--- title: House's Return Sets the Stage for Key Epstein Files Vote description: The chamber appears set to hold a key vote next month to compel the release of all the government’s files related to the late sex offender. canonical: https://time.com/7333457/jeffrey-epstein-files-house-grijalva-johnson/ author: Connor Greene article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-11-12T21:27:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-11-12T22:29:12.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: House's Return Sets the Stage for Key Epstein Files Vote og:description: The chamber appears set to hold a vote next month to compel the release of all the government files related to Epstein. og:url: https://time.com/7333457/jeffrey-epstein-files-house-grijalva-johnson/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a47caa968842688/6998cb911500fbe533aa6c63/jeffrey-epstein-files.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP-EPSTEIN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: House's Return Sets the Stage for Key Epstein Files Vote twitter:description: The chamber appears set to hold a vote next month to compel the release of all the government files related to Epstein. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a47caa968842688/6998cb911500fbe533aa6c63/jeffrey-epstein-files.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Return of the House Sets the Stage for a Key Vote on Releasing the Epstein Files. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e865933b-4958-4037-886f-ffb01f1bbbc8&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Reporter Updated: Nov 12, 2025 10:29 PM UTCPublished: Nov 12, 2025 9:27 PM UTC  A protester holds a sign related to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., November 12, 2025. A protester holds a sign related to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., November 12, 2025. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Reporter Updated: Nov 12, 2025 10:29 PM UTCPublished: Nov 12, 2025 9:27 PM UTC Members of the House [returned to Capitol Hill](https://time.com/7333107/government-shutdown-ending-update/) on Wednesday, setting the stage for a key vote to compel the release of all the government’s files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after weeks of delays from Speaker Mike Johnson. Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona was [sworn in](https://time.com/7333146/adelita-grijalva-johnson-house-swearing-in-epstein-government-shutdown/) Wednesday afternoon, allowing her to quickly add the 218th and final required signature on a bipartisan [petition](https://clerk.house.gov/DischargePetition/2025090209) that will force a full House vote on releasing the files, an issue President Donald Trump and his allies have been seeking to dodge for months as controversy over the Administration’s handling of the case and Trump’s years-long relationship with Epstein have mounted. The discharge petition, a rarely used legislative maneuver, enables a majority of lawmakers to bypass the chamber’s Republican leadership and bring the measure to the floor—putting every member of the House on record with their vote. That floor vote is now likely to occur some time next month. If the measure passes in the House, it will still face a vote in the Senate, whose Republican leaders have yet to publicly commit to supporting it. Thousands of files related to the Epstein case have already been made public. Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform [released](https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-additional-epstein-estate-documents/) an additional 20,000 pages of documents from the disgraced financier’s estate on Wednesday, shortly after [Democrats on the panel](https://time.com/7333256/epstein-emails-trump-takeaways/) released emails from the estate in which Epstein alleged Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of the sex offender’s victims and that the President “knew about the girls.” **Read more:** [_With Latest Epstein Emails, Democrats Dropped a Perfectly Timed Political Bomb_](https://time.com/7333256/epstein-emails-trump-takeaways/) This year has also seen other [notable](https://time.com/7307751/jeffrey-epstein-letters-photographs-new-york-mansion/) releases related to Epstein, including a [trove of letters](https://time.com/7315609/epsteins-birthday-book-trump-clinton/) from a book compiled for his 50th birthday in 2003, released by House Oversight Democrats in September, that included notes bearing the names of multiple prominent people—including Trump’s. The President has repeatedly denied writing the letter and sued multiple parties connected with the Wall Street _Journal_, which first reported on its existence, for defamation. Trump and his Administration have faced criticism, including from his MAGA base, for their failure to release more files related to the Epstein case after members of the President’s inner circle long claimed that the contents would expose crimes committed by powerful people. A Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI [memo](https://time.com/7300378/epstein-client-list-suicide-blackmail-conspiracy-theories-doj-fbi-memo/?itm%5Fsource=parsely-api) that aimed to put to bed multiple conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein over the summer sparked backlash and a new wave of scrutiny that persisted despite Trump’s efforts to [downplay](https://time.com/7302661/trump-jeffrey-epstein-hoax/) the issue and distance himself from the late sex offender. The President [pressed](https://time.com/7333455/epstein-trump-boebert-situation-room/) House Republicans on Wednesday not to vote on releasing more files. “The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” Trump [wrote](https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/33823) on Truth Social on Wednesday. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.” **Read more:** [_White House Says Virginia Giuffre Is the Unnamed ‘Victim’ in Epstein Emails About Trump_](https://time.com/7333355/virginia-giuffre-jeffrey-epstein-donald-trump-emails/) The petition Grijalva has added her decisive signature to is led by [Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky](https://time.com/7296692/thomas-massie-trump-mr-no-contrarian-obbb-iran-primary-campaign/), one of Trump’s most staunch and vocal Republican opponents on Capitol Hill, and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California. Only four Republicans have signed onto the petition: Massie, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. The bill it will compel the House to vote on would require that the DOJ release all unclassified documents and communications related to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex-trafficking and related charges. The records requested pertain to matters including Epstein’s detention and death; flight logs and aircrafts owned by Epstein; individuals named in connection to his criminal activities; civil settlements, immunity and plea agreements; entities with ties to Epstein’s trafficking network and financials; and internal DOJ communications regarding decisions to investigate and charge Epstein or his associates, according to the [resolution](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-resolution/581). It is unclear how extensive the material that has not yet been released is, or what significant new information it may contain. Grijalva won a special election in September, but Johnson refused to swear her in for the following seven weeks, six of them during the government shutdown. The delay, the longest of its kind in U.S. history, drew fierce pushback from Grijalva and Democrats, several of whom have claimed it was motivated by the Arizona Democrat’s promise to sign the discharge petition. Johnson has denied his decision was connected to Epstein. Amid the battle over the Epstein files, Republican House leadership in July sent members home early for a month-long [recess](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/22/congress/house-gop-huddles-on-epstein-drama-00466738) as calls mounted from Democrats and several members of their own party to move toward voting on a measure to release the documents. 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