House Democrats, along with a handful of Republicans, are attempting to force a vote on a bill that would demand the public release of all of the government's files on Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted pedophile and billionaire Democratic financier, whom they believe is negatively linked to President Donald Trump.

That effort was further delayed on Tuesday after House Republicans refused to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ), prompting an explosion of outraged accusations from some Democratic members, according to The Hill.

The incoming congresswoman, who easily won a special election last week to succeed her late father, former Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who passed away in March, and serve out the remainder of his term, has stated that her first order of business is to sign the Epstein files discharge petition.

Refused requests to be sworn in

Last Tuesday, Grijalva overwhelmingly won the special election for Arizona's 7th Congressional District, securing five of the six counties in the district and nabbing nearly 70% of the vote against the nearly 30% garnered by her Republican opponent, businessman Daniel Butierez.

One week later, she headed to Washington, D.C., to be officially sworn in as a congresswoman, only for the Democrats' requests for that formality to be ignored and delayed by House Republican leadership.

The reason for the denial, per leadership, is that the House was not officially in session, but rather had merely gaveled in a procedural pro-forma session, during which no real business is handled.

When asked by reporters about the refusal to swear in Grijalva, Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), who presided over the brief procedural move, explained, "Historically, you do it when the House is in session other than pro-forma."

Swearing in will likely happen next week

Of course, that explanation was not satisfactory for Grijalva and other Democrats, who noted that a pair of House Republicans who won special elections in Florida earlier in the year had been immediately sworn in after their victories, even though the House was in a pro-forma session at that time, according to The Hill.

"There’s no reason why I couldn’t have been sworn in, and it’s very problematic, because we’re facing a government shutdown. We’re going to have constituents who have questions, and there is nobody there to answer questions," she told reporters.

Grijalva further noted she's received no indications from Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) office about when she might finally be sworn in, and added of the timing, "Your guess is as good as mine."

However, a spokesperson for Johnson suggested the swearing-in would likely occur next week, and said in a statement, "As is standard practice, with the House now having received the appropriate paperwork from the state, the Speaker’s Office intends to schedule a swearing-in for the Representative-elect when the House returns to session."

All about the Epstein files

Axios reported that House Democratic leadership, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), cried foul and furiously demanded that Grijalva be swiftly sworn in to begin officially serving her district's constituents.

Democrats have not been coy about why they are so insistent that the incoming congresswoman be quickly seated, as they've all openly acknowledged that she would be the 218th and final member necessary to sign the so-called discharge petition, which would bypass House leadership and standard procedures to force a vote on the release of the government's Epstein files.

Republican leadership, along with the White House, has staunchly opposed the discharge petition, according to The Hill, in part because the underlying bill doesn't adequately protect the identities of Epstein's alleged victims, as well as because the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is already investigating the Epstein matter.