Representative Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, was sworn into office Wednesday by House Speaker Mike Johnson and took the opportunity to blast President Donald Trump and Congress.
Speaking to her colleagues on the House floor Wednesday, Grijalva said, “While we celebrate this moment today, our American promise is under serious threat.
“Basic freedoms are under attack. Health care premiums are skyrocketing. Babies are being ripped away from their parents by masked agents. We can and must do better.”
She then blamed Congress for not holding the Trump administration accountable for these issues.
“What is most concerning is not what this administration has done, but what the majority in this body has failed to do — hold Trump accountable as a coequal branch of government that we are.”
Grijalva also took her time on the floor to address her delayed swearing-in.
“It has been 50 days since the people of Arizona’s seventh congressional district elected me to represent them. 50 days that over 800,000 Arizonans have been left without access to the basic services that every constituent deserves.
“This is an abuse of power. One individual should not be able to unilaterally obstruct the swearing in of a duly elected member of Congress for political reasons,” Grijalva said in an apparent jab at Johnson.
Johnson was accused of stalling the ceremony, as Grijalva is key to forcing a vote on the release of documents relating to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The speaker has denied such allegations.
The Trump administration came under fire earlier this year for what critics said was a lack of transparency when it came to the so-called Epstein files. Some have gone as far as to accuse President Donald Trump of being in the files to explain why the White House was so adamant on moving on from what Trump has called a “hoax.”
Grijalva won a special election on September 23 for the seat vacated by the passing of her father, former Representative Raúl Grijalva, who died in March during his 12th term in Congress.
This is a developing story…
