Thirty days after winning the special election for her late father’s congressional seat, Arizona Democratic Representative-Elect Adelita Grijalva joined our video call from a temporary setup in her district. She had not yet received congressional funds to sign a lease for a district office—because despite winning over two-thirds of the vote in her state’s Seventh Congressional District, she still hasn’t been sworn in to the House of Representatives.
A sign tacked to the wall behind Grijalva read, “End the Shutdown. Swear in Adelita. Release the Files.” This seemingly was a reference to larger political storms surrounding her victory: Congress is gridlocked in a government shutdown, with no end in sight, and Grijalva has pledged to sign the bipartisan discharge petition to force a vote on having the Justice Department release the so-called “Epstein Files,” documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Her signature would be the 218th and final needed to bring a vote to the floor—a potential development some believe Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican ally of President Trump, would prefer to avoid.
Johnson has firmly denied that the delay in administering Grijalva’s oath of office is connected to the petition and maintains he will swear in Grijalva when the House returns to full session after the shutdown. Instead, he claims to be following “the Pelosi precedent,” citing instances where former Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not swear in new members during a recess. However, Johnson himself swore in two Representatives outside of a normal House session earlier this year.
The now month-long delay has ignited conflict between Congressional Republicans and Democrats, who have responded with multiple protests, including demonstrations on the House floor demanding Grijalva be sworn in. (Some Republicans also have called for Johnson to swear Grijalva in). In addition, Arizona’s Attorney General has filed a lawsuit over Johnson’s failure to seat Grijalva.
Washingtonian spoke with Grijalva about her strange experience in Congress so far (this interview has been lightly edited for clarity):
Following your election win on September 23rd, what were you expecting your first days in Washington to look like?
Yes, 30 days ago today. We had votes scheduled for September 29th and 30th; they were pro forma sessions (meetings of the House where no legislative business occurs), so I came that day. Then those were cancelled, but I was asked to come, so I did, and then we had votes scheduled on October 7th. I have three kids and a husband, and a mom, and I wanted to make sure they were there for the swearing-in, so I made flight arrangements. Then Speaker Johnson cancelled the votes. Just as a reminder, there have been six pro forma sessions since my election. And he keeps saying, well, we’re shut down. But there were five days after my election when we could have very easily set something up—just like he did for the two Republicans elected in April.
When I first got there, everyone was very welcoming, and the Democratic Caucus was very welcoming. We all assumed that I would be sworn in very shortly. And then the delays from cancelled votes continued, but we still had pro forma sessions. So, because this speaker, Speaker Johnson, swore in two Republicans in a pro forma session, less than 24 hours after their election, they were sworn in, and so there is absolutely no reason for him not to do it.
Now the excuse is that we’re in a government shutdown. Well, an entire freshman class from 2019 was sworn in during a shutdown. He is delaying the votes. He is cancelling. It’s very different than if someone gets elected in a special [election] over a recess. That’s different—it’s like when your school’s out of session, you wait until school starts to join the class. I understand that. But this is something that he is doing. Johnson has complete control over when the House will go into session. He is choosing to cancel votes, and that’s very different. And that’s where the obstruction comes, in my opinion.
Has this delay affected your work, even the administrative things you’d expect, such as staffing up?
There is an administrative office for House members and staff. They asked us for a list of staff that we were going to want onboarded. So, we provided that list. If you listen to Speaker Johnson, when he says she has 16 staff, that’s the list he’s going from. These are people that we want to onboard. Then, I make a comment that I don’t have a key to the office. Suddenly, a key shows up. I say, “We don’t have phones. We don’t have internet. We don’t have access.” Then he’s bringing people out of furlough to try to help me. There is a whole system in place for members of Congress that, when you are duly sworn in, you get access to everything. Right now, he’s piecemealing. I have access to 20 percent.
I still don’t have a budget. So, going back and forth to Washington and back home to Arizona, I have to use the [frequent flyer] miles I’ve stored up.
When you look at what you can and cannot do, in Washington, it feels a little more normal. I have an office, there are people there, and I just got a laptop yesterday. No access to any systems in the laptop, but yes, there is a functioning laptop. It’s really in the district—where the work of members of Congress is most impactful and important—that’s where you really can tell, because my dad (Raúl) had two offices here in the district. He passed away in March, but the [consituent] services continued until the 23rd. Now, those doors are closed. Someone can’t just bring me a key and open it. I’d need to sign a lease, and I don’t have the capacity to do that without a budget.
