Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) noted the “quick” swearing in for Rep. Matt Van Epps (R-TN) on Thursday after her own swearing in was paused.
“Less than 48 hours after winning… must be nice,” Grijalva wrote on X later.
Grijalva won the special election for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District on Sept. 23, in the middle of a week that the House was out of session. Grijalva won 68.94% to her Republican opponent’s 29.43%.
A week after Grijalva’s election, the government shutdown began. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) said from the start that Grijalva would be sworn in when the House was back in session. Grijalva’s swearing in would ultimately take 50 days following the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
A different Democrat elected in a special election this year, Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA), was sworn in the next day after he won Virginia’s 11th district on Sept. 9. The House was in session at the time.
Still, despite the complications surrounding the timing of Grijalva’s swearing in, other Democratic politicians joined in criticizing Johnson. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) gave Johnson the nickname “Pedo Protector Mike” in a Thursday X post over the subsequent delay on the House vote to release the documents surrounding late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. When that vote came to the House floor, Johnson voted in favor of releasing the documents.
SPECIAL ELECTION WINNER MATT VAN EPPS SWORN IN AS NEWEST HOUSE REPUBLICAN
“Rep. Van Epps has been sworn in LESS THAN TWO DAYS after winning his election. @Rep_Grijalva was sworn in 50 DAYS after hers,” the House Democrats account wrote on X Thursday. “House Republicans only act swiftly when it suits them and their billionaire friends.”
Johnson’s office did not provide a comment for the Washington Examiner.