Epstein Files Transparency Act
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The Epstein Files Transparency Act. A law passed by the 119th United States Congress, signed by President Donald Trump on November 19, 2025. It mandates the Department of Justice to make all files pertaining to the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein publicly available, searchable, and downloadable within 30 days of passage. Additionally, it requires the delivery of an unredacted list of all government officials and politically exposed persons named in the files to the Judiciary Committees of both the House and the Senate.
This pivotal legislation followed a dramatic discharge petition initiated by Representative Thomas Massie in September 2025. By November 12, the petition secured the necessary 218 signatures, a coalition of 4 Republicans and 214 Democrats, forcing a House vote. On November 18, the House overwhelmingly passed the act with a 427–1 vote, with Representative Clay Higgins casting the sole dissenting vote. The following day, the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent, and President Trump signed it into law. With the 30-day deadline for the Department of Justice, the files are anticipated to be released around December 19, 2025.
The background of this act is deeply rooted in public demand and political maneuvering. During the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump repeatedly pledged to release the Epstein files if re-elected, a promise he reiterated on Fox News and the Lex Fridman podcast. After his re-election in November 2024, the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi initially stated in February 2025 that the Epstein client list was on her desk for review. Binders labeled "Epstein Files: Phase 1" and "Declassified" were even distributed to prominent conservative figures.
However, a significant shift occurred on July 7, 2025, when Bondi released a statement claiming the DOJ found "no incriminating 'client list'," directly contradicting her earlier remarks. This announcement, coupled with the DOJ and FBI's declaration of no further file releases, ignited outrage among conservative figures. Reports soon emerged of a heated confrontation between FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Bondi over her handling of the files, with Bongino later being demoted. President Trump initially defended Bondi, downplaying Epstein's significance and labeling the files a "big hoax." This reversal drew sharp criticism from allies and podcasters close to Trump, with Joe Rogan accusing the administration of gaslighting and Andrew Schultz calling it an insult to public intelligence. In August 2025, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer denied Bondi's request to unseal grand jury files from the Ghislaine Maxwell case.
The legislative journey itself was fraught with challenges. On September 2, 2025, Representative Thomas Massie filed the discharge petition to force a House vote on releasing the files. Despite pressure from Trump and other Republicans, who viewed signing the petition as a "hostile act to the administration," several key Republicans, including Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, joined the petition alongside numerous Democrats. Greene, in particular, vocally advocated for the full exposure of the Epstein network, expressing concerns for her safety if she pushed too hard. The petition's momentum culminated with the swearing-in of two Democratic representatives, James Walkinshaw and Adelita Grijalva, who provided the crucial final signatures.
The path to the House vote was further complicated by Speaker Mike Johnson's delay in swearing in Adelita Grijalva, citing the 2025 government shutdown. Critics pointed out that Johnson had sworn in Republican members during similar sessions, leading to a lawsuit by the Arizona Attorney General. Johnson maintained the delay was unrelated to Epstein, despite the ongoing discussions.
In the interval leading up to the vote, on November 12, 2025, Speaker Johnson announced the House would vote the following week. Several Republican representatives, not on the discharge petition, declared their intention to vote in favor. Politico reported that over 100 Republicans were expected to defy leadership. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie predicted significant Republican support, with Massie anticipating a "deluge."
On November 15, President Trump ordered the DOJ to investigate Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats, framing it as a "Russia, Russia, Russia Scam" on Truth Social. Massie, however, expressed concern that these new investigations might be a "big smoke screen" to prevent the release of documents, suggesting Trump was protecting powerful friends rather than himself. Hours later, Trump reversed his stance on Truth Social, urging House Republicans to vote for release and calling it a "Democrat Hoax." Robert Garcia criticized Trump's reversal as "panicking" and an attempt to "continue this cover-up." Massie quipped that Trump "got tired of me winning."
By November 17, Trump announced he would sign the bill, though he expressed a desire to control the timing. Massie responded with anticipation. Speaker Johnson indicated he might support the bill if Senate amendments better protected victims' identities. Mark Epstein, Jeffrey Epstein's brother, claimed there was an active cover-up to "sanitize" the files by removing Republican names, citing this as the reason for Trump's sudden shift. On November 18, Massie, Khanna, and Greene held a press conference with Epstein abuse survivors.
The House vote on November 18, 2025, occurred under a suspension of rules, requiring a two-thirds majority. The bill passed with an overwhelming 427–1 vote. Representative Clay Higgins was the sole dissenter, citing concerns for innocent witnesses and family members. Five representatives abstained from voting.
Following House passage, the bill proceeded to the Senate, where it required 60 votes. That evening, the Senate unanimously agreed to pass the bill. It arrived in the Senate on November 19 and was transmitted to the President's desk that morning.