Before the lawsuit was filed, I contacted Speaker Johnson, left two messages, sent a letter. Now that the suit has been filed, I don’t think it’s advisable for me to have any conversation with him outside of a courtroom, really. So, I’m not going to go down that road anymore with him. But there was ample opportunity for us to deal with this in a very democratic, civilized, proper way. He chose to do this.
When you eventually take the oath, has this delayed start in Washington shifted your priorities?
I want to be ready. So, as soon as I’m sworn in, the lease is executed—the problem is that a lot of people in DC that cannot help us because they’re furloughed, so it would have still been a rocky start regardless, but had he sworn me in before the shutdown, we could have already had a functioning space and be ready to go. So, this has just delayed me from being able to help constituents—that, respectfully, my dad has been in elected office here in this community for 50 years. I’ve been in this community for 22 years. So, people know to call Grijalva. It might be my dad. It might be me. They know to call us if something’s going on.
My frustration is that if someone asks me to look into a case for them, that is a legitimate federal issue, and I don’t even have the paperwork to get a waiver from them to look into their case. We don’t have staff with the proper equipment, because some of the staff who were with my dad in his office are going to work in my office. But they had to turn in all their computers and cell phones, and every record from Raul Grijalva’s office has gone. So, we have to start from scratch. I almost wish people wouldn’t see us as related, because I think they just assume that everything he knew, I just have by osmosis. It doesn’t work that way.
Your father served 11 terms in Washington. So, do you know the city well?
From a distance. I think I visited four times. I’ve been there more this month than I did in the 22 years my dad was there. Because in the time that he left, I got married and had three kids, it was a lot easier to stay in Arizona. It’s not easy to travel with babies. As far as having a home there, my dad lived in a condo. If you’re a fast walker, it’s maybe a 20-minute walk—for me, it’s probably going to be 30-ish, from the Capitol. So, I already have a space, and that part is settled. The unfortunate part is that because of my schedule, I get to the condo, fall asleep, get up, and start all over again. So, there hasn’t been an opportunity for me to cruise around and do some of the things I want to do, like find the nearest grocery store and some other logistics.
Is there something you have that you want to bring to your DC office to remind you of home?
(Florida Democratic) Representative (Debbie) Wasserman Schultz brought me a basket of Florida goodies, including orange taffy and key lime fudge. We are so close to the border that I want to have a basket of Mexican candy, because that’s what I grew up with, and most kids in AZ-07 did, too. It’s a tamarind base with a lot of salt, sweet, and hot all together. It’s my favorite. I think I’m going to collect little bags of it, so when everyone comes in, they’re like, What is this crazy thing? We’re going to have some people who become addicted to that candy.
But, it’s the feeling of community here in Arizona with me, one of the things I really respect about my dad and some of the members I’ve met is that they don’t let Washington change them. They don’t become this different version of themselves. I really appreciate that because I am also surrounded by three children, a husband, family, and friends, who would be like, ‘Who do you think you are?” When I walked out of the house today, my daughter said, “Are you gonna wear that?” There’s really no opportunity to get big-headed.
What are you hearing from your constituents about Washington?
I just left an event, and there were 400 people. Every person I spoke to said to keep fighting, just keep it up, because he [Speaker Johnson] continues to look worse and worse every day that passes, he looks like the hypocrite that he is […] every time he is asked about me now, you can visibly see it bothers him.
Respectfully, it didn’t have to be this way. He could have just done the right thing and sworn me in, and I would be an anonymous freshman. No one would know who I was. But because he did this and it is so obviously an obstruction to swearing me in, that’s why I think it’s getting this attention.
A final and practical question: Do you have a House ID?
No, I do not. I mentioned it on CNN last night, and we just got a call from the Sergeant-at-Arms saying, “We have a member-elect ID that she can wear.” So, I feel Speaker Johnson is trolling me a little bit. Every time I say I need something, he shows up with it. So now I’m going to say, I’m really hungry, I’d love a pizza, and see if it shows up.
