Overcoming months of opposition from President Trump and his Republican allies, both chambers of Congress on Tuesday overwhelmingly backed a bill to compel the Justice Department to release all of its files related to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The vote in the U.S. House of Representatives was 427-1, with Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana, being the only member to vote against the legislation, known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act. It needed two-thirds of the House to pass.
A few hours later, the U.S. Senate agreed to pass the bill by “unanimous consent,” a procedure that allows legislation to proceed to the president’s desk without a formal vote as long as no senator objects on the floor. Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York introduced a unanimous consent motion before the bill arrived from the House.
President Donald Trump on Monday said he’d sign the bipartisan bill forcing the Department of Justice to release case files from probes into dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein if the House and Senate pass it and send it to his desk.
Asked if he’d sign the bill known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act during an Oval Office event alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino, an uncharacteristically hoarse Trump told reporters: “I do want to sign.”
Trump then launched into a tirade about how he has “nothing to do with” the once high-flying child sex offender, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, even though he was once routinely described as Epstein’s friend.
“We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do. All of his friends were Democrats,” Trump insisted. “You look at Larry Summers, Bill Clinton. They went to his island all the time, and many others, all Democrats.”
Trump: "No matter who you are, everybody loves something at McDonald's. I like the fish. Khhhhh. I like it. You could do a little bit more tartar sauce though please. Seriously."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) November 17, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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Khanna: "The speaker looked frazzled last night. I think he's totally lost it. He's attacking the bill and he's not showing up to hear the survivors. The survivors wanted this bill. Then he's voting for a bill he criticized. And he's lost the confidence of half the people in his own caucus."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) November 19, 2025 at 10:13 AM
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The Trump administration is hopeful Americans won't necessarily spend the promised $2,000 tariff checks, instead pumping them into "Trump accounts" for kids, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says.
— Axios (@axios.com) November 19, 2025 at 10:20 AM
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