A measure that would force the Justice Department to publicly release all files related to its investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is on its way to sailing through both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, an outcome that President Donald Trump had previously spent months trying to avoid.
The bipartisan vote will send the legislation to Trump’s desk for his signature, which he has pledged to provide.
“I don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill, whether tonight, or at some other time in the near future,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had.”
The Senate is set to pass the measure by unanimous consent, a maneuver that requires agreement from all 100 senators, once the House sends it over, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday evening. The House voted 427-1 in favor of the bill earlier in the day.
Read more: Trump May Have Found a Way To Block the Release of the Epstein Files, Experts Warn
The bill, called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, requires the Justice Department to make public within 30 days all files, communications and investigative materials related to Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. It would allow the redaction of details identifying victims or interfering with ongoing investigations, but prohibit the department from withholding information over concerns of “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”
The vote represented a dramatic reversal for both the President and GOP leaders, who until this week had fought fiercely to keep the measure off the House floor, dismissing it as a Democratic “hoax” and warning that full disclosure could harm national security or expose the identities of victims. The effort only reached the floor after a successful discharge petition led by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie forced House Speaker Mike Johnson to relent.
Read more: In Epstein Saga, Signs of Trump Losing His Grip on the MAGA Movement He Birthed
But even as he cast his vote in favor of releasing the files, Johnson suggested that Senate Republicans should amend the bill before it becomes law, adding that he had spoken directly with Thune about adding new protections for “victims and whistleblowers” who may be named in the Justice Department’s materials—even though Massie said the bill already includes explicit provisions that allow redactions for victims and for active federal investigations.
“I called my counterpart in the Senate, Leader Thune, and talked him through this,” Johnson told reporters. “I’m very confident that when this moves forward in the process—if and when it is processed in the Senate—they will take the time methodically to do what we’ve not been allowed to do in the House, to amend this discharge petition and to make sure that these protections are there.”
Despite Johnson’s remarks, Republican senators chose not to make such amendments, which would have significantly delayed the release of the files, since any changes approved by the Senate would require the House to vote again—a prospect that alarmed the survivors who appeared at the Capitol earlier in the day, many of whom said they no longer trusted that Trump or Republican leaders would allow the documents to become public.
“I can’t help to be skeptical of what the agenda is,” said Haley Robson, one of the survivors of Epstein’s abuse.
“Do not muck it up in the Senate,” Massie added.
Johnson insisted his backing of the bill did not represent a retreat from his earlier opposition. “It’s not a reversal,” he said, arguing that he had been “for maximum transparency from the very beginning” but that the legislation as written raised unresolved concerns, including how it would handle classified material. “This ignores the principle that declassification always rests and always has rested with the agency that originated the intelligence,” he said, calling it “incredibly dangerous” to require Justice Department officials to release such material within 30 days.
All but one lawmaker in the House voted for the bill—Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus who said in a social media post that he would vote for the bill only after the Senate amends it “to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated.”
Still, advocates and lawmakers described Tuesday’s vote as a milestone in a long struggle to force greater transparency around Epstein, the politically connected financier whose alleged trafficking and abuse of underage girls continues to cast a shadow over both parties. Trump has long denied having any prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, and has sought to cast efforts to release more Epstein files as a politically motivated attempt by Democrats to damage him.
But new emails released by House Democrats last week brought their relationship back into the spotlight, with Epstein allegedly stating that Trump knew “about the girls” and that one of his alleged victims “spent hours” at his house with the President. Trump said he knew “nothing about that” in response to the claims made in the emails. Trump and Epstein were known to socialize in the 1990s in Palm Beach, Fla., when Epstein frequented Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club. After Epstein’s arrest in 2019, Trump said the two men had fallen out 15 years earlier because Epstein had hired away some of Trump’s employees.
Survivors of Epstein’s abuse—many of whom have grown publicly skeptical that Trump would ever allow the files to be released—stood outside the Capitol earlier in the day, some holding photos of themselves as teenagers. “We are exhausted from surviving the trauma and then surviving the political conflicts that surround it,” said Jena-Lisa Jones, urging Trump to stop “making this political.”
