Overview
- The House voted 427-1 to approve the Epstein Files Transparency Act, with Rep. Clay Higgins as the lone no vote and President Donald Trump now saying he will sign it if it reaches his desk.
- The bill directs the attorney general to release all unclassified DOJ and FBI records related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell within 30 days in a searchable format, allowing redactions to protect victims and to avoid jeopardizing active investigations.
- Passage followed a bipartisan discharge petition led by Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna that hit the 218-signature threshold after Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn in.
- Speaker Mike Johnson supported moving the bill but called it a political exercise and urged the Senate to amend it, while the sponsors warned against adding loopholes or changes.
- Survivors rallied for transparency as House Oversight’s separate trove of estate emails included a 2019 note in which Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls,” and observers note DOJ releases could be narrowed if officials cite ongoing inquiries requested by Trump and acted on by Attorney General Pam Bondi.