"They stormed my office": Johnson and Dems clash over Grijalva protest
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House Speaker Mike Johnson outside his Capitol office on Oct. 2. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) accused his Democratic colleagues of "storming" his office after dozens marched to his Capitol suite Tuesday night demanding he swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
Why it matters: Tensions have gotten high on Capitol Hill as the government shutdown enters its third week, even as Johnson has moved to keep lawmakers out of town for the last month.
- Johnson, who was not in his office when the event occurred, has said he will swear Grijalva in once the House returns to session, likely after the government shutdown ends.
- "It shows their desperation," Johnson said Wednesday of the Democrats.
What happened: The dozens of House Democrats who marched to Johnson's office in a protest chanted "swear her in," referring to Grijalva.
- The protest, organized by the Democratic Women's Caucus, was brief. The notable occurrence was Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.) scuffling with a Capitol Police officer who tried to block her from entering Johnson's office.
- She later told a reporter the officer "grabbed me by the side" because he didn't realize she and the others were members of Congress.
- Barragan said she plans to speak to the Capitol Police supervisor because "they should not be cuffing members of Congress."
What they're saying: "They berated a Capitol Police Officer, screamed at him. He was just merely standing his post," Johnson told reporters Wednesday.
- "A few members of Congress went into the little foyer of my office and tore down a sign that I had up," he added.
- House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota) said: "[The Democrats] can gallivant around the Capitol, making ridiculous videos, childish videos, scream at Capitol police officers who aren't getting paid, by the way, and buy time until their hate America rally takes place on Saturday on the Mall."
Context: The protest came hours after Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threatened legal action if Johnson doesn't provide "assurance of when and where" Grijalva will be sworn in.
The other side: "Is Speaker Johnson saying Members can no longer walk in the halls of the people's House to express our viewpoints?" Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), the chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, said in a statement to Axios.
- "The real question everyone should be asking is why Rep.-Elect Adelita Grijalva has not been sworn in. Speaker Johnson keeps changing the story of why he can't swear her in, and this is his latest attempt to distract us," she said.
- "We will keep calling attention to his failure to swear her in. We will keep showing up in the halls of Congress demanding that we return to work so we can address the Republican health care crisis."
- A Women's Caucus spokesperson stressed that the protest was "peaceful" and denied the characterization that lawmakers "tore down" a poster. Video shows Barrágan removing the poster and placing it on the ground.
