WASHINGTON, November 19, 2025 (AP) — Both the House and Senate acted decisively Tuesday to pass a bill forcing the Justice Department to release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership.
When a small, bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to maneuver around Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills reach the floor, it appeared a longshot effort — especially as Trump urged his supporters to dismiss the matter as a “hoax.”
But both Trump and Johnson failed in their efforts to prevent the vote. Now the president has bowed to the growing momentum behind the bill and even said he will sign it. Just hours after the House passed the bill, the Senate agreed to pass it with unanimous consent once it is sent to the body.
The bill’s passage is a pivotal moment in Epstein survivors’ yearslong push for accountability over his abuse and a reckoning over how law enforcement officials failed to act under multiple presidential administrations.