Massie told TIME last week that Trump was never the target of his effort to get more of the Epstein files out in the open, and he doesn’t believe Trump is implicated in them. “My quest to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files is not about incriminating the President. I don’t think there’s anything in there that does,” he said. “I do think part of the reason he doesn’t want the Epstein files released is he’s trying to protect friends and donors in his social circle of the last four decades…People in West Palm Beach and New York City.”
But for months, Trump had personally whipped votes against the discharge petition, dismissing the documents as part of a “hoax” and dispatching aides to warn Republicans that backing it would be seen as a direct challenge to the President. That effort intensified in recent days as White House officials pulled Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert into the Situation Room in a last-minute attempt to convince her to withdraw her signature from the discharge petition. Trump then personally attacked Massie and publicly denounced Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as a “traitor” for supporting the vote.
But as the petition neared the 218 signatures required—a threshold reached only after newly sworn-in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva added her name last week—Trump abruptly reversed course, urging Republicans to support the bill and saying on Monday that he would sign it.
The measure passed the House under fast-track procedures requiring a two-thirds majority, after Johnson abandoned plans to delay the vote. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called the result “a complete and total surrender,” saying survivors “deserve full and complete transparency.”
Thune said following the vote he expected the Senate to move quickly to pass the resolution, though most Senate Democrats were skeptical given Speaker Johnson’s comments. Senate Democrats sent Thune a letter following the House vote calling on the upper chamber to “move without delay to pass this legislation unamended and send it on to the President to be signed into law.”
The Justice Department has not said how it will respond if the bill becomes law. Attorney General Pam Bondi has previously argued that investigators cannot release materials tied to open cases, and Trump last week directed the department to examine Epstein’s ties to several prominent Democrats. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have been tapped to lead that review.
“The real test will be will the Department of Justice release the files, or will it all remain tied up in the investigation?” Greene said.fort, despite Trump’s pledge to sign the House-passed version.
Read more: Trump May Have Found a Way To Block the Release of the Epstein Files, Experts Warn
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters after the vote that he expects the Epstein resolution to move “fairly quickly” through the Senate, even after House Speaker Mike Johnson used a morning news conference to detail what he called “serious deficiencies” in the bill. “When a bill passes the House 427-1, and the President said he’ll sign it into law, I’m not sure there’s going to be a need for or a desire for an amendment process over here,” Thune said, adding that it’s possible the Senate unanimously passes the bill this week.
So far, only two Senate Republicans have signed on to a similar measure led by Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, according to a source familiar with the bill: Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky. At least 13 Republicans would need to vote for the bill to circumvent the 60-vote filibuster rule if all Democrats support it.
The House vote represented a dramatic reversal for both the President and GOP leaders, who until this week had fought fiercely to keep the measure off the House floor, dismissing it as a Democratic “hoax” and warning that full disclosure could harm national security or expose the identities of victims. The effort only reached the floor after a successful discharge petition led by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie forced Johnson to relent.
Read more: In Epstein Saga, Signs of Trump Losing His Grip on the MAGA Movement He Birthed
But even as he cast his vote in favor of releasing the files, Johnson suggested that Senate Republicans should amend the bill before it becomes law, adding that he had spoken directly with Thune about adding new protections for “victims and whistleblowers” who may be named in the Justice Department’s materials—even though Massie said the bill already includes explicit provisions that allow redactions for victims and for active federal investigations.
“I called my counterpart in the Senate, Leader Thune, and talked him through this,” Johnson told reporters. “I’m very confident that when this moves forward in the process—if and when it is processed in the Senate—they will take the time methodically to do what we’ve not been allowed to do in the House, to amend this discharge petition and to make sure that these protections are there.”
If Senators do seek to make such amendments, they could significantly delay the release of the files, since any changes approved by the Senate would require the House to vote again—a prospect that has alarmed the survivors who appeared at the Capitol earlier in the day, many of whom said they no longer trusted that Trump or Republican leaders would allow the documents to become public.
“I can’t help to be skeptical of what the agenda is,” said Haley Robson, one of the survivors of Epstein’s abuse.
“Do not muck it up in the Senate,” Massie added.
Johnson insisted his backing of the bill did not represent a retreat from his earlier opposition. “It’s not a reversal,” he said, arguing that he had been “for maximum transparency from the very beginning” but that the legislation as written raised unresolved concerns, including how it would handle classified material. “This ignores the principle that declassification always rests and always has rested with the agency that originated the intelligence,” he said, calling it “incredibly dangerous” to require Justice Department officials to release such material within 30 days.
