Mike Johnson Refuses to Swear in New Dem, Delaying Epstein Files Bid

Republicans are actively trying to delay the release of the Epstein files.

House Speaker Mike Johnson was joined by other GOP leadership Tuesday in rejecting bids to swear in Democratic Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva.

Grijalva won the special election in Arizona last week to replace her father, Raul Grijalva, making her the first Latina the Grand Canyon State has sent to Congress. She’s also the last signature that the House needs on a petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files—but Republicans are dragging their feet.

Instead, party leadership is refusing to swear in Grijalva until Congress returns to its regular session on October 3. But that’s not at all how Republicans treated their own representative-elects earlier this year: Party members didn’t delay swearing in Florida Republicans during a pro forma session in April, the day after they won their special elections.

The House was supposed to be in session on Monday and Tuesday, but Republican leaders canceled those work days in an attempt to strong-arm Democrats into accepting another stopgap funding measure that would benefit Donald Trump’s agenda.

“There’s no reason why I couldn’t have been sworn in, and it’s very problematic, because we’re facing a government shutdown. We’re going to have constituents who have questions, and there is nobody there to answer questions,” Grijalva told The Hill.

She added that Johnson had not provided a timeline for her swearing-in ceremony, telling the publication, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Grijalva’s swearing in appears to be noise in the background for House leadership, which is currently scrambling to prevent a government shutdown that would begin Tuesday night. But there’s plenty of precedent for Grijalva to be sworn in, even in such complicated circumstances. For instance, the entire House was sworn in during a shutdown in 2019, during Trump’s first term.

Grijalva had already vowed to sign the bipartisan petition advancing the immediate release of the Epstein files. Just four Republicans have penned their signatures on the petition, demanding more transparency from the Trump administration regarding the investigation into deceased pedophilic sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his potential associates. Those conservative lawmakers include Representatives Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, and Lauren Boebert.

President Donald Trump begged top military brass Tuesday to clap for him as he unleashed a radical far-right tirade about using the armed forces against American citizens.

“I’ve never walked into a room so silent before,” Trump said. “This is very inter— don’t laugh, don’t laugh. You’re not allowed to do that. You know what, just have a good time. And if you want to applaud, you applaud.

“And if you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room. Of course there goes your rank, there goes your future,” Trump added, as some laughter rippled throughout the room.

Despite the president’s pathetic plea, the U.S. military officials assembled by War Secretary Pete Hegseth to bear witness to this diatribe mostly sat in silence throughout the president’s remarks, in keeping with the military’s tradition of nonpartisanship, according to The Washington Post.

Top military leaders sat quietly while the president touted the creation of a quick-reaction force to use against protesters and ranted that America was “under invasion from within.”

“We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms. At least when they’re wearing a uniform you can take them out,” Trump rambled.

House Democrats decried Republican leadership at a Tuesday protest against Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to keep the body out of session as a government shutdown looms.

Democratic lawmakers decided to show up en masse to a pro forma session of the House on Tuesday—which are typically brief with no business conducted—to display their dissatisfaction with their colleagues across the aisle.

Johnson had canceled votes on Monday and Tuesday, despite a shutdown deadline of midnight, in hopes of pressuring Senate Democrats into acceding to a Republican stopgap funding measure.

The move also postpones the swearing-in of Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, who is poised to provide the deciding signature on a petition that forces a floor vote on the release of the Epstein files. (Notably, Johnson has previously sworn in special election winners during pro forma sessions, but has opted not to do so with Grijalva.)

House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro called the cancellations “shameful,” saying, “Speaker Johnson is silencing members and shutting down the House in advance of a government-wide shutdown.”

The Democrats used Tuesday’s session to try to force a vote on their own alternative stopgap—which would, among other provisions, reverse health care cuts in Trump’s tax and spending plan—as well as to demand that Grijalva be sworn in.

Many predicted the meeting to be quickly adjourned, with one House Democrat telling Axios, “You’re going to see that gavel go faster than the speed of light.”

And indeed, presiding Republican Representative Morgan Griffith, faced by a House floor packed with dozens of Democrats and few Republicans in sight, hastened to end the session, ignoring several shouts of “Speaker!” as Democrats sought to be recognized so DeLauro could introduce their funding measure.

As Griffith gaveled out, he was showered with objections. “Swear her in!” some members reportedly began to chant, referring to Grijalva. “Shame on you!” said others. “Do your job!”

According to CNN, some held signs depicting Johnson’s face, which read “missing person.”

On Monday, career military officials expressed serious unease regarding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sweeping overhaul of the Pentagon’s priorities. On Tuesday, Hegseth validated all of those fears at his military summit in Virginia.

The Washington Post reported that Hegseth’s shirking of longtime U.S. allies has alienated longtime Pentagon seniors, as Hegseth moves to pull resources from Ukraine and Europe while Russia continues to attack. Hegseth is also apparently prioritizing domestic threats from “the enemy within” rather than focusing on deterring China like senior officials would prefer.

Even Trump loyalist General Dan “Razin” Caine has voiced his displeasure with some of Hegseth’s decisions, particularly his rollout of Trump’s “America First, Peace Through Strength” National Defense Strategy. The initial draft for the strategy was met with widespread disapproval, which is rare.

“He gave Hegseth very frank feedback,” an anonymous source said. “I don’t know if Hegseth even understands the magnitude of the NDS, which is why I think Caine tried so hard.”

On Tuesday, Hegseth doubled down on his pro-war approach to the Defense Department.

“As history teaches us, the only people who actually deserve peace are those who are willing to wage war to defend it. That’s why pacifism is so naive and dangerous,” Hegseth said at his big military summit on Tuesday morning. “Either you protect your people and your sovereignty, or you will be subservient to something or someone. It’s a truth as old as time.”

This all comes as Hegseth is promising a 20 percent reduction in the number of four-star generals and admirals.

Chaos has followed Hegseth for most of his career, from rape allegations, to alcoholism, to infidelity. His commitment to this “warrior ethos” is a sign of more to come, and the generals left—even if they don’t support it— are powerless to stop him.

President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to illegally revoke Americans’ health care benefits if Democrats in Congress don’t agree to do it themselves.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump floated pulling the plug on certain programs if Democratic lawmakers didn’t give up their funding fight to extend tax credits for the Affordable Care Act.

“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them. Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like,” Trump said.

Trump threatened to direct his attack dog, White House budget director Russell Vought, to “trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way.”

“So they’re taking a risk by having a shutdown. Because of the shutdown, we can do things medically—and other ways, including benefits, we can cut large numbers of people out. We don’t want to do that, but we don’t want fraud, waste, and abuse,” Trump continued.

Trump didn’t get more specific about what programs he planned to cut, but “medically” implies he may strip health care benefits, the very thing Democrats have been battling to protect. An estimated 5.1 million Americans will lose their insurance by 2034 if ACA funding expires at the end of the year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Trump and other Republicans have claimed Democrats want to lavish undocumented immigrants with health care subsidies—but undocumented immigrants are not eligible for the tax credits Democrats hope to extend.

Trump isn’t the only one trying to outright intimidate lawmakers. The White House Office of Management and Budget wrote Congress last week urging them to pass a short-term measure to keep the government open through November. If lawmakers fail to agree on a deal, Vought’s office has warned federal agencies to prepare for another round of mass firings, with a focus on eliminating positions where funding has been discontinued or that do not align with Trump’s agenda.

If a deal cannot be reached, the government will shut down at midnight Tuesday.