House set to vote on release of Epstein documents after Trump U-turn
In July, Democratic congressmen Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie turned to an arcane procedural tactic known as a discharge petition to circumvent House leadership and compel a vote on their bill, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, if a majority of the 435-member House signs on.
House speaker Mike Johnson went to extraordinary lengths to avoid a vote on the the measure, which splintered his conference. Democrats accused the speaker of delaying the swearing-in of Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva to prevent her from becoming the decisive 218th signatory. She signed her name to the petition moments after being sworn in last week.
Following Trump’s reversal, several House Republicans, including close allies of the president, have publicly stated their intent to vote for the release of the files, meaning the measure could pass unanimously.
If the House passes the resolution, it would move to the Senate, which would also need to vote on it before sending it to Trump to sign. Republican Senate majority leader John Thune’s office declined to comment on what he planned to do about the bill.
In an interview with Pod Save America on Monday, Khanna, the California congressman leading the push in the House, said he now expects the measure to move “quickly” through the Senate.
In an X post directed to Trump on Monday, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer wrote: “Let’s make this easier. Just release the files now.”
What to know about the US House vote on releasing the Epstein files
The bill, if enacted, would require the justice department to release all unclassified materials on the disgraced financier, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
An emphatic vote in favour of the bill seems inevitable, and after Trump changed his mind on the weekend, several other Republicans could join their party colleagues in voting for the bill.
But there are still other hurdles before the files see the light of day.
The bill would go before the Senate, where the Republican majority leader, John Thune, has not committed to holding a vote. However, an overwhelming House vote in favour could make it morally difficult for the Senate to refuse to stage a vote. Sixty out of the chamber’s 100 senators would need to back it, to overcome the Senate’s filibuster rule.
The bill then goes to the president’s desk. Trump told reporters on Monday that he would sign it if it arrived on his desk, but he does have veto powers. A presidential veto can be overcome but it’s a significant barrier.
This is one of the emails released last week by Democrats which have put attention back on Trump and his history with Epstein. In it, Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls”.
In another email, Epstein wrote that Trump “spent hours” with one of the victims at his house, and another email referred to the president as “dirty.”
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have said the messages “raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein’s horrific crimes.”
Trump and Epstein's history
Trump’s friendship with Epstein has been a long-running scandal in American politics as the late disgraced financier had links to many other rich and powerful figures in the US and overseas.
Trump had previously said that he fell out with Epstein years before the convictions and he’s helped fan the conspiracies.
As a candidate seeking re-election, he also promised to release the files on Epstein, who, investigators concluded, killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019.
Since resuming office so far though, Trump has failed to follow through. As president, he has the authority to order the justice department to release the documents in its possession, as he has previously done with the government records related to the assassinations of Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy.
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Trump's sudden Epstein files reversal
The president’s dramatic shift came after it became increasingly apparent that the bill will pass the House, most likely with significant support from Republican lawmakers.
Trump and House speaker Mike Johnson changed their approach from outright opposition to declarations of indifference.
“I DON’T CARE!” Trump wrote in a social media post on Sunday. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”
Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he did not want the Epstein scandal to “deflect” from the White House’s successes, and claimed it was a “hoax” and “a Democrat problem”.
“We’ll give them everything,” he told reporters. “Let the Senate look at it, let anybody look at it, but don’t talk about it too much, because honestly, I don’t want to take it away from us.”
The issue has become a rare weak spot for the president with his supporters. An October poll showed just four in 10 approved of his handling of the matter, compared with the nine in 10 who approve of his overall performance.
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Good morning and welcome to the US politics live blog.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is due to vote on the release of investigative files related to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It’s the latest move in a scandal that has dogged Donald Trump since his return to the White House.
Trump initially had resisted the release of more files, but changed his stance on the weekend, urging Republican lawmakers in a message on TruthSocial to “vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.”
I’m Frances Mao and I’ll bring you the latest news lines on this and other stories over the coming hours.
