Dem
47
GOP
53
Speaking of partisan hacks, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is up to some sleazy shenanigans, yet again. Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D) won her election a week ago in a landslide. Under those circumstances, the House will sometimes let a member start their duties immediately. Johnson, however, insisted that the certificate of ascertainment—the paperwork that formally reports the results and declares the candidate to be duly elected—be completed and presented to the Secretary of the House.
That is certainly Johnson's right. However, the paperwork is now complete and has been presented to the Secretary, and yet... Grijalva still hasn't been sworn in. Johnson's office says that they just can't swear her in until the House is in regular session on October 7. This is known as "making up crap out of thin air" (Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY, is a skilled practitioner of this art). There is nothing that says the House has to be in session to swear a member in, and there's certainly nothing that says the House has to be in regular session. As is invariably the case these days, the House is holding pro forma sessions every couple of days, and Grijalva could be sworn in then. But... no. We fear that Johnson's memory may be failing. He seems to have forgotten that in April, when two Republicans won special elections in Florida to fill vacant seats, they were sworn in during a pro forma session.
The obvious goal here is to prevent Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) from collecting the 218th signature for their discharge petition. Johnson, who apparently is in the business of protecting the secrets of sexual predators, must be hoping that something happens in the 7-8 extra days to remove one of the other signatures from the list. Perhaps he's planning to put on a full-court press for the Republican signatories, or maybe he's hoping that another Democratic member will die.
There is a price for Johnson's clumsy chicanery, though. First, it's more ammunition for those who would make the argument that House Republicans are using and abusing their powers to protect some very sleazy people. Second, when you bend over backwards (and forwards and sideways) like this, it is pretty much like hiring a skyplane to broadcast the message: "WE HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE." Finally, Democrats have long memories, and will remember this little stunt. If delaying a Republican member (or many members) from being sworn in sometime in the future serves their needs, they will feel absolutely entitled to do it. (Z)