Members of the House anxious to call for the release of Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein will have to wait until September, and some of them are not happy about it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that even as momentum grows to have whatever the Justice Department files contain splashed before the public, the House will not act on a resolution to call for their release, according to The Hill.
The House is scheduled to begin its August recess on Thursday. It returns Sept. 2.
“Here’s what I would say about the Epstein files: There is no daylight between the House Republicans, the House, and the president on maximum transparency,” Johnson said Monday.
“He has said that he wants all the credible files related to Epstein to be released. He’s asked the attorney general to request the grand jury files of the court. All of that is in process right now,” he said.
Johnson said the House should see what transpires before it acts.
“My belief is we need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing and if further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we’ll look at that,” he said, “But I don’t think we’re at that point right now because we agree with the president.”
The House resolution Johnson cited is not binding, but urges Attorney General Pam Bondi to publicize “all credible” documents, communications, and metadata concerning Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is in prison after being convicted of sex trafficking. The resolution allows Bondi to exempt some documents from release.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, is trying to end run the House process by working with Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, to force a vote on their tougher resolution by what’s called a discharge petition, in which a piece of legislation in committee goes to the floor if 218 members sign a petition to vote on it. Johnson is opposed to that strategy.
Is it a mistake to push the vote until after the lengthy August recess?
“Discharge petitions are never a good idea in the House,” he said. “It is a tool of the minority party, not the majority. The majority party has stated its position, and it is mine and it is the president’s, that we want maximum disclosure. So the rest of it is a political game that Democrats are playing and I hope Republicans won’t go into that.”
Massie said the House resolution would accomplish nothing.
“Their Epstein bill resolution is non-binding so it’s kind of fake. The resolution I have with Khanna would be binding on the president,” he said, according to Newsweek.
Great question @TheoVon.
Why not vote on the binding Massie-Khanna Epstein legislation this week @SpeakerJohnson ?
We should not punt this until after the 5 week recess, nor should we wait for my discharge petition to ripen and collect the required signatures to force the vote. https://t.co/ZXOt2XaDi7
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) July 21, 2025
Massie also shared his views on X.
“Why not vote on the binding Massie-Khanna Epstein legislation this week?” he asked Johnson. “We should not punt this until after the 5 week recess, nor should we wait for my discharge petition to ripen and collect the required signatures to force the vote.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, sounded off Monday on X about the controversy.
“If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of The People. If not. The base will turn and there’s no going back. Dangling bits of red meat no longer satisfies. They want the whole steak dinner and will accept nothing else,” she wrote.
If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of The People.
If not.
The base will turn and there’s no going back.
Dangling bits of…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) July 21, 2025
Last week, President Donald Trump ordered Bondi to see the release of grand jury transcripts from the investigations of Epstein and Maxwell, according to the Associated Press. Trump’s order did not include the Justice Department’s files.
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