The conventional wisdom is that the House will grudgingly pass a bill requiring the release of the Epstein files, its hand forced by a discharge petition. Then the Senate will either refuse to vote on the House bill or fail to achieve the 60 votes required to send it to the president for his signature. If the bill somehow lands on President Trump’s desk, he will surely veto it, and that will be the end. That may have once been true, but those who still believe aren’t reading the room.
The House discharge petition required 218 votes, which was only achieved when Arizona Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was finally sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives on November 12, 2025, after winning a special election in September to fill the seat of her late father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva. During the delay, more than 800,000 Arizonans in her district had no representation in Congress. Grijalva called the delay “an injustice” and criticized the obstruction.
Upon being seated, she signed onto a bipartisan discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files, making her the decisive 218th signature needed to trigger consideration. Four Republicans broke ranks to sign the petition, co-sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (Kentucky). Two of the women, Lauren Boebert (Colorado) and Nancy Mace (South Carolina), faced intense pressure from Trump to rescind their signatures but refused. The fourth Republican, Marjorie Taylor Greene, was apparently considered too strong-willed to approach.
Laratee VanNieuwenhuyze
House Speaker Mike Johnson has agreed to call the vote next week, deciding to get it off the House agenda after doing all he could to prevent the vote, including stalling Grijalva’s swearing in and even sending the House home for 54 days, even longer than the government shutdown he used as an excuse. Johnson recently swore in Republican winners of special elections when the House wasn’t in session. It wasn’t a question of whether he could have sworn Grijalva in, but whether he wanted to with the House back in session and the Epstein petition getting all 218 required signatures. All the focus is on the Epstein votes, especially after the release of three damning emails mentioning Trump, released by Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Republicans immediately released over 20,000 additional emails in a futile attempt to drown the three emails out.
When the vote comes to the House floor, the bill won’t squeak by with a 218–217 margin. Several Republicans who didn’t sign the petition will vote in favor of the measure. With all the new and old questions about Epstein’s coconspirators and what, if anything, Trump knew or did. Voting against releasing the Epstein Files is not something Republicans in Congress want to have to explain back in their districts. Who wants to be on record as favoring pedophiles? The bill will pass by an overwhelming bipartisan margin, heading to the Senate with a full head of steam.
When the Senate receives the bill, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has sole discretion over whether to put the House bill up for a vote. There is nothing in the Senate rules comparable to a discharge petition that would allow a simple majority to force a vote. Thune has refused to commit to scheduling a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act if, or when, it is passed by the House.
“I can’t comment on that at this point” — John Thune
Thune has been straddling the fence, saying he’s in favor of transparency but not wanting to compel it. He will face intense pressure from President Trump to block the vote, but the pressure from Republican Senators, already on the side of denying healthcare to millions of Americans and starving poor people, doesn’t need to add protecting pedophiles to their résumé.
Every individual Senator will be constantly questioned on their potential vote. How do you sound like you’re not protecting abusers of young girls while doing precisely that? Megyn Kelly recently offered up a friend’s opinion that Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t that bad, liking borderline illegal young girls around 15 but never going as far as molesting 8–9 year olds. Speaking for a friend, she said that:
Epstein was “not a pedophile.” He was “into the barely legal type, like he liked 15‑year‑old girls. He wasn’t into, like, 8‑year‑olds. There’s a difference between a 15‑year‑old and a 5‑year‑old.”
William Spivey
Viewers and advocates condemned her remarks, saying they trivialized Epstein’s crimes against minors. Many pointed out that Epstein was convicted of child sex offenses, making Kelly’s distinction indefensible. Commentators argued that Kelly’s framing created a dangerous narrative that abuse of teens is somehow less severe than abuse of younger children. Survivor advocates stressed that any sexual exploitation of minors is abuse, regardless of age. Kelly was reminded on social media that she herself has a fourteen-year-old daughter.
Senators on both sides of the aisle have long defended indefensible positions, offering up the weakest of excuses, but blocking information about Jeffrey Epstein will be a bridge too far for most people, unless they themselves are in the files, which is the position Donald Trump finds himself in. A majority of Republican Senators will pressure Thune to call a vote, and it will pass because no one wants to be on the wrong side of child abuse.
Donald Trump will veto the bill because he desperately needs to hide what hasn’t been revealed. Author Michael Wolff reports that Epstein personally showed him images of Trump with “topless young women” or “half‑naked girls” on his lap.
Wolff described the photos as part of Epstein’s effort to flaunt his connections and power. He said the images were shocking and contributed to his belief that Epstein kept compromising material on influential figures. Epstein is said to have kept videotapes. Several survivors, including Virginia Giuffre, have alleged that Epstein kept video recordings of sexual encounters with underage girls and powerful men as leverage.
In January 2024, Newsweek reported on pressure against the FBI regarding “missing” Epstein tapes, after court documents suggested such evidence may have existed. FBI Special Agent Kelly Maguire testified in 2019 that during the raid of Epstein’s residence, FBI agents found a safe with CDs, computer hard drives, money, jewelry, and passports. During her testimony, Maguire said that FBI agents did not have a valid warrant to remove the evidence, so they photographed it instead. A few days later, when they returned to obtain the evidence, it was gone.
According to an evidence index published by the DOJ, unreleased files include:
- Flight logbooks from Epstein’s private planes.
- Visitor records from his private island.
- Financial ledgers and offshore account details.
- Video recordings and surveillance data were allegedly seized from Epstein’s properties.
These are the materials most likely to implicate others. Donald Trump may not be among those involved, but he is doing everything he can to protect them.
When Donald Trump vetoes the bill, Congress can override the veto and release the Epstein Files. The House will require 290 votes and the Senate 67 to obtain the necessary two-thirds majority to override the veto. While I question that either body has the integrity to override a Trump veto, I don’t doubt their instinct for self-preservation. The Epstein Files will ultimately be released, and then let there be judgment.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.