House Republicans’ legislative agenda is frozen as the party wrestles with Democrats’ “political games” to force votes on requiring the Justice Department to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein.
As a result, House GOP leaders announced the chamber would depart Wednesday for a monthlong summer recess, a day earlier than originally scheduled.
GOP leaders don’t want to bring Epstein-related legislation to the floor while the Trump administration is seeking court approval to release the grand jury materials from the case.
But Republican lawmakers don’t want to vote against Democratic measures to force release of the Epstein files, fearing it would look like they are trying to protect the convicted sex offender.
The conundrum has frozen Republicans’ legislative agenda because the majority cannot bring their legislation to the floor without dispensing with Democrats’ Epstein-related votes.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans want “maximum transparency” in the Epstein case, but that release of the files cannot be haphazard because they need to protect “innocent victims” of Epstein’s – many of them minors – who would be named throughout the files.
“We cannot be careless,” the Louisiana Republican said. “In an open release like that, you have to be very careful.”
The speaker said his conference refuses to participate “in another one of the Democrats’ political games,” saying the Epstein case is a “serious matter.”
He said Democrats did not care about releasing the Epstein files during President Biden’s tenure and only decided to make it an issue because President Trump is in charge.
“The president himself has said that he wants maximum transparency and all credible evidence to be turned over to the American public so that everyone can make their own decisions,” Mr. Johnson said. “We’re owed that, and we want any individual who’s involved in any way in the Epstein evils to be brought to justice as quickly as possible.”
Epstein, a wealthy financier who associated with prominent figures including Mr. Trump and President Clinton before he was arrested and charged with sex trafficking crimes, was found dead in a New York City jail cell in 2019.
The Justice Department has released thousands of pages of documents related to its case against Epstein but has withheld many more documents.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries acknowledged Monday that Democrats had not been focused on releasing the Epstein files until Mr. Trump’s supporters made it an issue.
“The far right, Donald Trump, right-wing conspiracy theorists and others are the ones who have put this Jeffrey Epstein thing in the public domain,” the New York Democrat said. “This isn’t anything that any of us as House Democrats have been focused on ever in terms of trying to fan the flames of what may or may not happen.”
But with the public demanding more information on the Epstein case, Mr. Jeffries said, “the right thing to do is to present the facts and the evidence to the American people so that they can make an informed decision about what may or may not have happened and who may or may not be implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein matter.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi has said there is no Epstein client list among the evidence or any information that could lead to the investigation of “third parties” in the case. Much of the unreleased evidence, she said, is child pornography that should never see the light of day.
“We have a moral responsibility to expose the evil of Epstein and everybody was involved in that,” Mr. Johnson said. “But we also have an equal moral responsibility to protect the innocent and that is a fine needle to thread.”
As the speaker addressed reporters Tuesday morning, a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee voted unanimously to direct Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, to issue a subpoena to Ghislaine Maxwell.
Maxwell, an Epstein associate who was also convicted of sex trafficking charges, is serving a 20-year sentence at a minimum-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida. The Oversight panel wants to question her about the alleged list of high-profile Epstein clients who engaged in sex with underage girls.
The Epstein issue has also come to a head in the House Rules Committee, a panel largely controlled by the speaker that prepares legislation to come to the floor.
Democrats in the Rules Committee have offered multiple amendments related to releasing the Epstein files in the past two weeks. Rules panel Republicans initially rejected those measures last week, although South Carolina GOP Rep. Ralph Norman voted with Democrats.
Not wanting to take more politically fraught votes, the GOP committee members met with Mr. Johnson to hash out a plan.
The House floor schedule was delayed last week amid the negotiations, which resulted in Republicans on the Rules panel teeing up a non-binding resolution from Mr. Norman calling on the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. But GOP leaders opted against bringing that measure to the floor.
The Rules Committee reconvened Monday to consider other legislation that was scheduled for floor action this week, but ultimately recessed with no scheduled return amid continued partisan fighting over releasing the Epstein files.
Democrats on the panel had planned to tee up a vote on a bill from Reps. Ro Khanna, California Democrat, and Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, that would have required the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. Bills, unlike resolutions, carry the force of law.
The Republican resolution is a “meaningless press release,” said Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee.
Rules Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, Virginia Republican, said Democrats didn’t demand such transparency for the four years of the Biden administration and are only feigning interest now “to score points and derail our agenda.”
Mr. Johnson said the Rules Committee will not reconvene this week, saying Republicans are “putting an end to the Democrats’ sideshows.”
The House is still scheduled to vote on some legislation under a fast-track process known as suspension of the rules before the chamber adjourns Wednesday afternoon. But passing legislation under that process requires two-thirds support, meaning Republicans can only bring up bills that have Democratic support.
Some House Republicans are frustrated the House is scheduled to leave Washington this week without voting on releasing the Epstein files. The chamber is not scheduled to return until Sept. 2.
“I led Republicans in a serious resolution — that protects victims — to expose the truth about the Epstein files, just like President Trump promised. But leadership is stalling,” Mr. Norman posted on social media. “The American people deserve action, not excuses. Let’s vote on it before August recess and get it DONE!!”
Mr. Massie said the non-binding “make-a-wish” resolution would probably pass unanimously but will not “decrease appetite for a real piece of legislation that would actually force the release of these materials, which is what mine is.”
By not bringing the Norman resolution the floor, Mr. Johnson is “sticking his own head in the sand and encouraging the conference to stick their head in the sand,” Mr. Massie said.
“It’s what you would expect from somebody whose entire speakership depends on Donald Trump,” he said. “He can’t let a paper thin sliver of light get between him and the president, or he may not be speaker.”
Mr. Massie accused Mr. Johnson of using the need to protect victims as a “straw man” for inaction. His bill includes language that would allow the Justice Department to withhold personally identifiable information of Epstein’s victims and any files that contain child sexual-abuse materials, among other exemptions.
Mr. Massie and Mr. Khanna hope to force a vote on their bill using the discharge petition process, which requires 218 members’ signatures. Their discharge petition will not ripen for collecting signatures before the House adjourns Wednesday, meaning it will be September before they can tee up a vote.
If all the GOP co-sponsors of the bill sign the discharge petition, it will be enough to trigger a vote. Mr. Massie predicts Republicans hearing from their constituents over the August recess will only build momentum for action.
Mr. Johnson said he doesn’t understand Mr. Massie’s strategy, and defended his decision not to hold any votes on releasing the Epstein files as giving the administration “space” to follow Mr. Trump’s orders for releasing “credible” information in the case.
“There’s no purpose for Congress to push an administration to do something that they’re already doing,” he said. “And so this is for political gain.”
— Susan Ferrechio contributed to this report.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.