One of House Speaker Mike Johnson's staffers turned up the volume on a nearby television after Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) attempted a demonstration outside of his office, Raw Story reported. Ansari set up a table with a provocative sign and claimed that Johnson was holding up the swearing in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) for political reasons.
As the government shutdown drags on, political stunts escalate. Ansari took up her cause to have a conversation with Johnson by setting up a table outside of his office. The sign on Ansari's table said, "Mike Johnson is starving families and gutting healthcare to cover up the Epstein Files. CHANGE MY MIND."
She claims that since Grijalva would be the extra vote needed to release the files of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Johnson is holding back. CBS News's Patrick Maguire shared a photo of the lawmaker and her table in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday.
Democrat Rep. Yassamin Ansari set up a table outside Speaker Johnson’s office, asking for a conversation with with him on shutdown. Her sign reads: “Mike Johnson is starving families and gutting heathcare to cover up the Epstein Files. CHANGE MY MIND” pic.twitter.com/IBizs0f25G
— Patrick Maguire (@patrickjmaguire) November 6, 2025
Ansari thought she'd be cute and use the format made famous by other political pundits to elicit debate. However, the stunt backfired on Ansari after a staffer decided to drown out her point with noise from a nearby television.
This nugget came from a post by Jamie Dupree, reporter and Substack writer, who posted about the incident to X. "Angered by the refusal of Speaker Johnson to swear in Adelita Grijalva, Rep. Yassamin Ansari D-AZ set up her own protest outside the Speaker's office. His staff cranked up the volume on the TV to drown her out," the caption said.
Angered by the refusal of Speaker Johnson to swear in Adelita Grijalva, Rep. Yassamin Ansari D-AZ set up her own protest outside the Speaker's office. His staff cranked up the volume on the TV to drown her out. pic.twitter.com/qx3mcMfwaa
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) November 6, 2025
A video of the supposed drowning out of her message was posted to X by Fox News reporter Aisah Hansie. The audio makes it difficult to hear what's happening, but it was more about the optics than what she actually had ot say anyway.
Dem Rep ANSARI is holding court outside the SPEAKER’s office taking questions about the shutdown with a sign that says:
“Mike Johnson is starving families… change my mind.”
She said someone raised the volume of the Speaker’s TV to drown her out. pic.twitter.com/yKlLwcEnqP
— Aishah Hasnie (@aishahhasnie) November 6, 2025
While Ansari is attempting to make a huge issue out of Johnson's refusal to swear in a new congresswoman, what she won't say is that this is all due to the government shutdown. Democrats are holding out on passing a continuing resolution, and Johnson has sent lawmakers back to their districts rather than stay in town with nothing to do.
According to The Hill, Grijalva complained on Thursday that Johnson is being "negligent and cruel" by not swearing her in. "House Speaker Mike Johnson’s recess of the U.S. House of Representatives during a time of grave national crises is shockingly irresponsible," she claimed in an op-ed published to USA Today.
"House Republicans have been on vacation for six weeks while our economy crumbles, federal workers go without paychecks, health care premiums skyrocket and funding for food stamps dwindles. This is negligent and cruel," Grijalva lamented.
She added that her swearing in is delayed longer than any representative "in recent history to be sworn in following a special election" after she was elected to replace her father, the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva. "As these crises unfold and intensify, Speaker Johnson refuses to swear me into office, an unprecedented and starkly undemocratic position that sets a very dangerous precedent and deprives 813,000 Arizonans of the congressional representation they deserve," Adelita Grijalva said.
Democrats are perpetuating the government shutdown, but now they're claiming to be victims. Johnson is simply responding to what his opponents are doing, and if it means someone will not get sworn in, perhaps the Democrats should consider that when continuing to vote down any funding.
