The House voted 427-1 on Nov. 18 to pass a bill directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release the records tied to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to The Hill, the bill directs the attorney general to release unclassified DOJ records related to Epstein, his convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and others referenced in connection to Epstein’s criminal activities. It allows limited redactions to protect victims’ identities and remove any child sexual abuse material.
The measure reached the floor after Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., filed a discharge petition to force action. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., became the final signer on Nov. 12, triggering the vote. Massie’s discharge petition ultimately drew support from three additional Republicans: Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
As backing for the legislation grew in the days leading up to the vote, President Donald Trump endorsed the effort, encouraging House Republicans to back the petition in what marked a notable shift in tone.
“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics,” he wrote on Truth Social Nov. 16.
Despite the lopsided vote, Republicans were divided over how to handle the bill. At a press conference before the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who ultimately supported the measure, called the “Epstein matter” a “political weapon” Democrats have used to divert attention from their “party’s failures.”
Johnson also questioned whether the bill sufficiently protected victims’ information and urged the Senate to “methodically” amend the legislation “to make sure these protections are there.”
Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who was the chamber’s only “no” vote, defended his opposition on X shortly after the vote, warning that the bill’s current language could harm innocent people.
“As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people — witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc. If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt. Not by my vote,” Higgins wrote.
He added that if the Senate amends the bill to “properly address privacy of victims and other Americans,” he will support it when it returns to the House.
Massie pushed back, saying some Republicans have spread “falsehoods” about the bill’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,” he said on the House floor.
“Do not let the Senate muck this bill up,” Massie added. “And if you are, if you’re a party to that in the Senate, you are part of this cover-up that we are trying to expose.”
Meanwhile, Epstein survivors who had gathered outside the Capitol earlier in the day filled the House gallery after the vote and cheered, The Hill reported.
Greene, a vocal advocate for releasing the records, told survivors at a press conference before the vote 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—,” she said.
Trump publicly un-endorsed Greene last week, calling her “‘Wacky’ Marjorie” in a Truth Social post and claiming she “has gone Far Left.”
Mark Epstein, Jeffrey’s brother, raised doubts about the files’ integrity. He told NewsNation Nov. 18 that he believes Republicans are “sanitizing” the files before release.
“The reason they’re going to be releasing these things, the reason for the flip is that they’re sanitizing these files,” he claimed. “There’s a facility in Winchester, Virginia, where they’re scrubbing the files to take Republican names out. That’s what I was told by a pretty good source.”
The legislation now heads to the Senate, where its prospects remain uncertain. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has not indicated how he will handle the bill, though Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he intends to force a vote.
“We should pass this bill as soon as possible, as written, and without delay,” Schumer said on X. “Republicans MUST NOT try to change this bill, or bury it in committee, or slow walk it in any way.”
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