Adelita Grijalva sworn in as the House’s newest member, paving the way for an Epstein files vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Adelita Grijalva was sworn in as the newest member of Congress on Wednesday, more than seven weeks after she won a special election in Arizona to fill the House seat last held by her late father.

Grijalva was sworn in by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday shortly before the House returned to session to vote on a deal to fund the federal government. After delivering a floor speech, Grijalva signed a discharge petition to eventually trigger a vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, giving it the needed 218 signatures.

Grijalva’s seating brings the partisan margin in the House to a narrow 220-214 Republican majority. She vowed to continue her father’s legacy of advocating for progressive policies on issues like environmentalism, labor rights and tribal sovereignty.

In a speech on the House floor after being sworn in, Grijalva said it was time for Congress “to restore a full and check and balance to this administration.”

“We can and must do better. What is most concerning is not what this administration has done, but what the majority of this body has failed to do,” she said.

The seating of Grijalva brings an end to a weekslong delay that she and other Democrats said was intended to prevent her signature on the Epstein petition .

Johnson had refused to seat Grijalva while the chamber was out of session, a decision that prompted condemnation from Grijalva, a lawsuit from Arizona’s attorney general and speculation that Johnson was delaying her induction into the House to stall a vote on whether to require the Justice Department release documents related to the late convicted sex trafficker.

Grijalva had said she would join the petition from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., after taking office, giving it the 218 signatures needed. Three Republicans have signed onto Massie’s petition — Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

President Donald Trump has been reaching out about Epstein to two of them, according to a person familiar with the effort who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The president has phoned Mace, who has returned the calls, but the two have not yet spoken. Trump made a call to Boebert, which the person described as “unsuccessful.”