Congress has approved a measure that directs the United States Justice Department to release its full collection of files connected to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The Senate advanced the bill to President Donald Trump after the House delivered an overwhelming 427 to 1 vote in favor of disclosure.
Trump has already stated that he will sign the legislation. His support arrived after a sudden reversal over the weekend, when he shifted from criticizing members of his own party who wanted the documents released to urging Republicans to back full transparency. That shift came as rank and file lawmakers pressed for access to the records.
The collection known as the Epstein files includes evidence gathered during criminal investigations, transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses, and materials seized from Epstein’s various properties. US Attorney General Pam Bondi addressed the topic briefly at an unrelated news conference and said, “We will continue to follow the law with maximum transparency while protecting victims.”
Survivors of Epstein visited Capitol Hill one day earlier to voice strong support for the measure. One survivor described years of “institutional betrayal,” underscoring why many have demanded public access to the full findings.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN that the Senate expected to receive the bill on Wednesday morning, move it through quickly, and then send it to the president for his signature.
Trump has attempted to frame the renewed focus on Epstein’s history as a distraction from what he views as his administration’s accomplishments. In a post on socials he wrote, “I just do not want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we have had.” His past social ties to Epstein resurfaced in coverage after lawmakers released more than twenty thousand pages of documents from Epstein’s estate. Those documents referenced Trump and other prominent figures but did not attribute any wrongdoing to them.
Trump’s abrupt reversal caught some Washington figures off guard. Republican leadership had aligned with him for weeks and resisted calls to release the files. House Speaker Mike Johnson had repeatedly described the effort as a “Democrat hoax,” but he voted in favor of the measure on Tuesday. The only opposing vote came from Republican Clay Higgins of Louisiana, who argued that releasing the files could harm “innocent people.”