Washington, D.C. — In a stunning legal blow that has thrown the U.S. House of Representatives into disarray, a federal judge on November 12, 2025, ordered Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately swear in Arizona Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, effectively collapsing a high-profile lawsuit filed by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and paving the way for a contentious vote on releasing the long-sealed Jeffrey Epstein files. The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten in Atlanta, came after Democrats accused Johnson of deliberately delaying Grijalva’s seating to block her from providing the decisive 218th signature on a bipartisan discharge petition that would force the House to vote on the Epstein records, a maneuver insiders are calling “the most blatant power grab since the shutdown.”

Grijalva, a 42-year-old progressive Democrat who won her special election on September 23, 2025, in a landslide with 69% of the vote, has pledged to be the final signatory on the petition demanding the Trump administration’s Justice Department unseal the Epstein investigation files, documents that could expose high-profile connections to the late sex trafficker’s network. The lawsuit, filed October 21, 2025, by Mayes, alleged Johnson’s “unprecedented” refusal disenfranchised Arizona’s 7th District voters and violated the Constitution’s seating clause, with the complaint explicitly stating, “Johnson wishes to delay seating Ms. Grijalva to prevent her from signing a discharge petition that would force a vote on the release of the Epstein files and/or to strengthen his hand in the ongoing budget and appropriations negotiations.”

Johnson, 53, a Louisiana Republican and evangelical leader, vehemently denied the accusations, calling them “totally absurd” during a tense October 8 confrontation with Arizona Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly in the Capitol hallway. “This is about procedure during the shutdown, not politics,” Johnson insisted, blaming Senate Democrats for the impasse. However, Batten’s 28-page opinion sided with Mayes, ruling Johnson’s delay “unconstitutional” and ordering Grijalva’s swearing-in by November 14, 2025. “The House cannot selectively disenfranchise members to evade accountability,” Batten wrote, criticizing the speaker’s “arbitrary” tactics as a “democracy-thwarting effort.”

The Epstein files, sealed since Epstein’s 2019 jail suicide, contain witness testimonies, flight logs, and communications implicating figures from politics to entertainment. Grijalva’s signature would trigger the vote, potentially embarrassing the Republican majority amid Trump’s second term. Democrats, led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, celebrated: “Justice delayed is justice denied—no more hiding.” Republicans decried the ruling as “judicial overreach,” with Johnson vowing an appeal.

Grijalva, a former teacher and activist, addressed supporters outside the Capitol: “Arizonans elected me to fight for transparency—today, we won that right.” The special election filled the seat vacated by Democrat Raul Grijalva (no relation), who resigned amid health issues.

This saga underscores House dysfunction amid the 2025 shutdown, with 20 GOP holdouts stalling budgets. As Grijalva prepares her oath, the Epstein vote looms, a powder keg that could fracture Johnson’s speakership. In a divided Congress, today’s chaos is tomorrow’s precedent—democracy’s gears grind on, one sworn-in signature at a time.