Sep 10, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Schumer forces Senate vote on releasing Epstein files

Stephen Neukam

American real estate developer Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), former model Melania Knauss, financier (and future convicted sex offender) Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000. — Donald Trump and his then-girlfriend Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at Mar-a-Lago on Feb. 12, 2000. Photo by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images

The Senate will be forced to vote on the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein files after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday filed an amendment to a must-pass defense authorization bill.

Why it matters: Senate Republicans will have to go on the record on an issue that continues to haunt their party and President Trump.

Schumer's amendment would force Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the files within 30 days of the passage of the defense authorization bill.
Senate Democrats so far have only been able to use parliamentary tactics to force just one Republican to object to a request to release the records.
Schumer's move will mandate a full Senate roll-call vote.

The big picture: Trump has tried to put the Epstein issue to bed, calling it a "hoax" last week. Democrats on Capitol Hill are doing everything they can to keep it alive.

House Democrats this week received and released the doodle and note that they say Trump left in a birthday book compiled for Epstein in 2003.
The White House and Trump's MAGA base denied Trump drew or signed the doodle, and Republicans blasted Democrats for "cherry-picking" documents to release.

Go deeper: Trump and Johnson likely doomed in effort to stop Epstein files vote

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Schumer forces Senate vote on releasing Epstein files

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