WASHINGTON — The GOP-controlled House is cutting short its last workweek before the summer recess because of a fight on Capitol Hill over the release of the government’s files on the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The House was scheduled to hold votes on Thursday before lawmakers departed for their five-week recess.
But Republican leaders informed rank-and-file lawmakers on Tuesday that the final vote of the week would now be a day earlier, on Wednesday afternoon. The shift in schedule occurred because of a standoff on the Rules Committee, which decides how legislation comes to the floor but has been ground to a halt by the Epstein issue.
The panel, which is closely aligned with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., typically passes a rule for legislation on Monday that sets up debate and allows bills to come to the floor for the week. But Democrats had promised Monday to force the committee to take more votes on whether to require the Trump administration to release all remaining files from the Epstein case.
To avoid embarrassing votes on Epstein, Republicans decided to recess the committee and not attempt to pass a rule for bills this week. Without a rule, Republicans would be left with nothing to vote on after Wednesday.
The Epstein saga has dominated chatter on Capitol Hill for more than a week as many Trump supporters have clamored for the release of all documents related to the convicted sex offender and the president and his administration sought to downplay the issue. It appeared to be dying down in recent days, but the Trump administration breathed new life into the story Tuesday morning, when the Justice Department announced that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will meet with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell in the coming days.
A short while later, conservative Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., passed a motion in a subcommittee meeting to have the House Oversight Committee issue a subpoena for Maxwell to appear for a deposition. Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said through a spokesperson that he had encouraged Burchett to make the motion and that the subpoena will be issued “as expeditiously as possible.”
The House GOP leadership’s final news conference before the August recess was dominated by the Epstein matter as well, with Johnson addressing the issue at the outset and fielding several questions from reporters about Epstein.
Johnson said earlier that the remaining Epstein files should be released, but he also cautioned that there needed to be a process to protect the identities of Epstein’s victims.
“The president has said clearly, and he has now ordered his DOJ to do what it is we’ve all needed DOJ to do for years now, and that is to get everything released. So they’re in the process of that. There’s no purpose for Congress to push an administration to do something that they’re already doing. And so this is for political games,” Johnson told reporters.
“We can both call for full transparency and also protect victims. And if you run roughshod or you do it too quickly, that’s not what happens,” the speaker said.
Johnson attempted to blame Democrats for stalling floor action and playing “gotcha politics” with the Epstein matter. He said Democrats had a chance to release information about the case when they controlled the entire government under President Joe Biden.
But the speaker also directed much of his ire at a fellow conservative, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who is working with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and other Democrats to force a vote in September that would compel DOJ to release the remaining Epstein files. Johnson said Massie, who has repeatedly clashed with Trump and GOP leadership, is trying to “bite” his fellow Republicans.
“Some people seem to enjoy trying to inflict political pain on their own teammates. … There’s a small, small, tiny handful, but one in particular who’s given me lots of consternation. I don’t understand Thomas Massie’s motivation. I really don’t. I don’t know how his mind works. I don’t know what he’s thinking,” Johnson said in a lengthy and unusual tirade.
“Thomas Massie could have brought his discharge petition anytime over the last four years of the Biden administration. He could have done that at any time, and now he’s clamoring as if there’s some sort of timeline on it,” Johnson continued.
“It’s interesting to me that he chose the election of President Trump to bring this, to team up with the Democrats and bring this discharge petition. … I try to follow Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment, never speak evil of another Republican,” the speaker said. “My gosh, it’s hard to do sometimes around here.”
For his part, Massie appears to be relishing all of the scrutiny and attention. He was spotted walking around the Capitol on Monday holding a large white binder that read: “The Epstein Files: Phase 2 … DECLASSIFIED.”
Massie and Khanna need the signatures of at least 218 members of the House to get a vote on their Epstein bill in the fall, and the Kentucky Republican predicted they’ll get there.
“Over the August recess, I think momentum will build for transparency. I don’t think this is going to go away,” Massie said. “And I think, when we return in September, we’ll get Phase 2 of the Epstein files because we’ll get … every Democrat and at least a dozen Republicans who want transparency and justice.”