President Trump had stated his intention to sign the bill if it reached his desk. Speaker Johnson, despite his initial opposition, acknowledged the outcome and his conversation with the president. A presidential veto was not issued, and an override would have been easily achieved given the previous votes. The bill reached the White House on the morning of November 19. A senior White House official confirmed it would be signed. That evening, after announcing he would not appear on camera, Trump declared on Truth Social that he had signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law.
Public opinion consistently favored transparency. A September 2025 Marist Poll revealed that 90% of Americans desired at least some of the Epstein files to be released, with victim names redacted. A significant 77% wanted all files released, while only 9% opposed any release. This sentiment crossed party lines, with 84% of Democrats, 67% of Republicans, and 83% of independents supporting full release.
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The Epstein Files Transparency Act is a law passed by the 119th United States Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on November 19, 2025. It requires the United States Department of Justice to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format" all files pertaining to the prosecution of the deceased child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (if needed, declassifying them to the extent possible) within 30 days of passage, and then to give the Judiciary Committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate an unredacted "list of all government officials and politically exposed persons" named in the files.
In September 2025, Representative Thomas Massie, a member of the Republican Party, filed a discharge petition in support of the bill. On November 12, the discharge petition received the minimum-required 218 signatures needed, from 4 Republican representatives and 214 Democratic Party representatives, forcing a House vote on the bill.
The House of Representatives voted 427–1 to pass the act on November 18, 2025, with Republican representative Clay Higgins casting the lone nay vote. The next day, the United States Senate passed the bill via unanimous consent, and Trump signed the bill into law. Given that the Department of Justice has been given a 30-day deadline to release the documents, the files are expected to be made public on or around December 19, 2025.
== Background ==
During the 2024 presidential election, the Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump, when asked by Rachel Campos-Duffy on Fox News in June 2024 whether he would release the Epstein files as president, answered "yeah, I would." In September, while appearing on Lex Fridman's podcast, Trump promised to release the Epstein files if re-elected. Trump won re-election in November 2024.
In February 2025, the U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, stated in a Fox News interview that the Epstein client list is "sitting on my desk right now to review." Later that month, the White House gave binders to several prominent conservative and right-wing figures, including Liz Wheeler and Scott Presler, reading "Epstein Files: Phase 1" and "Declassified". Later that day, Representative Anna Paulina Luna criticized the event, stating that they released "old info".
On July 7, Bondi released a statement saying that the DOJ found "no incriminating 'client list'", contradicting her February statement. That day, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that no further files from the Epstein investigation would be released. Bondi's statement drew outrage from conservative figures; Wheeler called it "unforgivable behavior", while the Hodgetwins called for Trump to fire Bondi.
On July 11, reports emerged that Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI, had a heated confrontation with Bondi over her handling of the files, and was considering resigning. Bongino was later demoted to Co-Deputy Director on September 15, 2025.
On July 12, Trump defended Bondi and referred to Epstein as "somebody that nobody cares about." On July 16, Trump referred to the Epstein files as "a big hoax." On July 23, reports emerged that earlier in May, Bondi and her deputy Todd Blanche informed Trump that his name was "among many in the Epstein files." Trump denied this report.
Trump's change in position drew criticism from prominent podcasters close to Trump, as well as many conservatives. Joe Rogan accused the Trump administration of gaslighting the public, while Andrew Schultz said Trump was "insulting our intelligence".
In August 2025, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer denied Bondi's request to unseal grand jury files from the Ghislaine Maxwell prosecution case.
== Legislative history ==
=== Discharge petition ===
On September 2, 2025, (the first day the House was back in session after the August recess) Representative Thomas Massie moved to force the House to vote to require the Justice Department to release the files, through a discharge petition. Trump and other Republicans launched a pressure campaign to prevent the release of the files, with one anonymous official calling voting for Massie's discharge petition a "very hostile act to the administration".
Within several days, Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene signed the discharge petition, alongside many Democrats. Later that month, Greene posted to Twitter: "The Epstein rape and pedophile network must be exposed. ... Release all the Epstein information by any means possible." She added that "if something happens to me, I ask you all to find out" who might be trying "to stop the information from coming out."
The petition's final two signatures came from Democrats: James Walkinshaw, who won the Virginia 11th District special election on September 9 and was sworn in the next day, and Adelita Grijalva, who won the Arizona 7th congressional district special election on September 23 and was sworn in on November 12.
In the hours before Grijalva was sworn in, Bondi, Blanche, and Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, met with Boebert regarding the House effort. However, Boebert did not remove her name from the petition, and once Grijalva was sworn in and provided the 218th signature, it was no longer procedurally allowable for any signatories to remove their names.
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, had delayed Grijalva's swearing-in, generally attributing his decision to the 2025 government shutdown, arguing that the House could not swear in new members during pro forma sessions or during a government shutdown. However, some critics noted that Johnson had sworn in two Republican members, Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine, during a pro forma session in April. On October 21, the Arizona attorney general, Kris Mayes, sued Johnson, seeking to force him to swear in Grijalva. That day, Johnson told Fox Business that the delay "has zero to do with Epstein", given that "the Epstein files are being released" (seemingly referring to the House Oversight Committee's releases).
