The House of Representatives is expected to pass a bill on Tuesday requiring the Trump administration to release all files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a major development in an issue that simply won't go away for President Donald Trump.
After months of fighting to pass the bill and inevitable defeat, the president gave it his last-minute endorsement on Sunday. “We have nothing to hide, it’s time to move on,” he said.
Trump's support for the bill helps mask the first major criticism of the president by House Republicans since he returned to office in January. Dozens were expected to break with the White House and vote for the bill to satisfy public demand for information about Epstein's ties to America's elite, including Trump. (Mr. Epstein died in prison in August 2019.) And it comes amid a difficult few weeks for the president. Declining poll numbers, economic headwinds and tough recent GOP elections have him looking for a reset on pressing issues – messages he has repeatedly groused about the Epstein issue are a distraction from them.
Why did we write this
The House of Representatives is set to pass a bill calling for the release of Jeffrey Epstein's files. This represents House Republicans' first major break with President Trump this year – a break that has been somewhat obscured by his last-minute support for the measure.
“Let the Senate look at it, let anyone look at it, but don't talk too much about it,” he said Monday at the White House, declaring that “this is all a hoax” designed to distract attention from his economic achievements.
“All I care about is for Republicans to get back to the point, which is the economy.” he posted on Truth Social on Sunday evening.
The President could easily have ordered the files to be released himself. His persistent refusal to do so after repeatedly promising to do so during the 2024 presidential campaign has led to a pressing problem with voters across party lines. They include a significant portion of his Make America Great Again supporters who have long been obsessed with Mr. Epstein's crimes and believe they are part of a much larger conspiracy. More than three-quarters of Americans, including two-thirds of Republicans, want all files related to Mr. Epstein to be made public. in accordance with PBS News/NPR/Marist poll published in October.
The issue has clearly galvanized a portion of the MAGA base that, for the first time, is at odds with the movement's leader. Republican strategist Doug Hay says deep concerns about the issue have “always been there at Trump's core” and won't go away.
Mr. Haigh provides evidence of this on the ground among President Trump's hardliners. Last summer, the strategist was in Lake Ozark, Missouri, a deep red country vacation spot, and stopped by a store called Teresa's Trump Shop. He asked the woman who worked that day to release Epstein's files. Her response: “What’s the delay?”
Growing pressure for House vote
Mr. Trump posed this question at odds with a large group of his supporters since the Justice Department issued a two-page memo on July 7 saying no “client list” existed and the president urged his supporters to move on.
Soon after, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky teamed up to organize a dismissal petition in an attempt to beat Republican Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana. With 218 votes, a simple majority in the House, the bipartisan duo could force a vote on the bill. Epstein File Transparency Actwhich would require the Department of Justice to “publish (in searchable and downloadable format) all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the Department of Justice's possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.” The bill received strong support from many of Mr. Epstein's victims.
Mr. Massie, as well as three other Republicans who voted with all 214 Democrats for the petition—Representatives Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia—all faced sharp criticism from the White House.
Mr. Trump is backing primary rival Mr. Massie, and on Friday the president published in Truth Social that he is withdrawing his support from “Wacky” Marjorie, a former close ally who has recently opposed the President on several issues. Administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, met with Mrs. Boebert in the Situation Room last week, trying to convince her to withdraw her support for the dismissal motion. Ms Mace, who is currently running for governor of South Carolina, has also reportedly faced pressure to remove her name from the petition.
When on ABC News' “This Week” on Sunday.Mr. Massey said Tuesday's vote could result in a “surge of Republicans” voting yes, potentially “100 or more.”
The U-turn and Trump's last-minute support came as a relief to many House Republicans.
“It was alarming last week because there would have been a lot of disagreement,” says a House GOP staffer who asked to remain anonymous so he can speak candidly. “Trump's attempt to open this topic and say, 'I support the release' is a smart move. We expect a large number of members to vote in support… [The White House] probably read the writing on the wall and saw that it would pass.”
The issue tied House Republicans in knots for months, bringing the lower chamber to a standstill. Speaker Johnson sent lawmakers home for more than two months – including a complete government shutdown – and refused to swear in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva after she won a special election in September. Ms Grijalva was the 218th signature to push the dismissal petition over the finish line and spark controversy over the Epstein issue.
What is the role of the Senate?
While Trump's turnaround obscures the number of House Republicans who were willing to break with him on the issue, it could spur Senate Republicans into action by keeping the issue in the news. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly refused to promise to take action on the bill, but Mr. Trump's decision to stop publicly fighting it could change that calculus.
“Trump jumped on a train that had already left the House station in an attempt to show that there was nothing there,” said former Senate GOP leadership aide Ron Bonjean. “If 400 or more people vote in favor of this in the House, then the Senate will feel more pressure to act.”
This vote comes at the lowest level for a president in recent memory.
Mr. Trump's approval rating is the lowest of his second term, with 55% of voters disapproving of the job he is doing and just 41% approving, according to Nate Silver Average Poll.
Republicans were fresh off a landslide in this November's election, where they faced double-digit electoral losses from New Jersey and Virginia to Georgia, Pennsylvania and California. The 2026 midterm elections are less than a year away, worrying Republicans in swing districts and states.
Much of this was caused not by the Epstein files, but by economic problems. Voters consider the cost of living a top issue and give President Trump low marks on the issue.
Trump is also under pressure from inflation
The president is showing signs that he understands he needs a course correction on this front. He changed his tune and over the weekend scrapped a series of tariffs on staple foods, and in recent days he has tried to refocus his rhetoric on kitchen table issues.
It is unclear whether this reset will work. His predecessor, President Joe Biden, made a similar rhetorical effort to reduce spending, even calling the Inflation Relief Act his major legislative achievement. However, voters drove his party out of the White House in 2024, largely due to voter frustration over cost-of-living issues.
If Mr. Trump wanted to release the Epstein files and end the fight, he could have done so at any time. His decision to fight for their release for months has only fueled speculation about why and raised questions about what he may not want the public to see.
The vote came after the House Oversight Committee, which is conducting its own investigation into Mr. Epstein, released on Wednesday more than 20,000 documents it had obtained from Mr. Epstein's estate. Trump is mentioned nearly 1,000 times in the documents, along with other prominent people such as former President Bill Clinton and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. In one 2019 email, Mr. Epstein wrote that Mr. Trump “knew about girls“
Mr Trump and Mr Epstein were friends from the 1980s until at least the 2000s. Mr Epstein is a 'terrific guy', says President told New York Magazine in 2002adding: “He's a lot of fun to be around. They even say he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are younger.”
There are photographs and videos showing Mr Trump interacting with Mr Epstein and his former partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to prison in 2022 for helping Mr. Epstein abuse young women.
In 2019, Trump said the two had a “quarrel” more than a decade ago after they fought for a piece of real estate in Palm Beachand Mr. Epstein reportedly hired spa staff from the President's Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago. After Mr. Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges in 2019, Mr. Trump said he was “not a fan.”
Cameron Joseph reported from Washington and Story Hinckley from Richmond, Virginia.
