Congress Okays Bill Compelling Trump to Release Epstein Files

Both the House and Senate acted decisively to pass a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The decisive, bipartisan work in Congress further showed the pressure mounting on lawmakers and the Trump administration to meet long-held demands that the Justice Department release its case files on Epstein. (Photo: Joyce N. Boghosian, The White House Flickr) 

When a small, bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to maneuver around Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of the House floor, it appeared a long-shot effort — especially as Trump urged his supporters to dismiss the matter as a “hoax.”

All Texas Republicans in Congress voted to release the Epstein files, the Dallas Morning News also reported. But both Trump and Johnson failed to prevent the vote.

The president, in recent days, bowed to political reality, saying he would sign the bill. And just hours after the House vote, senators agreed to approve it unanimously, skipping a formal roll call.

The decisive, bipartisan work in Congress further showed the pressure mounting on lawmakers and the Trump administration to meet long-held demands that the Justice Department release its case files on Epstein, a well-connected financier who killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked underage girls.

“These women have fought the most horrific fight that no woman should have to fight. And they did it by banding together and never giving up,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as she stood with some of the abuse survivors outside the Capitol on Tuesday morning.