Thirty days after winning the special election for her late father’s congressional seat, Arizona Democratic Representative-Elect Adelita Grijalva joined our video call from a temporary setup in her district. She had not yet received congressional funds to sign a lease for a district office—because despite winning over two-thirds of the vote in her state’s Seventh Congressional District, she still hasn’t been sworn in to the House of Representatives.

A sign tacked to the wall behind Grijalva read, “End the Shutdown. Swear in Adelita. Release the Files.” This seemingly was a reference to larger political storms surrounding her victory: Congress is gridlocked in a government shutdown, with no end in sight, and Grijalva has pledged to sign the bipartisan discharge petition to force a vote on

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