A protester holds a sign related to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files outside of the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 12, 2025.
A protester holds up a photo of the future President Donald Trump with financier Jeffrey Epstein at a rally in Augusta, Georgia, on Aug. 2, 2025. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting a federal sex trafficking trial.

WASHINGTON ‒ Speaker Mike Johnson said the House of Representatives will vote next week on a bill compelling the Justice Department to release all files related to the investigation of the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

“We’re going to put that on the floor for a full vote when we get back next week,” Johnson told reporters on Nov. 12.

Johnson made the comments hours after newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Arizona, signed a discharge petition to force a vote on the bill. She became the 218th signature on the petition, crossing the necessary threshold to prompt a vote at a later date.

Johnson added that, “In the meantime I’ll remind everybody the (House) Oversight Committee has been working around the clock” on its own investigation related to Epstein, according to CNN and other media outlets.

The looming vote comes after House Democrats on Nov. 12 released three Epstein emails from 2011 to 2019 in which the financier mentioned President Donald Trump by name. In one of the emails, Epstein wrote that Trump "spent hours at my house" with one of Epstein's victims. In another, Epstein said Trump "knew about the girls."

The White House called the Democratic release of the emails a "smear" and denied that Trump committed any wrongdoing.

As the House returned to session, Trump publicly warned Republicans in Congress to stay away from Democratic efforts to mandate the release of the Epstein files. In a social media post, he called it a "trap" by Democrats to "deflect" from other issues including the government shutdown.

But his push was unsuccessful. Four House Republicans ‒ Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Thomas Massie of Kentucky ‒ kept their names on the discharge petition.

"I will NEVER abandon other survivors," Mace wrote in a post on X, recounting her own experience as the victim of sexual and domestic abuse. "I signed the Petition - and kept my name on."

Even if the House votes to compel the release of the Epstein files, the Senate would also have to sign off on the legislation for it to pass Congress. The bill would then require Trump's signature for it to become law.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House to vote next week on mandating release of Epstein files, Speaker Johnson says

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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