The United States House of Representatives will hold a vote to force the full disclosure of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Speaker Mike Johnson has said.<\/p>\n
Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that the House would hold a vote next week to require the Department of Justice to release all documents related to the disgraced financier.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 2 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
Johnson added that he wanted to \u201cremind everybody\u201d that the GOP-led Oversight Committee had been \u201cworking around the clock\u201d on its own investigation into the case.<\/p>\n
Johnson made the comments after Democratic lawmaker Adelita Grijalva, who was sworn in as the newest member of Congress on Wednesday, signed a petition to compel a House vote on the issue.<\/p>\n
The bipartisan discharge petition \u2013 a mechanism allowing a majority of lawmakers to bypass the House leadership \u2013 was put forward by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and California Democrat Ro Khanna.<\/p>\n
Grijalva won a special election to fill the Arizona seat held by her late father, Raul Grijalva, in September.<\/p>\n
Johnson had refused to swear in the lawmaker as the chamber has been out of session since September 19, prompting a lawsuit by Arizona\u2019s attorney general.<\/p>\n
Grijalva and other Democrats said the delay was intended to prevent her from adding her signature to the Epstein petition.<\/p>\n
\nSpeaker Johnson is delaying my swearing in to avoid releasing the Epstein files.<\/p>\n
Join us in demanding Speaker Johnson:<\/p>\n
End the Shutdown.<\/p>\n
Swear me In.<\/p>\n
Release the Files.<\/p>\n
SIGN OUR PETITION \ud83d\udd17https:\/\/t.co\/pmOaiFxQu6<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/l2xzrVz1qI<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Adelita Grijalva (@AdelitaForAZ) October 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Immediately after being sworn in, Grijalva signed the petition, giving it the required 218 signatures to progress.<\/p>\n
Her co-signatories included all 214 House Democrats and four House Republicans \u2013 Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace.<\/p>\n
Republicans have a narrow majority in the House, with 219 members.<\/p>\n
In a speech on the House floor after taking her seat, Grijalva promised to continue her father\u2019s legacy of advocating for progressive policies and ensure Congress provided a \u201cfull and check and balance\u201d to President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can and must do better. What is most concerning is not what this administration has done, but what the majority of this body has failed to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Grijalva\u2019s second act in a busy first day on Capitol Hill was to vote with the majority of her Democratic colleagues to reject the Senate-passed legislation to reopen the government.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers voted 222 to 209 in favour<\/a> of moving the funding package to Trump\u2019s desk for his signature, ending the longest federal government shutdown in history.<\/p>\n
Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, had previously said he expected voting on the Epstein bill to take place in early December.<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s announcement of an earlier-than-expected vote hinted at growing frustration among Republican lawmakers, many of whom are facing growing scrutiny from within their own party, Democratic lawmakers and the American public over accusations they are protecting child abusers.<\/p>\n
Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett told reporters on Wednesday that he was \u201ctired of messing around\u201d with the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Democrats have had the Epstein files for four years, and now we\u2019ve got it for nine months, and it\u2019s going to be dragged into a bunch of nonsense. Let\u2019s just take it to the floor. Let\u2019s vote on it. Let\u2019s get on with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A push on Wednesday by Burchett to force an expedited vote to release the files was blocked for not following proper legislative procedure.<\/p>\n
In a video on X, Burchett blamed Democrats for blocking his efforts and accused them of \u201cgamesmanship\u201d over Epstein.<\/p>\n
\nI tried to release the Epstein files today. Democrats blocked it. pic.twitter.com\/oKo8y9RR3b<\/a><\/p>\n