Just nowTue 18 Nov 2025 at 8:01pmWho voted against the bill and why
I mentioned just before that a single Republican voted no.
If you were watching the stream, as Conor was, you might have caught that a little earlier.
It was Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a staunch Trump loyalist.
(J Scott Applewhite)
He has stuck by criticisms previously made by a handful of his GOP colleagues — that the measure’s phrasing does not adequately protect victims’ identities.
“If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt,” he wrote on social media.
Higgins is also a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is currently investigating the Department of Justice’s handling of the Epstein case.
Before Donald Trump changed his stance on the bill, Republicans had argued the panel should be solely responsible for releasing files as they sort through them.Â
It was this panel that released 20,000 pages of documents obtained from Epstein’s estate last week.
16m agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 7:46pmThe bill has passed
And there we have it — the bill has been passed.
All in all, 427 voted for the bill, and a single Republican voted against.Â
The chamber broke out into cheers and applause when the official result was announced.
22m agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 7:39pm
Would a release prejudice future trials?
Wont a release of names constitute tainting evidence and the jury pool, thereby making the likelihood of any prosecutions next to impossible?
– Ben
Morning Ben,
Thanks for your question.
If the bill is passed, the Department of Justice would be allowed to redact information about ongoing investigations, as well as Epstein’s victims.
But the department would not be allowed to redact information due to “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity”.
29m agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 7:32pm
Speaker Mike Johnson will vote for the bill, but wants senators to change it
Mike Johnson criticised today’s “political show vote”. (Reuters: Elizabeth Frantz, file)
The Republican House Speaker, Mike Johnson, has voiced “deep concerns” about the bill. But he says he’ll vote for it anyway, and he trusts the Senate to improve it.
“Everybody here, all the Republicans, want to go on record to show there’s a maximum of transparency,” Johnson said at a press conference with some of his colleagues earlier.
“But they also want to note that we’re demanding that this stuff get corrected before it ever moves through the process and is completed.”
Johnson argues the bill doesn’t do enough to protect victims and other “innocent people” who could be named in documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
The bill allows the Department of Justice to withhold the names and details of victims in the documents. But Mr Johnson said he had spoken to his senate counterpart, John Thune, and he was confident senators would amend the bill to “make sure these protections are there”.
Thune has not said how he would deal with the bill if it reached the Senate, or even if he would bring it to a vote.
Johnson also complained that Democrats were bringing on a “political show vote” after resisting the release of documents when Joe Biden was president.
“The Biden Department of Justice had the files the entire time, and not a single one of the people who were so loud and animated right now, they never said anything about it for all those four years.”
33m agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 7:28pm
Vote will take 15 minutes
The House has been given 15 minutes to vote — but we probably won’t need that long to know the outcome.
The electronic vote means we can see in real time which direction it’s taking.
So far, a third of the representatives have cast their vote, and it’s unanimous.
You can watch our livestream of the vote by refreshing your page.
40m agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 7:22pmVoting is underway
Things have moved quickly in the House today.
Members have been giving short but impassioned speeches about the bill.
Thomas Massie, the Republican who introduced the bill against the wishes of Donald Trump, said he had to “drag our party to this floor today to even vote on this”.
He says it should be passed unchanged. “The important thing about the Senate is that they need not to muck this bill up.”
He was responding to earlier comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who wants the Senate to amend the bill to prevent the release of “innocent” names.
Massie also said Trump could have saved Congress “a lot of work” by ordering the release of files himself.
The house has now begun voting on the bill.
41m agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 7:20pm
Why the bill needs more than a simple majority
I’ve mentioned that the vote needs a two-thirds majority to succeed.
You might be wondering why. Well, this calls for a quick civics lesson!
(Reuters: Kent Nishimura)
When in the process of enacting a law, the House can take one of two paths: by a rule or under suspension.
Let’s start with the former — that’s the more common procedure.
Bills passed by a rule first need to clear the House Rules Committee, which then advances them to the floor for consideration.
Politicians can then debate (then vote) whether or not to take up the matter in the House.
Only then would they debate the contents of the bill itself, and finally, vote on whether to advance it to the Senate.
This method only needs a simple majority to succeed.
