What Happens When the House Refuses to Swear in a New Member?

Update: 2025-11-03

Description

OA1204 - As House Speaker Mike Johnson continues to pretend that he doesn’t have to seat Democrat Adelita Grijalva well over a month after she was elected to represent Arizona’s 7th Congressional district, we take a closer look at the last time that Congress refused to swear someone in and what the Warren Court had to say about it. Who was Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, why was the House so intent on excluding him in 1966, and how precedential might Powell v. McCormack be for the lawsuit which Arizona has filed on Grijalva’s behalf?

Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
Adam by Adam; the autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr , Adam Clayton, Powell Jr. (1972) (Internet Archive)
2 USC Sec 25
Complaint in Arizona v. House of Representatives (filed 10/21/25)

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