(MENAFN) Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against the US House of Representatives, accusing Speaker Mike Johnson of unlawfully preventing Grijalva from taking her oath of office following her September election win.

“Speaker Mike Johnson is actively stripping the people of Arizona of one of their seats in Congress and disenfranchising the voters of Arizona’s seventh Congressional district in the process,” Mayes said in a statement, describing the situation as “taxation without representation.”

“I will not allow Arizonans to be silenced or treated as second-class citizens in their own democracy,” she added.

The complaint, submitted to the US District Court in Washington, DC, argues that the Constitution grants the Speaker no authority to delay the seating of a duly elected representative. It asks the court to issue a declaratory judgment permitting Grijalva to be sworn in by “any person authorized by law to administer oaths.”

Johnson defended his decision, claiming he is “following the Pelosi precedent” by waiting for Congress to reconvene. He referred to a previous instance when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi postponed swearing in new members during a congressional recess.

He told reporters on Monday that Grijalva’s victory came after the House had “already gone out of session,” adding that he intends to administer her oath “on the first day we come back.”

However, the lawsuit alleges that Johnson’s refusal is politically motivated — specifically to delay a potential vote on the release of records related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and to strengthen his leverage in ongoing budget negotiations.

Grijalva secured her seat in the September 23 special election with nearly 69% of the vote.

MENAFN22102025000045017640ID1110230077