Three big deadlines are coming for Congress on the Epstein files, which have given Democrats their biggest shot of life since the November elections.

Why it matters: Even with Congress gone for the summer, the issue keeps coming for President Trump.

1. Aug. 15: Senate's deadline on the "Rule of Five" request by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who wants the Justice Department's files on Jeffrey Epstein. The rule hasn't been tested in court, and the last time senators tried, it was Republicans squeezing HHS on vaccines and COVID's origins.
2. Aug. 19: House Oversight's deadline for the Justice Department on its new Epstein files subpoena. Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Brian Jack (R-Ga.) voted for the subpoena, along with five Democrats.
3. Sept. 2: The House comes back to session and Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) get a shot at their discharge petition on releasing the files.

Zoom in: Democrats have turned every Hill issue into an Epstein issue, paralyzing the House floor.

• House Speaker Mike Johnson sent members home early last month after Epstein issues blew up his ability to get a rule vote passed.

The bottom line: It also helped short-circuit the brief Senate flirtation with recess appointments, before Senate Majority Leader John Thune also called it quits for the summer.

• House leaders feared the unknown outcomes if they brought back the House from recess, sources familiar told us.
• Sound familiar? Sources cited concerns about tight margins, trouble passing the rule to kickstart the process, and the lingering institutionalists in the House who want no part in letting a president do recess appointments.

— Justin Green, Kate Santaliz and Stephen Neukam

Schumer was in upstate New York today to kick off a critical August recess that will have implications on whether he wins back his majority.

Why it matters: Schumer forced the GOP to leave town for the summer empty-handed last week. Now he'll try to build on that momentum.

• Today, he was in Niagara to rail against the impact of tariffs on tourism; in Orleans to raise the alarm about job training program cuts; at a community hospital in Cayuga to talk about Medicaid cuts; and in Binghampton to hit the GOP on Social Security cuts.

Between the lines: The itinerary is an example of what Schumer wants Democrats to do — hyper-localize national issues like Medicaid cuts and funding freezes to drive down support for the GOP.

• Senate and House Democrats will also team up for national days of action this month, focusing on saving Social Security, the cost of living and health care.

— Stephen Neukam

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The House redistricting fight is hitting the Texas Senate race, with Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton trying to outdo each other on forcing Texas Democratic legislators to go back to Austin and vote.

• Cornyn asked the FBI today to help state law enforcement locate and arrest Democratic lawmakers who fled the state.
• Paxton said today he'll ask the courts to declare the Democrats' seats vacant starting on Friday.

"This is a time-sensitive matter," Cornyn wrote in a letter to FBI director Kash Patel.

• "The people of Texas elected lawmakers, not jet-setting runaways looking for headlines. If you don't show up to work, you get fired," Paxton said in a statement.

— Stef Kight and April Rubin

Speaking of redistricting: Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), a swing-district member, took a shot at Johnson today, saying in a Fox News interview that he "needs to step up and show some leadership" on the issue.

• "This is not something that is popular among members of our conference," added Kiley, a likely target of California redistricting who has introduced legislation to ban mid-decade redistricting in all states.
• Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said yesterday he will introduce similar legislation. "I don't think Texas should do it," Lawler said this weekend.
• Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) said in a Bloomberg interview: "I don't care if it's the Republicans or the Democrats that are doing it — it's wrong and it should not be done."

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— Andrew Solender