\n Speaker Mike Johnson is not planning to allow Democrats\u2019 newest congresswoman-elect to be sworn-in until her party agrees to end the government shutdown, despite telling CNN earlier Tuesday that he would swear her in \u201cas soon as she wants.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe will swear in Rep.-Elect [Adelita] Grijalva as soon as the House returns to session when Chuck Schumer, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego decide to open up the government,\u201d a leadership aide said Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n
\n The move amounts to an extraordinary power play to deny a sitting member a seat.\n <\/p>\n
\n While the leadership aide contended \u201cit\u2019s a customary practice in the House to swear in members when the chamber is in legislative session,\u201d Johnson swore in Florida GOP Reps. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine during a pro forma session earlier this year.\n <\/p>\n
\n As the government shutdown has dragged on without the Senate able to reach a deal to fund the government, the House has been holding brief \u201cpro forma\u201d sessions where the chamber is quickly gaveled out and is not engaged in legislative business.\n <\/p>\n
\n Johnson, asked earlier Tuesday why he had not sworn in Grijalva during a pro forma session when she was elected in September and whether it was connected to a push to vote on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files, said: \u201cNo, it has nothing to do with that at all. We will swear her in when everybody gets back. It\u2019s a ceremonial duty.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cLook, we\u2019ll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants. It has nothing to do with it. I, we\u2019re in pro forma session because there is nothing for the House to do. The House has done its job,\u201d the speaker said when pressed by CNN on why he was waiting for the full House to return.\n <\/p>\n
\n Grijalva is expected to provide the final signature needed on a petition to force a full House vote on releasing further materials in the Epstein case, but Johnson has insisted the delay in her swearing-in is not related to that issue.\n <\/p>\n
\n Johnson did not explain why he has chosen to delay her swearing in, even though he has handled other members differently.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cSpeaker Johnson needs to stop dragging his feet and follow the same precedent he set in swearing in his Republican colleagues earlier this year. If he would simply give me a date and time, I will be there,\u201d Grijalva said in a statement to CNN.\n <\/p>\n