Members of the House of Representatives now have enough support to force a vote to release the Epstein files after Republican leaders desperately tried to avoid doing just that for months.
A bipartisan group in the House, led by Donald Trump’s GOP foe, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, has been pushing to release the files on the late convicted sex offender for months, but Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back.
Republican congressional leaders have been accused of trying to provide cover for the Trump administration as President Donald Trump and his team have tried to move past their botched file release.
Earlier this month, Massie filed a discharge petition to force the vote. It needed 218 signatures in the House, but it was just one short of that until now.
Voters in Arizona on Tuesday elected Democrat Adelita Grijalva in a special election to replace her father, late Rep. Raúl Grijalva, whose seat had been vacant since he passed away in March.
While it was considered a safe blue seat, Grijalva’s victory will further narrow Republicans’ already razor-thin majority in the House.
She is expected to provide that 218th signature for the discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein files when she is sworn into office in the coming days.
The pressure over the Epstein files has been unrelenting for months, ever since the Trump administration dramatically reversed course on releasing the files as promised.
Despite bipartisan demand, Congress skipped town for August recess without holding a vote, but pressure picked back up full force when the House returned earlier this month with the discharge petition to force Johnson’s hand to hold the vote.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act would require the Justice Department to release all unclassified records, documents, communications, and other material in its possession that relate to the investigation into Epstein, as well as material on his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison for sex trafficking.
The Justice Department would specifically be allowed only to withhold the personal information of victims.
Massie and Khanna held a massive press conference with multiple Epstein victims on Capitol Hill after Congress returned from its recess with alleged Epstein survivors.
The group of women voiced full support for the bill to release the files, contradicting some claims from those who opposed the effort.
However, even if the discharge petition is successful and the House passes the bill, it would also need to pass in the Senate.
President Donald Trump would also have to sign it into law, which he is unlikely to do after blasting the effort to release the documents on his former friend Epstein as a “hoax” by Democrats.
