House Speaker Mike Johnson entered what should have been a routine swearing-in ceremony; instead, he became the target of a public rebuke from the woman he had kept out of Congress for nearly two months. Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva had waited almost fifty days to take the oath of office. When she finally stood beside Johnson, it was clear she had not forgotten or forgiven the delay.
Grijalva, 55, was elected in September to fill the seat left vacant by her father, the late Representative Raúl Grijalva. However, Johnson’s refusal to swear her in during the shutdown meant she spent her first seven weeks without a chance to hire staff, open her district office, or vote on any legislation. She called Johnson’s actions “undemocratic, unconstitutional, and illegal” in an interview with CNN the night before the ceremony.
The ceremony only added to the tension as Grijalva placed her hand on the Bible as Johnson administered the oath. They exchanged brief, stiff glances until an aide stepped in and said, “handshake.” What followed was an awkward moment in front of the cameras. Grijalva locked eyes with Johnson as they shook hands. He broke her gaze first, guiding her toward the photographers.
A reporter immediately shouted, “Why did it take so long to get sworn in?” Grijalva did not hesitate. She pointed both hands at Johnson, letting the silence hang before saying, “That would be another, that would not be my question.”
REPORTER: Why’d it take so long to get sworn in?
GRIJALVA: *gestures at Johnson* That would not be my question!
MIKE JOHNSON: Look, I really like this lady pic.twitter.com/6zHEP5Y0mc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 12, 2025
Johnson tried to lighten the mood with warm words. With a hand on her shoulder, he said, “I really like this lady. She’s gonna be an excellent member of Congress. She’s a great person.” He quickly turned to honor her father’s legacy, calling him “a giant around here” who “served a long time.” As for the fifty-day delay, he called it procedural, saying, “We follow the custom of the House on the timetable,” assuring her she “hasn’t missed a boat.”
Grijalva remained polite but firm as she acknowledged that while she had visited Congress often as her father’s daughter, she had never done the job herself. She said she would “take the offer of help.” The exchange ended with another reporter asking her what message she had for the Speaker. Grijalva replied, “I gave it to him,” before walking off.
BREAKING: Rep. Grijalva immediately slams Speaker Johnson with a fiery speech for “an abuse of power. One individual should not be able to unilaterally obstruct the swearing in of a duly elected member.”
Let’s go. 🔥pic.twitter.com/HIl9UOZt0W
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) November 12, 2025
Once she reached the House floor, her filter disappeared. “It has been fifty days since the people of Arizona’s seventh congressional district elected me,” she stated in her first speech. “Fifty days that over 800,000 Arizonans have been left without access to the basic services that every constituent deserves. This is an abuse of power.” She added that “one individual should not be able to obstruct the swearing-in of a duly elected member of Congress for political reasons.”
Arizona’s attorney general had filed a lawsuit last month trying to force Johnson to administer the oath, highlighting how unusual the standoff had become.
Grijalva wasted no time showing what she planned to do with her new power. Minutes after taking the oath, she signed the discharge petition to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, becoming the crucial 218th signature. This move sped up the timeline for a House vote, which Johnson had previously suggested would not happen until December.