The bill, called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, requires the Justice Department to make public within 30 days all files, communications and investigative materials related to Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. It would allow the redaction of details identifying victims or interfering with ongoing investigations, but prohibit the department from withholding information over concerns of “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”
All but one lawmaker in the House voted for the bill—Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus who said in a social media post that he would vote for the bill only after the Senate amends it “to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated.”
Still, advocates and lawmakers described Tuesday’s vote as a milestone in a long struggle to force greater transparency around Epstein, the politically connected financier whose alleged trafficking and abuse of underage girls continues to cast a shadow over both parties. Trump has long denied having any prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, and has sought to cast efforts to release more Epstein files as a politically motivated attempt by Democrats to damage him.
But new emails released by House Democrats last week brought their relationship back into the spotlight, with Epstein allegedly stating that Trump knew “about the girls” and that one of his alleged victims “spent hours” at his house with the President. Trump said he knew “nothing about that” in response to the claims made in the emails. Trump and Epstein were known to socialize in the 1990s in Palm Beach, Fla., when Epstein frequented Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club. After Epstein’s arrest in 2019, Trump said the two men had fallen out 15 years earlier because Epstein had hired away some of Trump’s employees.
Survivors of Epstein’s abuse—many of whom have grown publicly skeptical that Trump would ever allow the files to be released—stood outside the Capitol earlier in the day, some holding photos of themselves as teenagers. “We are exhausted from surviving the trauma and then surviving the political conflicts that surround it,” said Jena-Lisa Jones, urging Trump to stop “making this political.”
Massie told TIME last week that Trump was never the target of his effort to get more of the Epstein files out in the open, and he doesn’t believe Trump is implicated in them. “My quest to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files is not about incriminating the President. I don’t think there’s anything in there that does,” he said. “I do think part of the reason he doesn’t want the Epstein files released is he’s trying to protect friends and donors in his social circle of the last four decades…People in West Palm Beach and New York City.”
But for months, Trump had personally whipped votes against the discharge petition, dismissing the documents as part of a “hoax” and dispatching aides to warn Republicans that backing it would be seen as a direct challenge to the President. That effort intensified in recent days as White House officials pulled Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert into the Situation Room in a last-minute attempt to convince her to withdraw her signature from the discharge petition. Trump then personally attacked Massie and publicly denounced Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as a “traitor” for supporting the vote.
But as the petition neared the 218 signatures required—a threshold reached only after newly sworn-in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva added her name last week—Trump abruptly reversed course, urging Republicans to support the bill and saying on Monday that he would sign it.
The measure passed the House under fast-track procedures requiring a two-thirds majority, after Johnson abandoned plans to delay the vote. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called the result “a complete and total surrender,” saying survivors “deserve full and complete transparency.”
The next chapter of the fight is already unfolding on the other side of the Capitol. While Thune said he expects the Senate to move quickly to pass the resolution, most Senate Democrats remain skeptical given Speaker Johnson’s comments. Senate Democrats sent Thune a letter following the House vote calling on the upper chamber to “move without delay to pass this legislation unamended and send it on to the President to be signed into law.” In a separate statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to “immediately” bring the measure up once it reaches the Senate, though such a decision ultimately rests with Thune. “If Leader Thune tries to bury the bill, I’ll stop him,” he said.
Only two Senate Republicans have come out in favor of releasing the files—Sens. Murkowski and Paul. “The American people deserve transparency, and it is time that those involved with Epstein’s horrific criminal operation are held accountable,” Murkowski posted on X.
“The American people deserve to know that justice is not reserved for the wealthy or well connected,” Paul posted. “Transparency is the only way we restore trust in our system.”
If Thune does not schedule floor action, Democrats could force a rapid vote through a unanimous-consent request. “We can certainly take it up by unanimous consent and let them object,” said Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly at a news conference on Tuesday.
Massie said that Trump could order the files released immediately without waiting for congressional action.
The Justice Department has not said how it will respond if the bill becomes law. Attorney General Pam Bondi has previously argued that investigators cannot release materials tied to open cases, and Trump last week directed the department to examine Epstein’s ties to several prominent Democrats. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have been tapped to lead that review.
“The real test will be will the Department of Justice release the files, or will it all remain tied up in the investigation?” Greene said.
