Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is coming under fire after a report revealed he expects to swear in this week the newest Republican elected to Congress, Matt Van Epps, for whom Johnson campaigned. Van Epps won a narrow victory Tuesday night in a deep red Tennessee district. The move comes after Johnson most recently delayed seating Democratic U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona for 50 days.
Johnson offered an array of explanations for why he would not swear in Congresswoman Grijalva, who won her September election for a seat vacant since March but was not seated until November.
Among his reasons were that the House was not in session, there was a federal government shutdown, and her election had to be officially certified. Critics noted that other members-elect had been sworn in under similar circumstances.
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In October, The Guardian reported that Grijalva “thinks she knows the reason why Johnson is in no rush to administer the oath: in addition to co-sponsoring bills on the environment, public education and other issues she campaigned on addressing, Grijalva plans to provide the final signature on a petition that would force a vote on legislation to release files related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein – which the speaker and Donald Trump oppose.”
Now, critics are blasting Johnson, after Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman reported on the Speaker’s expected timeline.
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“I was led to believe that waiting almost two months was customary and totally normal,” snarked Robbie Sherwood, communications director of the Arizona House Democratic Caucus.
“Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, the last member had to wait 50 days,” observed political commentator Molly Jong-Fast.
“Oh so he can just swear anyone in immediately if he feels like it,” noted Hemant Mehta, who writes the Friendly Atheist on Substack.
“Guess the speed of democracy depends on who you voted for and what they look like,” charged Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko.
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