House takes major step toward forcing Trump’s DOJ to release Epstein files after GOP worked for months to quash effort

Rep. Thomas Massie speaks during a news conference with Epstein abuse survivors outside the US Capitol on November 18, 2025, in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

WASHINGTON DC -- The House on Tuesday took the significant step of ordering President Donald Trump ’s Justice Department to publicly release all of its investigative files into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after months of nasty infighting within the GOP.

The measure — which remarkably won support from nearly every Republican — now heads to the Senate, where GOP leaders must quickly decide if they will send it to Trump’s desk. The president has said he’ll sign the bill if Congress passes it, after months of calling the issue a “Democratic hoax.”

In the end, even Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership