by Staff Reporter | Nov 14, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Rep. Adelita Grijalva opted not to address accusations that Democrats blocked an immediate, full release of the Epstein files on Wednesday.
A reporter questioned Grijalva during the Congressional Hispanic Caucus press conference about the Democratic inaction on a resolution to release the files in full that day.
Grijalva opted not to answer and instead stepped back to allow Rep. Pete Aguilar to speak on her behalf. Aguilar insisted Republicans were trying to prevent the release of the files.
“I think it’s incredibly clear that Republicans will stop at nothing to avoid the disclosure of this information,” said Aguilar.
Upon Grijalva’s swearing in on Wednesday, hers was the final signature needed on a petition to force a House vote on their full release. However, House Democrats rejected an attempt at a full release that same day.
Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican, moved for unanimous consent of a resolution (HR 4405) to release all of the Epstein files immediately. House Democrats objected.
“We Republicans are requesting this unanimous consent. Are Democrats objecting to this request?” asked Burchett.
“Chair reminds the gentleman from Tennessee that as indicated by Section 956 the House Rules and Manual: it is not a proper parliamentary inquiry to ask the chair to indicate which side of the aisle has failed under the speaker’s guidelines to clear a unanimous consent request,” responded the speaker pro tempore.
Burchett said this was a strategic move to control the narrative on the Epstein files: by not authorizing a release all at once, a narrative could be better crafted.
“This is all gamesmanship folks. It’s not about releasing the files. They had something on Trump, they would’ve released it five and half or four years [ago]. And they hate Trump more than anything in the world,” said Burchett. “So they can piecemeal the truth and the half-truths, both sides, of what really went down with Epstein.”
Grijalva declined to address this inaction by her colleagues; however, she had much to say about House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The freshman congresswoman claimed Johnson’s delay in swearing her in had little to do with the government shutdown and everything to do with him being “misogynistic” and her being “a woman of color.” Grijalva framed the government delay as a great effort to prevent her swearing in.
“If I were a Republican, I would not have waited this long. If I were a man, I would not have waited this long. We all know that the rules are always different for women of color and people of color and we have to fight against that,” said Grijalva. “People in our community know what it’s like to depend on a Grijalva.”
Grijalva pledged to advance legislation to ensure the swearing-in delay that she encountered wouldn’t occur in the future.
A vote on the full release of the Epstein files is anticipated to occur sometime next week.
On Wednesday, House Republican leadership did release an additional trove of the Epstein files. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released an additional 20,000 pages of documents.
As part of their publicization of the documents, Democrats redacted some of the material in the newly released trove.
Members of the media and public questioned the Democrats’ redactions, which included the hiding of a victim’s name in connection to an allegation against President Donald Trump.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform responded to the sensationalized redaction that the mystery victim in question was Virginia Giuffre: a known advocate of Trump’s innocence in relation to Epstein.
“[T]his victim, Virginia Giuffre, publicly said that she never witnessed wrongdoing by President Trump,” stated the committee. “Democrats are trying to create a fake narrative to slander President Trump.”
Along with progress on the Epstein files, Congress also voted to end the government shutdown on Wednesday.
The shutdown lasted 43 days, the longest-running one in the nation’s history. Six House Democrats joined Republicans to vote for an end to the shutdown, 222 to 209. The Senate voted to end the shutdown on Monday.
President Donald Trump signed the spending bill into law on Wednesday night, officially ending the shutdown.
Arizona’s elected officials were divided along party lines across both chambers in their votes on ending the government shutdown. Democrats voted against it, Republicans voted for it.
The Democratic votes came from Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Donald Davis (North Carolina), Jared Golden (Massachusetts), Adam Gray (California), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington), and Thomas Suozzi (New York).
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by Corinne Murdock | Jan 30, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
House Democrats believe that Americans who think the border is mismanaged are “confused.”
Democrats in the House Homeland Security Committee issued the remarks during a press conference on Monday addressing the newly-released articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas. Committee Republicans published the draft articles on Sunday.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02), ranking member, indicated that DHS was handling the border correctly and operating in line with the direction of President Joe Biden. Thompson noted that the greater concern for he and his Democratic colleagues was that the impeachment efforts were the cause of lost confidence in DHS and Mayorkas.
“Democrats are real concerned that this is just one of those efforts to confuse the public that something is going wrong at the Department of Homeland Security. Our secretary works at the direction of the president,” said Thompson. “This notion that in carrying out the directions of your boss somehow is an impeachable offense is wrong.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08) also spoke at the press conference. Jeffries claimed that it was “extreme MAGA Republicans” who were misleading the American public on the state of the border. Jeffries further claimed that House Republicans produced “no evidence” that Mayorkas committed an impeachable or unconstitutional offense.
“The extreme MAGA republicans have been directed by Donald Trump not to work together to address the challenges at the border and to instead distract the American people,” said Jeffries.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY-10), another committee member, argued that Republicans caused the border crisis. Goldman claimed that the Biden administration implemented policies to streamline the asylum process, reduce the immigration case backlog, and a cessation of illegal immigration between ports of entry.
“The Republicans are literally trying to stop the administration from securing the border, while they are saying, and so they can say, that the administration is not securing the border,” said Goldman. “They are creating this situation and then they want to blame President Biden.”
Under the first few weeks of his administration, the country experienced an unprecedented deluge of illegal immigration after Biden reversed most of the border policies from his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
As reported extensively throughout investigations published by the Homeland Security Committee and border agents on the ground, illegal immigrants and cartels have become increasingly emboldened to violate border and trafficking laws. Last week, smugglers assaulted a Border Patrol agent arresting several illegal immigrants.
Since Biden took office, there have been over 7.15 million illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border, and an unknown number of gotaways estimated in total to be around several million.
In the 2023 fiscal year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested over 35,400 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions nationwide, of whom nearly 600 were known gang members. Since the 2021 fiscal year, agents have arrested nearly 300 illegal immigrants on the terrorist watchlist.
The House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to consider the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas on Tuesday at 8 am. The hearing will be streamed here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 6, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Democratic and Republican leadership at all levels are calling on the Biden administration to reopen the Lukeville Port of Entry.
The state of the border in Lukeville consists of long lines of people, trash, and human waste. At night, the long lines are dotted with fires for warmth.
Reporters on the ground have noted the predominance of adult males seeking work, not asylum, among the illegal immigrant lineups. Those interviewed claim to have paid thousands for international transportation to the southern border.
The illegal immigrants are effectively being handled on a “catch and release” policy: transported further into the country, with admissions far outpacing deportations and court dates years out.
Arizona House Democrats issued a statement from State Rep. Mariana Sandoval (D-LD23), whose district contains the port of entry. Sandoval expressed alarm at the economic impact of the sudden and undefined closure.
“The federal government has significant resources and capabilities, and it should divert those resources from other regions — and from other states if necessary — to handle this temporary influx before it causes permanent economic damage to our Tribal, border communities and state,” said Sandoval. “This decision was not well thought out and does not take into account how important legal cross-border traffic is to the lives and livelihoods of all Arizonans.”
Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers issued a press release on Tuesday on behalf of his town’s many residents and visitors who pass through the Lukeville port. Weiers called the closing “unforgivable.”
“At a time when so many of our small businesses, and entertainment hubs like Westgate normally benefit from tourists and the trade and commerce created by their visits, it is simply unforgivable that our government is neglecting border security, leaving merchants in a lurch,” said Weiers. “The Biden administration has allowed inflation to shoot through the roof, and now it is allowing illegal migration to do the same, causing great harm to many communities like mine and the hard-working people who call them home.”
Gov. Katie Hobbs, in a joint release with Sens. Mark Kelly (D) and Kyrsten Sinema (I), said that the Lukeville closure only posed further, unacceptable harms to the state’s economy and community safety.
“Arizona border communities are in crisis, and our men and women on the front lines do not have the resources they need,” said Hobbs.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07) also requested the reopening of the Lukeville Port of Entry in a letter to President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Grijalva also requested other information pertaining to the status of his September letter regarding the influx of illegal immigrants, what the president plans to do to address the disparity between federal funding and the influx of illegal immigrants, and a progress update on the Southwest Border Coordination Center.
“This current situation is both unsustainable and a dereliction of federal responsibility,” said Grijalva.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06) said the Lukeville closure served as further evidence of the Biden administration’s lack of control of the border.
“It’s time to implement the laws on the books and deploy the National Guard to fully support our men and women along the border — not close ports of entry making matters worse,” said Ciscomani.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jan 18, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
House Democrats want taxpayers to fund the tuition of future K-12 school psychologists, social workers, and counselors.
State Rep. Judy Schwiebert proposed the arrangement in a bill establishing a K-12 mental health professionals academy in each of the state’s universities, HB2160. These universities would provide annual scholarships up to the actual cost of tuition and fees for up to three academic years or six semesters, as well as covering all costs of obtaining a school psychology, social work, or counseling certificate.
Even if these scholarships don’t cover all of the tuition and fee costs, the university would not be allowed to charge the student the remaining difference.
Funds to supply these scholarships would come from an “Arizona School Mental Health Professionals Academy Fund” established by the legislature. This fund would be continuously appropriated and exempt from lapsing. In addition to scholarships, this fund would pay for marketing and promotion plans in a yearly amount up to three percent of the fund, as well as unspecified “academy costs.”
Students in these proposed academies must work as a school psychologist, social worker, or counselor for one full year in an Arizona public school.
These academies would offer accelerated models for “critical need areas”: low-income public schools, Indian reservation public schools, rural public schools, and disability-oriented public schools.
The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) would be tasked with developing the academy, including marketing and promotion plans, data collection and tracking, overseeing post-graduation service requirements, and funds distribution. Every year before Sept. 1, ABOR would have to issue a report to the governor, state senate president, and state house speaker on academy data.
Schwiebert garnered 23 cosponsors for her bill.
Expanding the state’s reserves of K-12 mental health professionals was a priority for former Superintendent Kathy Hoffman. Hoffman reduced the disparity between students and counselors by nearly 300, from over 1,200 at the start of her administration to over 1,500 by the end — an increase of about 20 percent. In 2021, Hoffman allocated $21.3 million in federal and state funds to hire more K-12 mental health professionals.
During her campaign for re-election, Hoffman pledged to further balance the state’s student-to-counselor ratio.
The fixation on student mental health became more pronounced following the forced shutdowns of schools and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned in a December 2021 report that youth mental health declined greatly and rapidly over the course of the pandemic.
Since then, the Biden administration has spent hundreds of millions to address the issue. Most recently, they allocated $245.7 million last week: $73.6 million for school-based mental health programs and services; $57.7 million to train school personnel, emergency first responders, law enforcement, and others to recognize mental health issues for early intervention; $14.9 million for K-12 “trauma-informed” and “culturally relevant” support services and mental health care; $19.5 million for treatment of children, adolescents, and families that have experienced trauma; $20 million for the promotion of resilience and equity, as well as violence prevention in communities plagued with civil unrest, violence, and trauma; and $60 million for primary care clinician mental health training geared toward children and adolescents.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
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