Claim:
In early November 2025, a federal judge ordered Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Republican, to swear-in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva without further delay.
Rating:
Context
Grijalva, who Arizonans elected about a month ago, filed a lawsuit in federal court alongside the state of Arizona over her delayed swearing-in. However, as of this writing, a federal judge has not ruled on the case.
In early November 2025, a rumor spread that a federal judge ordered U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Republican, to immediately swear in Arizona Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat who won a Sept. 23 special election and had not yet been administered the oath of office, preventing her from acting as an official member of Congress.
The claim about Grijalva’s swearing-in circulated following the representative-elect’s promise to be the deciding signature on a petition that would force a vote on releasing the so-called Epstein files. As such, posts on Facebook, X and Threads celebrated the alleged ruling.
But these social media users cheered on a court decision that doesn’t exist. Grijalva and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit against the House of Representatives on Oct. 21 over the delayed swearing-in. The complaint, filed in a federal court in the District of Columbia, demanded that Johnson or another person authorized to administer the oath of office swear her into Congress.
However, as of Nov. 7, the judge had not yet issued a decision, according to the case’s docket, which includes updates for all proceedings.
As such, we have rated this claim false.
The public can access the case docket via the legal database CourtListener. The last documents filed in the case, as of this writing, were basic administrative filings in late October.
Johnson has repeatedly said — including in an October statement to Snopes — that he would swear in the representative-elect when the House returns to session, a precedent he said was set by Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, a former speaker of the House. (The House, as of this writing, was not in session due to a government shutdown.) He also dismissed the threat of legal action as a “publicity stunt” a few days before Grijalva officially filed her complaint.
Grijalva’s complaint noted, however, that Johnson swore in two Republicans this year while the House was not in session (see Page 9). It also argued that Johnson “has not identified any valid reason for refusing to promptly seat Ms. Grijalva.”
“Speaker 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,” alleged Page 3 of the document.
U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, will preside over the lawsuit, based on the docket. According to Bloomberg, McFadden is one of the most conservative judges on the Washington federal trial court.
McFadden made news in 2021 for suggesting that the Justice Department was being too hard on the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. However, he also ordered the Trump administration to reinstate The Associated Press’ access to the White House press pool.
