Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday for failing to seat Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, Mayes asks the court to compel Johnson to swear in Grijalva or allow her to be sworn in by someone else.
“Constitutional rights cannot be used as a bargaining chip,” Mayes wrote in the filing.
In a letter to Johnson last week, Mayes threatened legal action against the speaker if he did not move to seat Grijalva by the end of the week.
Johnson called the lawsuit “patently absurd” and accused Grijalva of suing him to attract “national publicity.”
“We run the House. She has no jurisdiction. We’re following the precedent,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday.
Grivalja won a Sept. 23 special election in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District to replace her late father, former Rep. Raúl Grijalva. Her win came just days after Johnson sent the House home on Sept. 19 amid a standoff over funding the government, and he has refused to bring the lower chamber back as he looks to jam the Senate.
Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat, has accused Johnson of slow-walking her swearing-in ceremony because she has vowed to sign on to an effort to force a vote on legislation related to releasing files about the investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Johnson has repeatedly vowed to swear Grijalva in once the Senate votes to reopen the government. He also criticized the representative-elect for “doing TikTok videos” instead of “serving her constituents” at a Monday press conference.
But Grijalva has said her district’s office has not had access to funds or resources to provide constituent services for nearly a month.
“There is so much that cannot be done until I’m sworn in,” she said at a joint press conference with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday. “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 sent me here to do.”
Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.
