House overwhelmingly votes to release Epstein files

The House on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill directing the Department of Justice to release the files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a move that came after months of intense opposition from President Trump and GOP leaders. 

The vote was a lopsided 427-1, with Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) casting the lone “no” vote. But that tally belied the months of fierce fighting — both between the parties and within the GOP — that preceded it. 

Over the weekend, after it was clear many Republicans would vote for the measure, Trump abruptly reversed himself to say he supported it, writing on Truth Social that “it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics.” 

And while Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ended up voting for the measure as a way to show support for “maximum transparency,” he expressed reservations about the bill’s handling of sensitive information about victims and urged the Senate to amend the legislation. Democrats, Johnson argued, were “forcing a political show vote on the Epstein files.” 

Survivors of Epstein, who had gathered outside the Capitol on Tuesday morning to call for the files’ release, cheered and hugged in the House gallery after the vote closed. Several wiped away tears. 

The vote caps months of jockeying over the fate of the legislation, which now heads to the Senate, where GOP leaders are facing the difficult choice of how to approach it. Trump said Monday that he will sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk. But, given his fierce opposition to the proposal previously, Democrats in the Capitol are highly skeptical that his newfound support is sincere.  

“The president doesn’t want these files out, and one reason we know that is the president can order these files to be released right now,” Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.), the vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters shortly before the vote. 

Tuesday’s vote came after Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) led a discharge petition to circumvent opposition from GOP leadership and force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. 

Three additional Republicans joined Massie in signing the petition: Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.). 

Trump and other administration officials had reached out to Mace and Boebert last week, before the petition had secured its decisive 218th signature, in an attempt to get the Republicans to remove their names. The pressure campaign failed, and Trump un-endorsed Greene days later.  

Greene said in a press conference with several of Epstein’s accusers on Tuesday morning that the Epstein issue had “ripped MAGA apart.” 

“The only thing that will speak to the powerful, courageous women behind me is when action is actually taken to release these files, and the American people won’t tolerate any other bulls—,” Greene said. 

The bill directs the attorney general to release unclassified records and documents in the possession of the Department of Justice related to Epstein; his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of trafficking young girls to him; and other individuals named or referenced in connection to Epstein’s criminal activities, among other provisions. 

It permits records to be withheld that contain personally identifiable information about victims or depicts or contain child sexual abuse materials, among other permitted redactions. 

Johnson and other Republicans voiced concerns with provisions in the bill that they argue risk disclosing information about victims; could release names of innocent people who could be subjected to guilt by association; and could reveal confidential methods and sources. 

“It says the Attorney General ‘may’ redact personal identifiable information … ‘May’ allows an opportunity for personal identifiable information to be released inadvertently,” said Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.). “‘Shall’ means it’s definitive and has to be done. ‘May’ means it’s up for debate.” 

Johnson said he hopes the Senate “will take the time methodically to do what we have not been allowed to do in the House, to amend this discharge and to make sure these protections are there.” 

Massie said that Republicans were spreading “falsehoods” about the legislation’s treatment of victims. 

“They say it doesn’t protect victims. If that’s so, why were dozens of victims with us today at a press conference urging this body to pass this legislation? It’s because this legislation specifically protects victims,” Massie said on the House floor. 

He warned the Senate at the press conference Tuesday morning: “Do not muck it up.” 

Democrats dismissed Johnson’s criticisms of the process, noting that the Speaker had employed several different tactics to delay any consideration of the bill, including his refusal to seat Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D) for almost two months after her Sept. 23 special election in Arizona. Grijalva became the 218th signature on the petition just moments after being sworn in last week.  

“They avoided this issue, they avoided this vote for so long, they can’t suddenly turn the page and say, ‘Oh, we’re fine with this. We were just kidding. And oh, by the way, let’s make it about the policy,’” Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Tuesday.   

The debate over the Epstein files has raged since last year’s presidential campaign, where Trump — nudged by MAGA loyalists convinced that the government was shielding powerful Epstein associates from criminal charges — vowed to release the documents if voters returned him to the White House. 

Back in the White House, however, Trump changed his tune. And a July statement from the Department of Justice and FBI saying that the agencies would not release any more information about Epstein was met with mass outrage, including from Trump’s own supporters. 

That, along with pressure from Democrats, led to the GOP-led House Oversight and Reform Committee subpoenaing the DOJ and the Epstein estate for materials related to the late financier, and producing several disclosures — including the infamous “birthday book.” 

“The Oversight Committee is doing far more than the discharge even anticipated, and the most valuable information thus far has come from the Epstein estate files,” Johnson said. 

Still, Johnson was among the many Republicans who voted in favor of the bill on Tuesday, in an effort to put the issue to bed and move on to other issues where Republicans have a better hand.  

Democrats, for their part, had other theories for why Trump, Johnson and other GOP leaders abandoned their opposition in the final hours before the vote.  

“This is about them knowing that they’re going to lose,” Aguilar said. “And they weren’t going to lose by a little; they were going to lose by a lot. And I think the president clearly doesn’t want to be viewed as a lame duck or on the losing side of an issue with the Republican conference.”