Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes – Official Portrait, Mike Johnson – Official Portrait, Adelita Grijalva – Adelita Grijalva for Congress
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, an out lesbian, is threatening to sue House Speaker Mike Johnson for refusing to seat a duly elected Democratic congresswoman from her state.
In an October 14 letter to Johnson, Mayes accused the House Republican leader of violating the U.S. Constitution by delaying the swearing-in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva. Grijalva won a September 23 special election to replace her father, Raúl, who represented Tucson and southern Arizona in Congress for more than two decades.
Mayes noted that during Johnson’s tenure as speaker, he swore in five new members — four of them Republicans — “at the earliest opportunity.” That included two GOP special election winners who were sworn in earlier this year while the House was in recess, according to The New York Times.
Yet Johnson’s office has delayed swearing in Grijalva, despite her winning nearly 70% of the vote and facing no contest to her election. But since being elected, Grijalva told USA Todaythat she has heard a host of reasons for why she cannot be sworn in.
At first, Johnson’s office claimed election officials hadn’t officially signed off on the results — an administrative step known as canvassing. But on October 14, the Arizona Secretary of State announced the canvass was complete, and Mayes later posted the certification online confirming Grijalva’s win.
Grijalva noted that the two Republicans sworn in earlier this year — and Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw of Virginia — were sworn in the day after their elections, without waiting for certification.
“It’s frustrating more than anything because it’s setting this idea that if the speaker doesn’t like your politics or what you might do, they can just drag their feet,” Grijalva told USA Today.
Mayes, however, isn’t accepting Johnson’s excuses.
“The House of Representatives’ uniquely democratic function makes frustrating the will of the voters in selecting their representative particularly egregious,” Mayes wrote in her letter to the Speaker. “The effect of your failure to follow usual practice is that Arizona is down a representative from the number to which it is constitutionally entitled…. The question of entitlement to a seat in the House is justiciable and is not a political question…. The House and its leadership have acted ultra vires and in violation of the Constitution.”
Mayes also accuses Johnson and his staff of “provid[ing] ever-shifting, unsatisfactory, and sometimes absurd stories as to why Ms. Grijalva has not been sworn in.”
She added that her office is keeping “every option open to us, including litigation” if Johnson does not swear in Grijalva.
Johnson has told multiple media outlets, including Politico, that Grijalva will be sworn in once the House returns to session — after Congress reaches an agreement to reopen the government, which has been shut down since October 1.
Democrats have accused Johnson of having an ulterior motive beyond the shutdown — that Grijalva would become the 218th member to sign a discharge petition forcing a vote on releasing the “Epstein files,” documents tied to the investigation of the late sex offender and accused human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Some Democrats have alleged that President Donald Trump — along with other prominent figures across the political spectrum — may be named in the files related to the Epstein investigation. They speculate that Johnson’s hesitation to swear in Grijalva may be an effort to protect Trump.
Johnson has argued that releasing the Epstein files is unnecessary, noting that the House Oversight Committee already made 33,295 pages of records public in September. Critics, however, contend those documents fail to reveal the full scope of the investigation or the wrongdoing by Epstein — and possibly others.
A federal judge has ordered Ruby Corado to be held in custody while she awaits sentencing on a federal wire fraud charge. The founder of the now-shuttered D.C. LGBTQ nonprofit Casa Ruby pleaded guilty in July 2024 and had been under house arrest at her niece's home in Rockville, Maryland, while awaiting sentencing.
U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden postponed Corado's October 15 sentencing hearing after Elizabeth Mullin, her court-appointed public defender, withdrew from the case, citing "an irreconcilable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship."
Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has pledged to make New York City a sanctuary city for transgender people.
In a new campaign ad honoring Latina trans activist Sylvia Rivera -- a pioneering figure in the early LGBTQ rights movement -- Mamdani sits at a desk near the Christopher Street Pier in Greenwich Village, recounting Rivera’s life and the pier’s significance as a haven for LGBTQ people in the city.
As photos and video clips of Rivera and other activists flash across the screen, Mamdani recounts her legacy of activism -- from her role in early gay and trans rights demonstrations to founding Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, which provided food and shelter for homeless trans people, and her push for LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination laws.
California Democrat says House Oversight Chair James Comer made a "homophobic" remark after Democrats challenged his handling of the Epstein investigation.
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, fired back at Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) after Comer dismissed him as a "real big drama queen."
Comer's jab came after Democrats released a sexually suggestive letter allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who died in jail while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The letter, featuring a drawing of a curvaceous woman used as the backdrop for birthday wishes, was allegedly signed by Donald Trump and included in a 2003 album celebrating Epstein's 50th birthday. Trump had been friendly with Epstein during the 1980s and 1990s.
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