The House of Representatives is set to vote next week on a bill that would require the public release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, after a bipartisan discharge petition gained the final signature needed to force consideration of the measure.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Wednesday that the vote would be scheduled sooner than required under House rules, accelerating a process that would otherwise have delayed floor action until early December. The decision effectively ends weeks of procedural stalling and internal negotiations between House leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers pressing for transparency.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act had circulated for months with limited progress until Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), newly sworn in earlier this week, became the 218th signatory on the discharge petition — the threshold required to compel a vote without leadership approval.
Once the petition succeeded, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) took to the House floor to request unanimous consent for immediate consideration of the bill. The request was ruled out of order by Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who was presiding over the chamber.
“The chair is constrained not to entertain the request unless it is cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leaderships,” Womack said.
Burchett responded that Republicans were requesting unanimous consent and that Democrats were objecting. The chair noted that it was not a proper parliamentary inquiry to ask which side of the aisle had failed to clear the request.
Speaking to reporters later, Johnson said he attempted to fast-track the measure as soon as the petition reached 218 signatures.
“As soon as the discharge petition received the 218th signature, we brought it up on unanimous consent,” Johnson said. “The Democrats shockingly opposed it. So it was a staggering level of hypocrisy. I think some of them regretted it, because within about a half hour of that, there was a lot of confusion.”
Johnson confirmed that the House will now hold a full vote on the bill next week.
“We’re going to put that on the floor for a full vote next week, as soon as we get back,” he said.
The legislative maneuvering followed reports that President Trump and members of his team reached out to Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) on Wednesday, in the hours before Grijalva’s signature finalized the discharge petition. Both lawmakers — two of the four Republicans who signed the petition — kept their names on it, ensuring its success.
Johnson downplayed the need for the discharge petition, calling it “superfluous and moot” given that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is already investigating the Epstein matter.
“The Oversight Committee has been working around the clock, even through the government shutdown, for maximum transparency and full disclosure,” he said. “They have combed through the Epstein estate files … and that’s been a treasure trove.”
The committee has received materials from the Department of Justice and the Epstein estate, and it has interviewed key figures connected to the case, including former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who approved Epstein’s controversial 2008 plea agreement.
On Wednesday, the Oversight Committee released 20,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate, sparking renewed partisan debate. Democrats circulated emails in which Epstein alleged that Trump “knew about the girls,” while Republicans accused them of selectively releasing politically charged material.
The upcoming vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act is expected to be politically sensitive for both parties. While many lawmakers have voiced support for releasing all government-held Epstein records, the issue has exposed rifts within party leadership and reignited scrutiny of high-profile figures linked to the late financier.
If the bill passes, it would direct the Justice Department to make all non-classified Epstein-related files public — a move supporters say is essential for transparency and accountability.
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