Speaker Johnson’s unprecedented, democracy-thwarting effort to keep the Epstein files secret

Source: Popular Information
by Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, & Noel Sims

“On September 23, Adelita Grijalva won a special election to represent Arizona in the House of Representatives in a landslide, collecting 69% of the vote. Forty-three days later, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) has not sworn in Grijalva. Johnson’s obstruction has prevented Grijalva from providing the decisive signature on a discharge petition that would force a House vote on the public release of the Epstein files. The failure to swear in Grijalva is unprecedented. A Popular Information analysis of the 59 other House special elections since 2015 reveals that the average time between winning an election and being sworn in is less than 11 days. Since Johnson became Speaker in October 2023, special election winners have been sworn in, on average, about seven days after the election. The current 43-day delay is already eight days longer than the previous record.” (11/05/25)

https://popular.info/p/speaker-johnsons-unprecedented-democracy