Bills passed by a rule only need a simple majority. (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)
Passing bills under suspension is a faster method, but the bar for success is higher (they need that two-thirds majority I mentioned above).
If politicians take this path, the bill won’t need to be considered by the House Rules Committee, and the House can’t make any amendments to get it passed.
Debate is also limited to 40 minutes.
The main enticement for Republican Tom Massie, one of the petition’s co-sponsors, to go with the under suspension route was securing the two-thirds majority early.
Presidents have the power to veto any bill passed by Congress — but that can be overridden by a two-thirds vote from both the House and the Senate.
If Massie ensures the bill has the numbers in the House now, it could discourage problems down the line.Â
“If we are somehow able to get two-thirds vote here in the House, [that] puts a lot of pressure on the Senate, and also, if the Senate does pass it, that’s a very serious step for the president,” he told CNN.
1h agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 6:50pm
How many votes does the bill need?
Republican representative Tom Massie, who co-sponsored the petition to bring the bill to a vote, has set the threshold at a two-thirds majority.
That would be enough for it to overcome a presidential veto. Â
It means if all 435 representatives are present, the bill will need at least 290 votes in support.
The petition was signed by every House Democrat, so it’s expected they’ll unanimously vote in favour today.
Republicans would need to make up the remaining 75 votes in order for the bill to pass.
1h agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 6:47pm
Epstein fight ‘has ripped MAGA apart’: Greene
Marjorie Taylor Greene hit back at Donald Trump. (Reuters: Annabelle Gordon)
Marjorie Taylor Greene — the longtime Trump ally who has fallen out with the president over the Epstein issue — spoke at a press conference with victims earlier.
“Watching this actually turn into a fight has ripped MAGA apart,” she said.
“And the only thing that will speak to the powerful, courageous women behind me is when action is actually taken to release these files, and the American people won’t tolerate any other bullshit.”
Greene was one of the Republican congresswoman who defied her party to back the Democrats’ push to bring on today’s vote.
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Donald Trump called her a “traitor” and encouraged other Republicans to challenge her Georgia seat.
“I’ve never owed him [Trump] anything, but I fought for him for the policies and for ‘America First’,” Greene said.
“And he called me a traitor for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition.
“Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot is an American that serves the United States of America and Americans like the women standing behind me.”
Jena-Lisa Jones, who said Epstein started abusing her from age 14, was one of the women who spoke at the press conference.
“I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political,” she said.
“I voted for you, but your behaviour on this issue has been a national embarrassment.
“It is time to take the honest, moral ground and support the release of these files.
“Not to weaponise pieces of the files against random political enemies that did nothing wrong, but to understand who Epstein’s friends were, who covered for him, what financial institutions allowed his trafficking to continue.”
1h agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 6:43pm
The political process leading up to the vote
In late July, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House of Representatives on holidays a day early in a bid to avoid a vote on releasing Epstein-related documents.
Before the US government shutdown began on October 1, a petition that would force the House to vote on a bill to release the Epstein files had garnered all but one of the signatures it needed, including from several Republicans.
Adelita Grijalva signed the petition for a vote to release documents relating to Epstein, after being sworn in by Speaker Mike Johnson. (AP: J Scott Applewhite)
Democratic representative Adelita Grijalva was due to become the final name after she won a special election in Arizona more than seven weeks ago, but the shutdown delayed those plans until she could be sworn in.
Grijalva was sworn in last Wednesday, delivered a speech and signed the petition.
And, despite Donald Trump trying to convince some Republicans to withdraw their support at the 11th hour (before changing his tune and telling Republicans to support the bill), that meant the numbers were there for the discharge petition.
1h agoTue 18 Nov 2025 at 6:42pm
Good morning from Washington DC
Advocates are demonstrating outside the Capitol today. (ABC News: Bradley McLennan)
We’re bringing you live coverage of today’s US House of Representatives vote on the “Epstein files”.
The lower house of Congress is voting on a bill to force the release of all unclassified files relating to the Department of Justice investigation into the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
It’s taking place after several Republicans last week sided with Democrats to sign a “discharge petition” to bring on the vote.
US President Donald Trump and Republican leaders had long opposed the legislation.
But Trump last week reversed course and urged Republicans to support it after it became clear it had majority support in the House.
It’s set to be another big day in US politics. Here’s some background on how we got here: