A bipartisan bill authored by Congressman Thomas Massie to force the disclosure of the Epstein files is set to receive a vote on the House floor. This development follows the swearing-in of a new Democratic lawmaker who pledged her support to the measure.
Mr. Massie first introduced the bill in July. The legislation would require the Justice Department to disclose all records related to Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days. Facing resistance from GOP leadership, Mr. Massie employed a discharge petition—a rarely used procedural move that allows a majority of House members to force a bill to the floor for a vote.
After Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was sworn in on Wednesday, the petition finally gained the majority needed. This now allows Mr. Massie to schedule a vote within seven legislative days, likely before Thanksgiving. Upon her arrival to the House floor, Ms. Grijalva was warmly greeted by Mr. Massie, who was seen smiling as he welcomed his new colleague.
Including Mr. Massie, there are four Republican signatures on the discharge petition. The three other GOP signatories are Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, and Lauren Boebert.
Meanwhile, President Trump made a last-minute attempt to block the petition from garnering the requisite number of votes. “The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. He added, “There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!”
According to the New York Times, Ms. Boebert was summoned by Mr. Trump to the White House Situation Room on Wednesday, where she met with senior leaders at the Justice Department and FBI. Despite the meeting, Ms. Boebert remained unconvinced and did not remove her name from the discharge petition.
Mr. Massie’s bill, however, may still face political hurdles. Once the House passes the legislation, the Senate will need to take it up, where Mr. Trump could try to persuade his allies to stall or block the measure. If it reaches the president’s desk, Mr. Trump would be forced to either sign the resolution—mandating his own Justice Department to release the files—or issue a veto.
Should the president veto the bill, Mr. Massie could initiate a second discharge petition to attempt an override, which would require two-thirds support in both chambers of Congress.
While President Trump appears to hold a strong position for now, polling on the public release of the Epstein files has been notably poor for the White House. This issue could create significant political challenges for the Republican party with less than a year remaining before the midterm elections.
https://www.nysun.com/article/massies-epstein-files-resolution-garners-enough-signatures-ensuring-vote-to-force-disclosure-by-doj-within-days