Arizona AG threatens legal action if Johnson doesn't seat recently elected Democrat

[onenote]

5. She can't and thus she won't.

By statute-- specifically 2 USC 25 -- it is the Speaker of the House that is empowered to swear in members of Congress. That law was passed in 1789 and has over 230 years of precedent supporting it. The only way that someone other than the Speaker can swear in a member is if the House passes a resolution giving the Speaker authority to deputize someone else to administer the oath. And you can take it to the bank that this Republican majority Congress isn't going to adopt any such resolution.

It is all spelled out in specific detail in the official "Precedents of the US House of Representatives"

See https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20709495

And let me be clear: I am not in any way defending Johnson's failure to swear in Grijalva. His inaction is unjustified and inexcusable. But the often repeated claim that any old judge can step and administer a legally binding oath is simply false. Even a swearing in that is pre-authorized by a House Resolution has to be accepted after the fact by the adoption of a subsequent resolution by the House.