking for national publicity, apparently she’s gotten some of it, but good luck with that.”
Grijalva has protested Johnson’s actions, stating that “there is so much that cannot be done” while she waits to be sworn in.
“So every moment that passes that I’m not able to provide constituent services or be a voice for Arizona, I cannot bring the issues forward that they send me here to do,” Grijalva said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Officially, Johnson explained his refusal to seat Grijalva as being a result of the government shutdown, leaving him unable to bring the House to session. However, Johnson previously said that the Rep.-elect can be sworn in “as soon as she wants.”
Critics accuse Johnson of avoiding the issue, as Grijalva would be the final vote needed by a bipartisan procedural attempt to release case files on sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, a no-go issue for many in the GOP in Washington. Johnson has denied this, saying that not seating Grijalva “has nothing to do” with the Epstein files.
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