House Speaker Mike Johnson is defending his decision not to immediately seat Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva amid the ongoing government shutdown, calling the controversy a “total absurdity” and a “red herring” meant to distract from Democratic failures.

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel, the Louisiana Republican said Democrats are focusing on the special election for Grijalva’s seat instead of reopening the government.

“There’s been a lot of complaints from Democrats. Adelita Grijalva won a special election in Arizona on September 23rd to finish the rest of the term of her father, Raul Grijalva, who passed away in March. And Democrats want you to seat her in a pro forma session. You guys have those every once in a while, it lasts an afternoon,” Strassel began.

“You’re saying you’ll do it when government reopens and the House is back in real legislative session. There’s been protests. There’s a threat of litigation out of Arizona. Some are even claiming that you are trying to refuse to seat her to stop her signing this discharge petition over the Jeffrey Epstein files. Am I missing something here?” Strassel asked.“It’s total absurdity. What you’re seeing is the art of distractions. It’s a red herring, right?” Johnson shot back.