On November 18, the U.S. Congress completed the legislative process at an unprecedented speed. The House of Representatives passed the “Epstein File Transparency Act” with an overwhelming vote of 427 to 1. Following this, the Senate unanimously agreed to pass the bill without a vote. The bill has now been sent to President Trump’s desk for signature.
The “Epstein File Transparency Act” requires the Department of Justice to disclose all non-confidential files related to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The passage of this bill marked the end of months-long intense internal congressional battles. President Trump had initially opposed the disclosure of these files months ago and even pressured Republican lawmakers to postpone the vote. However, over the weekend, Trump suddenly changed his stance.
The President took to the social media platform “Truth Social” to express his support for the release of the Epstein files, stating, “House Republicans should vote to support the public release of Epstein files because we have nothing to hide. It’s time to break free from this democratic hoax created by radical leftists.”
This statement directly paved the way for the bill to pass in the House of Representatives with overwhelming support.
The only dissenting vote in the House came from Republican Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana. He expressed concerns that the bill might harm innocent third parties, including witnesses.
Subsequently, the Senate swiftly passed the bill through an extremely rare “unanimous consent” procedure.
Just hours after receiving the bill passed by the House, all 99 Senators unanimously agreed, declaring the bill passed without a formal vote.
Previously, Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York had both confirmed within their respective parties that no one opposed the bill.
For months, Democrats have accused Trump of attempting to conceal the files to protect wealthy and influential friends implicated in the Epstein case. Trump, during a press briefing in the Oval Office on Monday, expressed his full support for signing the bill, calling the Epstein scandal “truly a problem of the Democratic Party.”
Once Trump signs the bill, the Department of Justice will be required to disclose all releasable documents within the statutory deadline. This will mark the largest-scale release of files by the U.S. Congress on a single sex crime case in recent years.