SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — It’s been more than a month since Adelita Grijalva easily won a special election to replace her father, Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, who died of cancer back in March.
For 22 years, Raul represented Arizona’s 7th District Congressional, which covers the majority of Arizona’s border with Mexico.
Since her victory last month, Adelita has been waiting to be sworn in by House Speaker Mike Johnson, or as she called it marking time in “Twilight Zone limbo.”
“Two Republicans on April 2nd were sworn in less than 24 hours from the date of their election,” said Grijalva. “Here I am, more than 35 days and waiting. We have broken the record for waiting the longest because the Speaker refuses to swear someone in, it’s not fair, it’s not right and it’s not constitutional.”
Grijalva told Border Report that Democrats in Washington, and even herself, have tried on several occasions to get Johnson to swear her in, but she has given up even trying to speak with him.
“At this point, I don’t think it’s advisable for me to have a conversation with him because we know that it’s going to be taken out of context, manipulated in some way,” she said. “Early on, I thought if he just got to see my face, maybe make a connection that I have three kids, I have a husband, that I want them to be part of the swearing-in, but this back-and-forth is just not something that I can do.”
So for now, Grijalva says all she can do is wait.
“I don’t have constituents until I’m sworn in. I can’t provide any constituent services. We cannot open an office in my district. I don’t have an operating budget,” Grijalva said. “I got keys to my dad’s office in D.C., which is empty. I have printers that I can’t print to. I can’t take constituent calls. I’m supposed to tell them go and talk to your Senators Gallego or Kelly because I can’t help you and that’s essentially what the situation is.”
Grijalva says the Speaker won’t swear her in because he’s been told by President Donald Trump not to do it.
“He has placed me in this limbo, and I feel very strongly about this, because of the Epstein files. I would be the 218th signer to the Epstein files and he has been given instruction to do everything he can to to keep those under wraps.”
The Epstein files reportedly contain numerous mentions implicating Trump of being involved with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Johnson has said this is not the case and that he plans to swear Grijalva when the government shut down comes to an end.
Grijalva is not holding her breath.
“The House in four months has worked 19 days, so it’s not just me that is hung up in this weird ‘Twilight Zone’ limbo moment, but it’s so many people scratching their heads, ‘So what are you all doing there?’ … There are millions of people that are going to suffer as a result of these political games that are being played by Republicans.”
Last week, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a lawsuit against Johnson saying the delays in getting Grijalva sworn in are denying more than 800,000 Arizonans their constitutional right to representation.
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