House GOP blocks second Dem attempt to release Epstein files
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House Speaker Mike Johnson holds a press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington on July 15. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
House Republicans on Tuesday voted down another Democratic procedural maneuver aimed at forcing the Justice Department to release documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Why it matters: It's the second time this week Democrats have forced their GOP colleagues to choose between loyalty to President Trump and a MAGA base that is furious at his administration over its handling of the Epstein files.
- Democrats are already promising future votes: "That was probably not the last time that you're going to see us deal with this issue," House Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) told Axios.
- Republicans dismissed the vote as a cynical partisan ploy, with Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) telling Axios: "It's just politics, it's not about protecting little children. And that ticks me off."
What happened: The House voted 211-210 against allowing a House vote on Rep. Ro Khanna's (D-Calif.) measure to force the DOJ to publish the Epstein files online within 30 days.
- Democrats' procedural motion would have scuttled the GOP's legislative agenda for the day in favor of the Khanna bill, making it difficult for Republicans to vote for it.
- The vote fell along party lines, with all Democrats who were present voting for their party's maneuver and all Republicans voting against it.
- It came after Republicans on the House Rules Committee voted Monday night against attaching the Epstein language to a broader cryptocurrency and defense funding vote.
What they're saying: Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who voted for the Khanna measure in the Rules Committee on Monday, told Axios he did so because "I believe in transparency, I believe in putting things on the table."
- But, with regards to the Tuesday vote on the House floor, he said he believes Attorney General Pam Bondi has "an independent party that's looking at it," which he called "the right course."
- Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) offered a simpler explanation: Republicans generally vote against such Democratic procedural motions, and this time shouldn't be an exception.
The other side: "These guys have [trafficked] in conspiracy theories for as long as I can remember, and it's coming home to bite them in the ass and they don't know how to deal with it," said McGovern.
- "They riled up a base that is demanding more information, and because they're more afraid of Trump than they are their own constituents, they're providing him a circle of protection," the Massachusetts Democrat added.
Yes, but: Despite his party rejecting the Khanna measure, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in an interview that "we should put everything out there and let the people decide it."
- Johnson said White House staff "are privy to facts that I don't know," but that he believes Bondi "needs to come forward and explain that to everybody."