=== Interval period ===
On November 12, 2025, Johnson stated that the House would vote on the bill the following week (November 16–22).
In the following days, Republican representatives Don Bacon, Andy Biggs, Rob Bresnahan, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Warren Davidson, Carlos A. Giménez, Nicole Malliotakis, Max Miller, and Derrick Van Orden, none of whom signed the discharge petition, stated that they will vote in favor of the legislation. Representative María Elvira Salazar stated when asked that she was still "thinking" over her vote.
Politico reported that, according to anonymous sources, over 100 Republicans were expected to defect from Johnson and vote for the bill. Representative Ro Khanna predicted that 40–50 Republicans might vote for release, while Massie similarly anticipated that Republican support could "snowball", later predicting a deluge of "100 or more" Republican votes.
On November 15, Trump ordered the DOJ to investigate Epstein's involvement with banks and prominent Democratic figures, including Bill Clinton, Lawrence Summers, and Reid Hoffman. On Truth Social, Trump wrote: "This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats". Bondi subsequently assigned the investigation to U.S. attorney Jay Clayton.
On November 16, Massie commented on the DOJ's new investigation ordered by Trump, saying:
The president's been saying this is a hoax. He's been saying that for months. Well, he's just now decided to investigate a hoax, if it's a hoax ... I have another concern about these investigations ... If they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can't be released. So, this might be a big smoke screen, these investigations, to open a bunch of them ... as a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files.
Massie also added that he does not believe Trump himself is implicated in the files, but "instead is trying to protect a bunch of rich and powerful friends, billionaires, donors to his campaign, friends in his social circles".
Several hours later, Trump posted on Truth Social, reversing his stance, writing that "House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files ... it's time to move on from this Democrat Hoax". Representative Robert Garcia commented on Trump's reversal, arguing Trump was "panicking ... he is about to lose this Epstein vote to force the Department of Justice to release the files ... Trump has the power to release all the files today ... instead, he wants to continue this cover-up and launch bogus new investigations to deflect and slow down our investigation." Massie also responded, commenting that Trump "got tired of me winning."
On November 17, Trump said that he would sign the bill, but did not want it to "take it away from us". Massie responded to Trump on Twitter, writing: "Looking forward to attending this bill signing." That day, Johnson also stated that he might support it, if it could be improved in the Senate to better protect victims' identities. Additionally, on that day, Mark Epstein, the brother of Jeffrey Epstein, claimed there was an active coverup to "sanitize" the files by "scrubbing the files to take Republican names out." Mark Epstein claimed he had heard as such from a "pretty good source" and it was the reason for Trump's sudden shift on releasing the files.
On November 18, Massie, Khanna, and Greene hosted a press conference at Capitol Hill alongside Epstein abuse survivors.
=== House vote ===
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on the act on November 18, 2025, just before 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The bill was considered by the House "under a suspension of rules", meaning it required a two-thirds majority (290) vote to succeed.
The vote passed 427–1. Representative Clay Higgins, a Republican, was the lone vote against the bill, arguing that the release of the identities of innocent witnesses and family members related to the case would cause undue harm. Five representatives, the Democrats Don Beyer, Greg Casar, and Mikie Sherrill and the Republicans Michael Rulli and Steve Womack, did not vote on the bill.
=== Senate vote ===
After passing the House, the bill would require 60 votes to pass in the U.S. Senate. That night, the Senate unanimously agreed to pass the bill as soon as it was received from the House. The bill arrived in the Senate on November 19 and was formally transmitted from the Senate to the President's desk that morning.
=== Signing ===
Trump stated on November 17, 2025, that he would sign the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law if it reached his desk. House speaker Mike Johnson, who had previously expressed staunch opposition to the release of the files, said on November 18: "I am deeply disappointed in this outcome. ... It needed amendments, I just spoke to the president about that. We'll see what happens." A presidential veto did not occur, but it could have been overridden had both chambers voted by a two-thirds majority, which they had easily reached in the previous votes on the act.
The act reached the presidential desk on the morning of November 19. A senior White House official had told reporters that "the bill will be signed whenever it gets to the White House". In the evening, the White House told reporters that Trump would not appear on camera for the rest of the day, after which Trump announced on Truth Social that he had signed the bill into law.
== Public opinion ==
A September 2025 Marist Poll, surveying 1,477 adult Americans, found that 90% of Americans answered that they wanted at least some of the Epstein files released, with the victims' names redacted. Among these surveyed, 77% stated that they wanted all of the Epstein files to be released, 13% wanted some of the files released, and 9% were opposed. Additionally, 84% of Democrats, 67% of Republicans, and 83% of independents answered that they wanted all of the Epstein files to be released.
== See also ==
"Epstein didn't kill himself"
Executive Order 14176
President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992
== Notes ==
== References ==
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