Despite Trump’s Ire, House Gaining Support on Epstein Files Vote

By Mariana Alfaro / The Washington Post

10:13 JST, November 17, 2025

Key lawmakers say support is building in the House toward passage of a closely watched vote this week on a measure that would require the government to release all of the information the Justice Department has related to its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who introduced the petition with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) in July, suggested “100 or more” House Republicans could vote in favor of releasing the Epstein files this week despite opposition from President Donald Trump.

“We could have a deluge of Republicans,” he said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

“I’m hoping to get a veto-proof majority on this legislation when it comes up for a vote.” Khanna had a more conservative estimate of 40 or more Republican colleagues backing the vote.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) did not give an estimate, but acknowledged Sunday there will be “lots of votes” for the bill when it comes to the floor this week.

Johnson, who as speaker controls which bills are brought to the floor, had resisted bringing the measure to a vote after it was first introduced. But after a discharge petition last week obtained enough signatures to compel a vote, he is ready to put it before House lawmakers.

Only three other Republicans and all Democrats joined Massie and Khanna in advancing their bill to a full floor vote.

Still, Johnson tried to downplay the measure, saying that the Republican-led House Oversight Committee has been releasing more documents than the discharge petition asks for. Last week, the committee made public more than 20,000 pages from the Epstein estate, including several that mention Trump.

“So the discharge is totally moot. It is a political exercise, and we’re going to dispense with that this week,” Johnson said on “Fox News Sunday.”

The vote to release more Epstein files comes as Democrats continue grappling with their failure to secure a compromise that would have extended soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies from Republicans as part of the agreement to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Lawmakers aim to hold dueling votes on a Republican proposal and an extension of subsidies in December.

On Sunday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), one of the eight Democrats who voted to reopen the government without any ACA deal, said that while he would have liked to get “the full health care issues fixed,” he thinks that “had we not reopened government, there was no path forward to do what we all want to do.”

The measure to release the government’s Epstein files also faces steep odds in the Senate. It is not clear yet whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) will bring it up for a vote in the upper chamber, and Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) was noncommittal in an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Khanna said House members seeking a release of more files are planning to hold a news conference Tuesday at the Capitol with survivors joining them. The lawmakers are also asking Trump to meet with the women.

“If you gave me a choice, I’d rather the president reverse course. I’d rather he release all these files. Someone was saying that his numbers would go up. I don’t care if he gets the political win,” Khanna told “Meet the Press.”

The president – who is mentioned by Epstein and others frequently in the latest batch of texts and emails released last week by the House – has been ramping up pressure against Republicans to take their name off the discharge petition. He has repeatedly called the focus on the Epstein files a “hoax” promoted by Democrats, even as MAGA influencers had previously been vocally calling for the release of information.

Greene, who very publicly broke with Trump on Friday over her calls to release more documents, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that she doesn’t understand why Trump is pushing so strongly against the release of more documents, arguing that survivors of Epstein’s trafficking have told her that the president did nothing wrong.

Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing or taking part in Epstein’s sex trafficking operations and has also denied knowing about the solicitation of underage prostitution before Epstein’s 2008 plea.

“I’m listening to the women. Those are the ones that are saying that [Trump] did nothing wrong,” Greene said. Greene on Sunday also shared on X a letter of support she received from 27 Epstein survivors.

“We will defend you with everything we have,” the women wrote to Greene. The lawmaker from Georgia has also received the backing of the GOP chair in her home district for reelection in 2026 after Trump on Friday called for a primary challenger against her.

Trump has also said that Epstein’s connections with other people and institutions deserve more scrutiny than his relationship with the deceased financier.

On Friday, at Trump’s request, the Justice Department launched an investigation to examine the relationships between Epstein and several prominent Democrats and donors. Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly tapped federal prosecutors in Manhattan to take on the job.

Legal experts raised concerns over the weekend that Trump’s demand for a new investigation could give Justice Department officials an excuse not to release all the documents.

Greene told CNN that even though Trump is attacking her, she wants him “to be successful for the American people.” Greene also said she hopes she and the president can resolve their fallout.

“I do support him and his administration, and I support them in delivering the campaign promises we made to the American people,” she said.

Those promises, she said, include the release of the Epstein files.

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Abha Bhattarai and Joseph Menn contributed to this report.