Just hours after the House voted to overwhelmingly release Jeffrey Epstein’s files to the public, the Senate followed suit in a sweeping and rare sign of bipartisan and bicameral unity.
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked for unanimous consent to pass the Epstein files bill, which just passed in the House.
“This is about giving the American people the transparency they have been crying for,” Schumer noted. “The American people have waited long enough. Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have waited long enough. Let the truth come out.”
Without any objections raised, the measure passed.
Despite pleas from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to amend the legislation to protect Epstein’s victims better and not jeopardize ongoing investigations, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday he’s not sure his chamber could amend the bill given the overwhelming margin by which it passed in the House.
‘The bill is being hotlined on our side right now. Let’s see what the Democrats have to say, but it’s the kind of thing that could perhaps move by unanimous consent,’ Thune said per Punchbowl News.
The pressure on Thune to act grew quickly Tuesday.
‘The Senate should vote on the Epstein files ASAP,’ said Minnesota Democratic Senator Tina Smith ahead of Senate passage.
Sen. Chuck Schumer speaks on the Senate floor during a session addressing the government shutdown on Nov. 10, 2025
The House passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act by a vote of 427-1 earlier Tuesday.
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, noted on X that it was time to ‘release the Epstein files,’ adding that ‘Senate Republicans must not delay—the victims and the American people deserve answers, accountability, and the truth.’
Arkansas Republican John Boozman told reporters Tuesday that Trump’s newfound backing for the bill will ‘make a difference’ in how the Senate handles the legislation, also adding that he doesn’t ‘have any problems with data coming out,’ and that ‘lots of people ran on this issue in the last election.
Johnson’s last-minute support for the bill hinged on an expectation that more protections for victims would be added, but he told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday that, ‘we don’t have a guarantee that this will be fixed in the Senate..
Clay Higgins, a Republican United States Representative from Louisiana, was the only House member to vote no on the bill.
Higgins took to X to declare that the bill ‘abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America,’ in an attempt to justify his vote.
‘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.
Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi heeded Trump’s request to investigate Epstein’s relationships with prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton.
That could complicate what actually gets released and pour more fire on conspiracy theories surrounding the Epstein case.
Speaker Mike Johnson voted to release the files, but is asking the Senate to amend the bill if it is taken up there, allowing Bondi to redact certain documents to protect victims, sources, and methods.
Thomas Massie has called the potential Senate amendments under the guise of protecting victims a ‘red herring.’
Survivors of Epstein’s abuses gathered in front of the US Capitol on Tuesday alongside Democrat Representative Ro Khanna, as well as Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Massie, who have faced Trump’s ire for their relentless campaign for transparency.
Speaking to reporters after the conclusion of the press conference, Massie noted that his chance of success in using the legislative technique of the discharge petition ‘was about 4 percent in the beginning,’ and that he is ‘used to fighting battles and not winning.’
The discharge petition process allows a bill to be brought before the full Congress, bypassing the typical committee process.
Massie notably told the Senate not to ‘muck it up’ while also adding during the press conference that Trump ‘can release these files without the Senate acting.’
The path to garnering 218 votes on the discharge petition was a rocky one.
Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva was sworn in to the U.S. House of Representatives by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson last Wednesday afternoon, seven weeks after being elected to replace the seat previously held by her now deceased father.
Grijalva became the final signature on a petition to release government files related to Jeffrey Epstein as a few of his victims looked on from the House gallery, delivering on a key campaign promise minutes after she was sworn in as a member of Congress.
The petition, put forth by Khanna and Kentucky Massie, was backed by every Democrat in the House, as well as three female Republicans, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
But, Trump said Sunday evening that the files should be released, giving other Republicans political cover that their vote would not be a contrast to his wishes.
Trump himself tried his best to whip Republicans, namely Boebert and Mace, on Wednesday to remove their names from the petition.
Trump was known to have associated with Epstein in the early 2000s and has been spotted in photos and videos with both Epstein and Maxwell. He also allegedly wrote a birthday card to Epstein, which featured a depiction of a nude woman.
The birthday letter was reportedly part of a private album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday, in which she asked friends to contribute photos, drawings, and personal notes.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released on Wednesday emails subpoenaed from the Jeffrey Epstein estate, which include mentions of President Trump by name.
Meanwhile, Republicans on the House Oversight committee called the release by their Democrat colleagues ‘cherry-picked’ to generate clickbait.
