Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are threatening to use the House floor to expose the names of six men who are "likely incriminated" by their inclusion in the Epstein files.

• "There are six men, some of them with their photographs, that have been redacted, and there's no explanation why those people were redacted," Khanna told reporters today.
• One of the men is "pretty high up" in a foreign government, and another is a prominent individual, Massie told reporters.

Why it matters: Massie and Khanna led the discharge petition that forced Speaker Johnson's hand on legislation requiring the release of the files involving the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

• The lawmakers said they want to allow the Justice Department time to further un-redact those files. But they said they're open to using the House's speech and debate clause as a liability shield to read names on the floor.

Zoom in: Congress was supposed to get access to the un-redacted files this week in a reading room at the Justice Department building in D.C.

• However, many of the files they viewed were still redacted, Massie and Khanna said.
• Democrats and some Republicans have argued the DOJ is skirting its statutory requirements under the Epstein Transparency Act by withholding millions of documents and heavily redacting some of the files it has released.
• House members must give at least 24 hours' notice to view the files and may not bring electronic devices, though they may take notes.

The bottom line: Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell declined to answer questions during a closed-door, virtual deposition today with the House Oversight Committee.

• "I just think it's unconscionable that she's pleading the Fifth or trying to make deals. She needs to tell the truth," Johnson said.

— Kate Santaliz

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is preparing to start the process of voting on a continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security as soon as tomorrow, ahead of Friday's deadline, he said tonight.

• "If Democrats are serious about finding a solution here, they may need to find more time to bring these efforts to a productive conclusion," Thune told reporters today.

Between the lines: Republicans have long argued that the two-week window to negotiate ICE reforms to unlock DHS funding was too compressed.

• "I originally argued that we should have three to four weeks to get the work done, but that's not what was chosen," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said tonight.

What we're watching: As they headed to votes this evening, Democratic senators were eager to read and digest the White House counterproposal.

• "I'm aware of it, but I know I have not read it," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said.

The other side: Republicans are urging the White House not to give in to too many Democratic demands and are calling for any reforms to also make it more difficult for so-called sanctuary cities to defy federal immigration laws.

— Hans Nichols

Senate Democrats plan to discuss the White House counterproposal to reform ICE at their caucus lunch tomorrow, with the goal of arriving at a unified position to maximize their negotiating power.

Why it matters: Minor differences are emerging over whether to support another short-term spending bill for the DHS to buy more time for negotiations.

• "The effort has been to try to keep Democrats — not only in our caucus, but in the House and Senate — basically in the same place on the kinds of reforms that would be necessary," said Kaine.
• "I can't vote for a DHS budget unless there are serious reforms to ICE — simple as that," Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said. "There's no reason it can't be resolved in the next four days."
• Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) seemed open to another short-term DHS spending stopgap. "It depends on whether we're making progress or not," she said. "Right now, it's not clear to me what kind of progress is being made or what negotiations are happening."

The bottom line: Any deal likely runs through them. Kaine, King and Shaheen all voted to reopen the government in November after the longest shutdown in history.

— Stephen Neukam