Representative Grijalva was sworn in today as the US House opened for business, became the 218th signature on Rep. Massie's petition forcing a vote to release the Epstein files

 Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva sworn in after contentious seven-week delay

... Grijalva represents the 218th signature on a bipartisan discharge petition, which will allow rank-and-file lawmakers to bypass Johnson and his leadership team and force a floor vote to release files. She signed the petition as her first act as a member of Congress.

That will force the House to hold a vote in the coming weeks to compel the Justice Department to release all of the files related to its investigation into Epstein. But the bill is unlikely to pass the Senate or be signed into law by Trump, who has personally urged Republicans to block the discharge push. ...

 

Jeffrey Epstein files: House speaker announces vote next week on release of docs

... Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., provided the 218th signature needed to approve the so-called discharge petition shortly after she was sworn in as a House member, after a seven-week delay. Griljalva won a special election to fill the seat vacated due to the death of her father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, in March. ...

Even if the effort passes in the House, it is unlikely to become law. The bill would have to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate, and Trump could veto it even if it survived a vote in that chamber. ...

 

The Republican-controlled U.S. House will not have been in session for almost 80% of its work days in 19 weeks, which a more competent GOP would be using to advance its agenda

The Epstein files quietly wait for them to return.

Democrat Adelita Grijalva, elected on September 23rd, remains unsworn-in.

 

These two pixies John J. Waters and Adam Ellwanger can't point to one thing which Democrats have achieved which Donald Trump has permanently reversed or topped

 ... By the time Obama secured his second term as president, the Democratic party (and the shadow groups that swim in its wake) had won the day on virtually every issue that mattered. This victory was largely due to their focus on doing and creating things rather than thinking about them. ...

Democrats owned the world of things and the real-world effects of their policies – however incoherent – were evident to all. An underlying premise of the Trump campaign was a return to things. To infrastructure. To clean streets and safe cities. To American-made products. And to historic landmarks and monuments that memorialize America’s greatness for future generations. Trump recognized that conservative ideas are meaningless until we rebuild the material conditions where they can be achieved. ...

More. 

 

There isn't one thing in the room with us right now, and there won't be.

We are three weeks into a government shutdown and Congressional Republicans are completely OK with these precious legislative days just thrown into the dumpster of history without accomplishing anything.

The US House isn't even in session, and hasn't been in session now but for 3 of the last 16 weeks, and this will likely extend to 17, 18, who knows how many weeks. Some people are predicting to Thanksgiving.

The GOP won't swear in Democrat Adelita Grijalva, elected on September 23rd, because they fear Republican Thomas Massie's Epstein gambit.

Donald Trump's GOP is a farce.

 

 

 

Hypocritical, disgraceful Republican Speaker of the U.S. House Mike Johnson thwarts democracy, slow-walks swearing-in of Adelita Grijalva (AZ-7), newly-elected on September 23rd

 Republicans refuse to swear in newly elected Democrat, delaying success of Epstein petition

 Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Republican leaders refused requests from Democrats to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) on Tuesday, saying she will be sworn in when the House returns to regular session.

Grijalva, who was elected last week in a special contest [September 23rd] to replace her father, the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), has already vowed to sign the discharge petition as soon as she’s sworn in, and the bipartisan lawmakers pushing to release the Epstein files had hoped to launch the process as quickly as possible. ...

Although there are no votes scheduled, the House floor opened up briefly at noon on Tuesday for a pro forma session, a routine procedure allowing one chamber to pause floor activities for long stretches without the consent of the other.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) presided over Tuesday’s pro forma session, gaveling out and refusing to recognize Democrats shouting on the floor as they attempted to force a vote on a Democratic proposal to keep the government open. He did not swear in Grijalva. 

“Historically, you do it when the House is in session other than pro forma,” Griffith said after the session when asked about not swearing in Grijalva.

Grijalva noted that Florida Republicans were sworn in during a pro forma session earlier this year, on April 2, the day after their special elections. The House had been in session the day before. ...

A shutdown would not prevent Grijalva from being sworn in. The full House was sworn in during a government shutdown when a new Congress started in January 2019. ...

“It is common practice in the House of Representatives that Representatives-elect are sworn in immediately following their decisive election, with some being sworn in as little as 24 hours after they have won,” wrote Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) . . ..

Imagine Democrats doing this to Republicans. The latter would be howling in front of the cameras about Democrats killing democracy.