On April 2, House Speaker Mike Johnson swore in two Republicans who had won special U.S. House elections in Florida the day before, even though the chamber was between business sessions. The House was not in recess but was in a “pro forma” session with a few minutes of business every day.

The exact same situation arose on September 23 when Democrat Adelita Grijalva won an Arizona special election to succeed her late father in the House. Since then, she’s been showing up in Washington expecting to be sworn in during daily “pro forma” sessions to no avail.

So why is Johnson stalling? It’s not because Grijalva’s swearing-in threatens the GOP majority; it doesn’t. So the only plausible explanation is that she represents the 218th signature on a discharge petition to force a vote on the

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